"Factory trained" techs are a thing of the past. Most dealer techs, bike and car, are not properly trained and actually don't know how to do things right. I've worked on cars and bikes professionally over 40 years and never went a full year without some type of training and refresher courses as bikes and cars progressed into better machines. Great video, it's good to see young folks take pride in their work.
Start with their engeneers, when you still build crap after 120 years, something is real wrong. Why not hire Japanese ingeneers like they once did for the "German" V Rod? Be honest, the quality difference is visible.
I truly believe that word of mouth is the best advertisement and I would bet you are as busy as you want or can handle but the more times you fix a simple screw up like this the more work your going to get! I hope you get to ride more than just test rides but that's more than I have been able to do lately keep the rubber size down much respect
Do not feel bad for that dealership. This is probably not the only person as you mentioned that has been burned by that place. Hack work is hack work. The service manager is not doing his job and obviously neither is the tech's. I am the senior tech at an independent Harley Davidson shop in Detroit. We see this crap all the time. We don't do the ten year garbage either. We work on any year or model Harley. I've been a master tech with over 43 years experience. I make it my mission to give the best service possible. We can't fix stupid, but we can fix their dump mistakes. Keep up the great work.
Hey, Gilstrap. Great video and a spot-on diag. We too are a small shop comprised of people who are not down with the average (at best) service that our motorcycle manufacturer's service departments are putting out. Your dialogue on the test ride echoes our sentiments exactly. Keep up the good work, bro!
My man! Thank you 🙏🏻 I’m focused way more on over all quality than I am on getting work in and out. Unfortunately, that’s how the dealers value their time.
Wow, just wow. How do they miss that! I mean Jesus Christ, that's a huge oversight. Nice catch man! And from what I've seen since I've started watching ur channel, u do great work man. Very capable mechanic and your attention to detail is spot on. I'd totally trust u to work on my bike any day!
Awesome job finding and fixing the issue! I hope the owner of the bike let the shop in question know their mechanic made a mistake just so it doesn’t happen again to someone else.
Your work proves your better then what they say they are bro, don’t feel bad for calling these guys out who will fuck you over time and time again your work proves it you don’t even have to say shit about it. Keep doing what your doing .
Awesome job fellow. Thanks for correcting the problem . It sucks that dealers don't have any experienced help. Putting on accessories is to the extent they can do. SMH
Hi Brandon, Daniel here from South Africa. Thank you for your excellent and informative video. I ride a 2016 H/D Sporster iron 883. Also experienced oil leaking from the head breather, seems to be on the back head. Thought it was a major issue, however, after watching a few clips I realised its a 'normal' procedure for the excess oil to be expelled into the air filter system. On stripping the housing I noticed theres a gap between the housing and the breather.... Will sort it out, thank you for sharing your knowledge, very much appreciated.
You are a class act. But I hope you reached out to the service manager at the dealer in question and notify him of the many issues you're aware of following repairs made at their dealership. It may be just one mechanic that's making these mistakes. In any case notifying the dealer will hopefully prevent others from experiencing substandard maintenance and repairs.
I got burned by my local dealership. No more HD service for me. I bought service / shop manuals for my particular scooters and doing the work myself from now on. Now I'm laying out my hard earned pay on specialty tools n parts, not only am I teaching myself about wrenching on my machines, I know its done right at the end. Great video.
Great helpful video my brother. I'm new to Harleys and just got a nice 05 electra glide with a 95ci I noticed it puking oil terribly. If I change those breathers will I still need a catch can or external vent? I don't want it sucking this crap back into the throttle body. Thanks man
Great video. Nice to see an honest mechanic taking care of customers. I put a stage 1 on my 2020 Softail Standard and the Screamin' Eagle Air Breather shows a mist of oil on the right side cover. I hope I may have just put too much oil on during the installation.
Wow, you found that right away and fixed the problem with no trouble. I love and respect your work ethic and the fact that you didn't want to bash the dealership. I wish you lived near me so that I could get on your waitlist for some work on my 87 HD FXLRC. The HD dealership I took it to charged me $350 to diagnose an electrical problem and couldn't find anything, due to the intermittent problem. My bike sputters, cuts out, runs on one cylinder (I believe), and/or just dies on me. When it happens, I turn everything off and try to restart the engine. Sometimes to it takes two or three times, then it will turn over and run smoothly. Any ideas on what the problem would be? I'm 66 but I still want to ride my Harley. I would like to keep this bad boy running so my son can get it when I'm gone. I love this vintage baby!
Where do you live Joe? I’ve got a couple ideas what it could be. Sounds like a possible short in the ignition system if it’s intermittent like that. Your ignition coils could be bad too. They may work great for a while and then cut out when they heat up.
This just might be the answer I've been looking for. I seem to go through a quart of oil every couple of rides. Thanks, Brandon!! Wish you were in Arizona!
Thanks for posting and very informative. Was having a similar issue with my 2018 107 M8 and think the issue was fixed. However, I’m going to explore some other options and upgrades to keep the bike running as long as possible. Was mostly in the hotter weather (95 plus degrees in the Southwest) and one HD dealer in California was suggesting I replace the oil pump which I declined. Potentially going to upgrade to Fueling Parts oil pump (if needed) and their breathers. Thanks again. PS, no,issues currently
A major miss on the dealers part! I would be more than a little upset and would never trust them even with a simple oil change. I love the local small shops! better quality less money. Great video!
I agree with you 100% I’m not the best and I don’t claim to be, but I have been a Harley Davidson Tech for going on 5 years now and it is crazy the stuff I see that comes to my shop from a dealership.
Great video. Nice work. Good to see a conscientious, knowledgeable indy. Wish I had one around me here in N Fla.Question...how can I know if my Automatic Compression Release valves/solenoids are working? I've got a terrible rattle/knock for the first 20 or so seconds of start up. Once running, great! No knocks/rattles. Had rocker lockers installed a year ago with new gaskets.
I'm glad I stumbled across your channel. Subscribed. I have a 15 softail slim and it is leaking from the filter. Has done it since I purchased it. Supposedly it previously had work done it. I know it's at least a stage 2, but was told by the dealer stage 4. I considered a catch can. But maybe I'll lift the rocker box first. Look forward to watching more great content. Thanks Tim. ..
Well done mate. This is everywhere now. So called techs half the time have no idea how things they work on - actually work. A mate here had his Harley not idling properly. We discussed throttle idle solenoid/throttle body etc gummed up/clean - but he took it to the dealer. Gave them the tuner box as it has stage one software etc - so they could check software loaded. They said "he had wrong software version loaded/they loaded correct". Then it wouldn't idle at all. So he brings it home, has to buy a cheap laptop (tuner not compatible with his Mac), reloads software version he HAD (they loaded wrong one) = that got bike back to "slight rough idle." THEN he just cleaned the solenoid/bypass idle (which we thought it was) = fixed. So they had NO IDEA, charged him to change what it wasn't/he had to spend money to "undo what they did" then actually fix it. As an "old bloke" it is easy to forget "what goes where/in what order." But as I understand exactly how it all works, then you know what goes where/when. If it can go in two ways, document/record it. It isn't hard. I do everything on my bikes/cars myself...........................but I have had this so many times where my family has taken vehicles to dealers because they have warranty/need service to keep it. They then stuff it up. We then wait for the warranty to run out, and then I fix it properly = no more trouble. My Dad's car, I TOLD them/SHOWED them what the problem was. They spent a couple of thousand on everything it wasn't - then I spent $100 on what I showed them it was = fixed. They often have no idea. I think what the average person now has to do is 1. Buy new vehicle and pray it is ok from factory. 2. Get is serviced and pray they ONLY change oil/fluids and do little else. Because that is the only way they won't make it worse/stuff it up. Sad but true.
wow....i'm a newbie....saw your video...after seeing 22 videos...your version is simple and way better. just bought my street glide and put my KN filter and its leeaking oil....gonna check it out. thank you. hope your continue...subscribing.
WOW, just another reason to stay away from the dealerships for service. When we find tech's like yourself it's like finding gold. I live in New Orleans and still use a guy in Burleson Tx. Well worth the time to travel for service above my pay grade. Thanks for the tip on the oil breathers.
thanks for the great info, I do all my own maintenance work on my bike and love to learn and with the shop rate so high it makes it easy to afford the tools. Looking forward to watching more of your channel. 👍😎
Thanks for sharing. I was kinda wondering why I had oil in my filter. This is my first Hallrley. Not first bike. I do enjoy working on it my self. Quality and honest work is hard to find these days. Have a good well bro 🤙🏼
Man, I have 2021 Road Glide special that started leaking oil out of the air cleaner like there is no other. Same thing dripping oil nonstop. Thank you for the info. New subscriber!
Hey man I have a 2000 heritage Softail and I'm leaking oil out of my air filter just like how was happening with your man and I haven't checked the head breathers so I'm going to check my head breathers and if it is the same problem I want to thank you from the deepest part of my heart for the assisted help thank you keep it up
Im a mechanic as well looks like your in victorville we both know we are better then Harley because we fix it not just replace parts your video was great Mitch
Nice video, now I know about those head breathers. My 07 Ultra just has some seepage coming from that rubber crossover hose externally. Guess those breathers could be clogged?
Not necessarily. A little oil venting out is normal. They come stock vented in to the intake for emission purposes, so a lot of the time you’ll see the butterfly valve on the throttle body oily. Quickest, easiest way to check the integrity of the breathers (didn’t talk about it in the video) is to drain your engine oil from the bike with your fill cap still secured/tight. If the oil flows freely, you need to change the breathers. If it gurgles back at you, you’re likely in good shape.
thanks man...just bought a 2010 ultra classic....vance hines slip ons...air breather...and fuel pack...spitting out out some oil inside the air breather...will certainly check out your recommendations
my 16' 103 used to leak oil out of the filter housing especially on hot days and riding two up? more so with the K&N high flow filter and the dealership told me it was a common problem and to just clean the filter more frequently! i used high temp grease on the backside of the filter where it buts up to the plate and it helped some on longer trips
The EPA made harley davidson run the engine blow by back into the throttle body . You dont have to leave it like that. Run it to the ground or a catch can. No more dirty air cleaner.
Great Video. Im having similar issue but it started after sitting and now it keeps leaking even after running it for awhile. 8o in EVO. does that wear out in the head over time?
New to your channel. Good video. My bikes leaking out doing the same thing. I’ve watched a few videos that show how to redirect the breather hose back into the crankcase. Problem solved…🤷🏻♂️ Your vid shows us the why it’s “puking oil”. So, thanks for that💪🏼 New subscriber now!!!
I’d be showing this video to the HD dealership who initially installed this and get my money back! That’s just frickin wrong 🤬 Tech didn’t forget!! If one cover was on and the other cylinder’s wasn’t, then I’d say they “forgot” it. But both not having the covers, just solidifies the tech didn’t know what they were doing. I would also let others know which tech/dealership did this. Customers can decide the fate of the dealership with their wallets, since obviously HD corporate won’t do squat. IMHO
You have very real, very valid points. I have had a few people request that I expose the dealership that did the work, but I will still chose to remain silent on that issue because 1) my impact on the platform is very small, and the people who do watch my videos are very seldom local to my area, and would not benefit from a warning to “stay away” 2) if some how I was able to expose the sub-par quality to Southern California, it would only make things difficult for me, because i personally know owners of growing independent shops that have been turned away at parts counters because they are seen as “competition” And lastly 3) the dealership was informed of what was found after their “repair” because the customer requested a refund on the unused part of the extended warranty, and he said explained why. So I hope that the tech was able to learn from the mistake, and will strive to do better. We all started at the bottom, and unfortunately the best learning experiences come at the expense of mistakes. I truly do appreciate the feed back, I appreciate the interaction on my page here. And if I ever have the opportunity to help you personally, I look forward to it.
It is a shame today when you go some where to get a problem fixed and you pay out of the ass for it and all you get is a good fucking and have to go some where else. so much for the qualified mechanics at some of these dealerships. get you money back for time wasted and the amount plus of what he paid to have it done the wrong way. pain and suffering added on to the total bill. fuck em stick it in their ass like they tried to stick in yours. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
@@GilstrapGarage well at least the guy who bike this is knows now who to bring his bike to to get properly fixed instead of whatever dealership it was he had working on it before. Always good to gain a new loyal customer 👍🏻
Great video. I am pretty mechanical and have done all the work on my 21 Road Glide so far, however, if I was to run across an issue I thought was above my skill level, I would always look to an Indy shop before a dealership. Indy shops usually rely on word of mouth and reputation. Also, as I found out from doing work on friend's bikes, the Indy shop would most definitely not want a come back or revisit because of shoddy work they performed.
Oh man. I picked up a '99 FXDL in the spring with 25k miles on. Log says it's had 7 owners that barely used it, still got paper labels inside the fenders. I declined a test ride until I'd been through it enough to call it safe to take around the block. It ran like crap and the brakes were unsafe. Spent a shed load of time trying to get it to run properly. Turns out someone long ago fitted an EFi non venting cap on a carb TC88. The symptoms are obvious once it's nailed down but that cap must have been on there through a bunch of unlucky people who still think a Harley is a temperamental piece of junk with bad brakes. The rear wheel was a mile out making left bends scary, front discs had wavy wear from the top slide pins being seized. Rear brake had EBC pads that were incompatible with the caliper. All topped off with fueling 525 and Vance and Hines straight shots and a big sucker. How it didn't dump someone off is a mystery. Going with S&S 509g and hopefully put big miles on it. 3rd Harley since 1988. Good luck with the channel. The list of faults caused by just about everyone that touched this one is too long to be interesting.
I wish you were closer! Had blow back on a bike that recently had cam replacement and feeling gear drive kit to replace worn out tensioners.. Refused to bring it back and had another indy look at it and it was a shotshow. He also said it was overfilled and it sumped. 6 months last Friday to be exact, I was taking same bike( 01 Fatboy) to a Rally, Same highway noticed smoke in my rear view then got off the next exit and AGAIN Oil spewed all over right side of Bike! Any thoughts? Great Video!!!
I want you working on my bike. Just because you seem to enjoy what you do and it shows in your work. You want happy customers. I'm hitting the subscribe button and look forward to your videos.
Great video and yea the STEALER (aka dealer) are good for one thing, oem parts. The techs are lacking. Unless it’s an old dude in the service department. I have two, FLHTCUI-99 and a 2002 FLHTCU carb. And I wrench in my own. Service manual and some specialty tools and time and patience. But great catch on the problem.
I have a 2003 Road King Classic. I am losing oil through the air filter. It happens when I mainatin a speed of 80-85mph for a long period of time. This happens more since I had a hydraulic oil pump installed. Do you think this may be related to the same issue you corrected?
Hey bud, I got a 2005 Road King classic with the same problem,... highway speed for 2-3 hours and she starts dripping bad. Another thing, My engine oil always reads high on the dipstick? Does your eng oil read high? My oil is always over the mark, hot or cold. I do all that myself so I know it's got the right amount in. I'm wondering if the oily filter and the high reading on the dipstick are related.
ive got same bike awsome model i like how you just slid tank down to get to front rockers cover instead of getting petrol every where im going to put a fuel quick disconect in crossover line good vids mate
I wished u lived in my town. I am the same way. I am in QC business. I hate having to override somebodies decision. I believe it goes to how someone is trained or lack of. Also the persons work ethic. Maybe he should of asked before closing it up. Wouldn’t of hurt. I would rather make sure it was right. I do a little of my own mechanics as well on my softail. Great video
Thank you for the great video and your pro approach. I have a an 2017 Iron 883 and its also leaking oil, but from the charcoal canister in front of the rear wheel. I'm not sure what can be the reason. Do you have any experience with this Evo engine? Thank a lot for your reply in advance.
the only place oil would enter that system naturally would be from the lines leading to the throttle body, but I would think that you would be able to notice the oil leak at the throttle body because that would only be a vacuum line picking it up. Did you buy the bike brand new? I had a customer bring me a (used) sportster because his primary was leaking. When I opened it I could smell gasoline. I drained it, cleaned it, ran it, and it happened again. I started looking closer and somebody had hooked up the transmission vent to the emissions evap system, and it would heat up and then when the bike would cool off it would create a syphon from the fuel vent and pull it down to the trans and primary. so the point I'm making is, if you don't know the history on the bike, it might not hurt to check that the lines are plumbed correctly
@@GilstrapGarage thanks for your reply. Yes, just bought the bike second hand and the garage just done an oil and filter change, you are correct dont know the history of the bike. Is this a serious issue, because I still have a 3 month warranty. I already mentioned it to them but they only advised to empty it. But I'm not a mechanic and not sure if ai should really touch this or take it to a specialist or to HD...
question: i have a 23 street glide and a few months ago, May 2024, I performed a stage 1 upgrade. Hi-Flow breather, head pipes, mufflers and used the screaming eagle tuner to tune the bike. The tuner is the small one, the size of a thumb drive in length. gas mileage seems to be worse, and now i have an idol issue. When at a stop light, the idol will rev up a little and then slows back down. it feels like it doesn't know to idol high or idol low and it is related to what I've done so it has to be the fuel/air is not set right. The Harley tuner only has one option for the stage 1. That is for the hi-flow breather and exhaust. Anyways, I pulled off the air breather today 7/7/24 to inspect it and noticed the side of the breather that faces the front tire was dirty. The rest of the filter was clean. I also noticed a little oily residue on the inside of the air breather casing. There was no evidence of oil on the inside of the filter, because the inside of the filter looked brand new. I really believe the bike is not tuned correctly. I paid over $400 for the tuner and I feel the tuner has made it worse. What are your thoughts?
Yeah it’s probably an issue with the tuner. Those plug and play tuners are usually not great, unless you go high end with a thunder max or something with wide band 02 sensors. Most options don’t dial in the air:fuel proper for your bikes needs, it’s just a base map and a marketing scheme really
Bloody well done m8, It's a real shame that Harley Dealerships give the buyers, "US" a bad taste in our mouth getting a new bike and the after service from the dealerships give this sort of crap service that miss putting parts back in when doing a simple head breather change/service. I'm no Harley mech' but I try to work on my own bike and if i stuff up, then it's MY butt that I kick, but if a "So called Harley Mech'" gives this sort of work, DAM!!!! There is a lot more I could write here but I'd get kicked off for "Ragging" a dealership using "Language" they don't like................ Good work brother, Keep the Wind in Ya Face and Not up your Butt" Cheers Teddy.
Good job on the work. I have a question I have a 2011 Road King and I just started noticing a little bit of oil coming from the air filter. I'm the original owner and haven't had any work done lately on it. Do you think the pieces you were talking about are loose. Bike has 19,800 miles on it.
I've had the same oil issue for over a year with 3 different mech and still not fixed. This is my first king and I'm seriously thinking of going back to roadstars .
I'm convinced too much oil is the culprit. I ride a 2017 fxdl, when I took the bike to the dealer for the first oil change after break in, shortly after riding, oil started dropping out the air cleaner. I checked the oil level after the bike sat for awhile. The oil level was up close to the HOT line. I drained out the oil change. And refilled it myself with fresh oil, only difference is the cold oil reading is exactly center between ADD and HOT.i haven't had oil dropping out of the air filter since. I've put thousands of miles on it.
That’ll definitely cause it, but in this case it was definitely the top half of the breathers missing lol. We sealed it all up the right way and never had a problem again
I am trying to find these parts online for a sportster, 2017 xl1200cx to be exact. I would like to refresh them as I notice a decent amount of oil condensate in the air cleaner. Having trouble finding the part number, as I would like to stay oem.
Great vid Gilstrap. I have the same issue with 2005 Sportster 1200R SE IV. I have been to the dealership and they told me it’s how those bikes work. To be more specific the oil is dripping from the bottom where the breather is connected. Even for a newbie like me it certainly looks like it’s dripping too much. If you have any tips or ideas it would be appreciated 😎
Sportster are a bit more prone to this and you can get kits to either direct it properly into the intake to burn or route an external pipe that just leaves it breathe into the atmosphere. The latter is better for the engine long term
My 03 xl 1200 seems to have excessive oil in the air cleaner. I can see that bike is different in design. I was going try a newer year air cleaner for the look, but it doesn't fit a carb. I did notice the ports in the bolts were much smaller than what my old bolts are. Way back people used to say it was normal and lugging the engine to low was the cause. I'll be pulling the rocker box tops to switch them to chrome, is there anything I should check for? It did this since I bought it with 4000 miles on it, I would say probably not as bad as the bike you just worked on.
Great video! I think I may have similar problem. Comming home from 400 mile ride and on the last leg home, I was on the interstate and cranked the bike to about 90 MPH for a minute or two. When my GF (who was riding alongside me) notice oil dripping fron the air breather. Got home checked it out, sure enough...oil all over the place and it was comming out of the air breather! It was odd that it only spewd oil out when at 90 MPH?? Could there be another problem?
Same thing is happening on my bike now too. I just took a 2500 mile road trip, last 200 miles I saw it dripping. But I was pushing it 90+ the whole time, and I just installed a high volume oil pump. My guess is that’s happening because of the long run time, more oil than normal is sitting in the rocker boxes, and when it gets opened up (85,90+) the amount of vacuum pulled through the intake increases enough to pull the oil through the breathers.
from test ride after the area looks like could be victorville area?? mention about hot day and terrain looked like desert. i changed all 3 holes on my 2 bikes and appears might have a small leak(s), haven't had any problems in the past when done them, all plugs have new o rings.
Yupp I was in Victorville at this time. I’m pretty far from there now though. It could just be some residual oil that was on the drain points? Wash and watch 👀
@@GilstrapGarage i looked this morning and was thinking that, not much on concrete, i'll just make sure check levels on regular basis for few weeks. thanks for reply.
I got a 2005 Road King, 96 cube, with a carburettor. I got oil coming out the air filter, not much, usually just a bead. But after about 2-3 hours at 120-140 kph it'll start to drip. Also, a while back, the eng oil started reading high on the dipstick. I do all the oils and most other stuff myself, so I know I'm not overfilling it. But I also know bikes don't make oil. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Having the same problem with my twin cam 88. Is it the same as what you just worked on in this video? I have had bikes in the past but this is my first Harley. I am starting to get a little disillusioned because of all the things that go wrong with them. For a big matcho Harley Davidson, is has many problems. Chain tensioners, leaking oil out of the air filters,ticking noises that require rocker lockers and the list goes on It’s a 2000 fxstd softail deuce. It only has 9000 miles on it. The oil is coming from the air filter is a normal thing? Do people really want to have oil running all over their chrome and then getting it baked on from all the heat?Harley had to have known this was going to happen.
Yupp, it would be the same as this. The breathers may look a little different if they haven’t been replaced since 2000, because they’ve “updated” them. Those cam chain tensioners you’re talking about do suck. They ran from 1999/2000-2006/2007 and cause destruction when they go. Keep working through those problems man! It sounds like it just needs a little love from sitting all those years.
That’s wild and great job on catching it. I got an 08 Ultra Anniversary and previous owner had a screaming eagle throttle body put on by Harley. I bought a V&H Fp3 and never could get it autotune past a certain point ((40%!TPS)). Anyways i was cleaning my bike and checking for oil leaks basically getting it ready for riding season here in Ohio and as i was looking at rear valve cover on throttle body side I noticed that A Harley tech never put back in one of the bolts on the throttle body that mounts it to rear cylinder. Anyways luckily i had a correct bolt so i went ahead and put it back in. Now mind u i never got any codes nor did I notice any real issues as far as idling etc. before hand, but i decided to try Autotune again on my Fp3 thinking maybe just maybe that was causing my FP3 not to work properly and long behold it actually now works auto-tuning my map. I am the only one who work on my cars and bikes and it things like this + ur great catch in video is the reason why plus i save $$$ doing it myself and if something gets messed up I can’t blame anyone but myself. By the way i just changed the rocker box breathers on my bike last summer so whoever the tech was clearly didn’t pay attention to what he was doing when he took it apart cause it’s a pretty easy job and to screw up like that just Wow!
Things like that happen when people are in a hurry. I think the worst thing HD could have done was switching their employees from hourly to commission, because things get rushed. I’ve seen where those throttle body mounts become loose and they don’t throw codes, but they will idle really high at start up and then come back down. There is a sense of pride doing maintenance/repair on everything yourself.
@@GilstrapGarage i didn’t realize that HD put their Techs on commission and no doubt that is why things are being overlooked. Yeah i never had any issues with high idle or anything and i bet your right about throttle bolt probably just loosened up over time and probably fell out. I know for now on to check those bolts along with many others i do every year when she has to go in my garage for winter.
I think where the problem lies is that they went from being hourly technicians to commission technicians, and now they get paid on how many bikes they can shove out the door. Less pride in the work they do. But they aren’t the only local dealership in my area putting out poor quality work.
Your the better man not calling that dealership (tech) out but if I lived in the area, I'd want to know so I can steer clear. On a side note, what are your thoughts on external breathers? I'm thinking about modifying both my M8 and '08 twin cam.
I am going to be doing some external breathers on my personal bike at some point soon. There are big benefits when it comes to keeping oil (and water too) out of the combustion chamber. The counter argument is that you are losing the vacuum your intake was pulling from the heads
@@rickeyvarga5432 the tune is critical no matter what, but yeah. As long as you have that tune dialed in you’ll be okay. You just wanna make sure the breather tubes are filtered so you don’t pull junk back in to your engine. And you gotta consider, Harley primarily only ran the oil back in to the engine for emissions purposes. Their engines were vented to the atmosphere for a looooooong time.
Ran into similar issue on my dyna Wondering if my dyna has head breathers as well? As dumb as it sounds Before I go in there and check? I notice a small leak in the air intake took it apart Cause I’m going to clean it Bike stalled on me for running hot today I even put an oil cooling system but now I have this small issue Wondering if it’s even normal Thanks hope to hear back N dope video bro keep up the great content
Yeah, all twin cam models will have this same style breather. If the problem started happening significantly after the bike got hot, you may have another issue. When you take apart your rocker covers, look for any parts that have a gold tint to them and that will be an indication of excessive heat
Took my 2015 SGS to Atlanta Harley for a safety inspection. After done drove home and saw the front brake reservoir cover was just sitting there not bolted down. I was able to just pull it off. With the bike having custom paint I was lucky not to have any fluid drip on the paint. I was pissed to say the least.
I hope the owner used your video to go back to the dealership and get every dime they charged him... Good work Sir.
Good luck getting your money back.
Video is a year old but I hope the bike owner did use your video to get at least some of his money back.
@@bogiewheelman71they’ll just say this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
"Factory trained" techs are a thing of the past. Most dealer techs, bike and car, are not properly trained and actually don't know how to do things right. I've worked on cars and bikes professionally over 40 years and never went a full year without some type of training and refresher courses as bikes and cars progressed into better machines. Great video, it's good to see young folks take pride in their work.
Thanks for the kind words! I love turning wrenches and expanding my skill set. I definitely try to keep myself humble as well
Kind of sounds like someone I've heard of in Cherry Valley, Ca.
People entrust their life to those who work on their bike. One loose bolt, one missing part can get you KILLED.
Solid work my brother! I wish Harley had more thorough techs like you.
Thanks man! I’m far from what HD would consider a tech, but I’m capable of keeping bikes running lol
Same reason I started working on my sportster…
Start with their engeneers, when you still build crap after 120 years, something is real wrong. Why not hire Japanese ingeneers like they once did for the "German" V Rod? Be honest, the quality difference is visible.
Do Evolution motors have a head breathers?@GilstrapGarage
I truly believe that word of mouth is the best advertisement and I would bet you are as busy as you want or can handle but the more times you fix a simple screw up like this the more work your going to get! I hope you get to ride more than just test rides but that's more than I have been able to do lately keep the rubber size down much respect
Its great to see an independent mechanic doing his best to help other's. Wish you lived in Dallas Texas. But all the best to ya.
Much appreciated! Thanks for watching.
In the great sea of sketchy dealer operations it's good to see some honesty, good on you Sir. Cheers.
Thank you 🙌🏻
Do not feel bad for that dealership. This is probably not the only person as you mentioned that has been burned by that place. Hack work is hack work. The service manager is not doing his job and obviously neither is the tech's. I am the senior tech at an independent Harley Davidson shop in Detroit. We see this crap all the time. We don't do the ten year garbage either. We work on any year or model Harley. I've been a master tech with over 43 years experience. I make it my mission to give the best service possible. We can't fix stupid, but we can fix their dump mistakes. Keep up the great work.
Hey, Gilstrap. Great video and a spot-on diag. We too are a small shop comprised of people who are not down with the average (at best) service that our motorcycle manufacturer's service departments are putting out. Your dialogue on the test ride echoes our sentiments exactly. Keep up the good work, bro!
My man! Thank you 🙏🏻 I’m focused way more on over all quality than I am on getting work in and out. Unfortunately, that’s how the dealers value their time.
Are you in Victorville area ?
Mechanics are like doctors. When you find one you have faith and confidence in, never let him/her go!
🙌🏻🙌🏻
Wow, just wow. How do they miss that! I mean Jesus Christ, that's a huge oversight. Nice catch man! And from what I've seen since I've started watching ur channel, u do great work man. Very capable mechanic and your attention to detail is spot on. I'd totally trust u to work on my bike any day!
That’s much appreciated! Thank you for watching
@@GilstrapGarage where are located.really enjoyed your video first time watcher thanks
@@louisvilla6312 I am in Southern California. About 40 miles south of Barstow. Thanks for watching!
Awesome job finding and fixing the issue! I hope the owner of the bike let the shop in question know their mechanic made a mistake just so it doesn’t happen again to someone else.
I’m living in your town is there a way I can get my bike to you.
Your work proves your better then what they say they are bro, don’t feel bad for calling these guys out who will fuck you over time and time again your work proves it you don’t even have to say shit about it. Keep doing what your doing .
'Certified Harley Mechanics' ...top of the food chain, lol!!! This guy here - efficiency is the key!
Awesome job fellow. Thanks for correcting the problem . It sucks that dealers don't have any experienced help. Putting on accessories is to the extent they can do. SMH
* non-engine related parts... like a phone holder. 😂😂
Harley dealer scamming a customer. Damn that dude should go back and ask for refund. Good that you made that video.
Hi Brandon, Daniel here from South Africa. Thank you for your excellent and informative video. I ride a 2016 H/D Sporster iron 883. Also experienced oil leaking from the head breather, seems to be on the back head. Thought it was a major issue, however, after watching a few clips I realised its a 'normal' procedure for the excess oil to be expelled into the air filter system. On stripping the housing I noticed theres a gap between the housing and the breather.... Will sort it out, thank you for sharing your knowledge, very much appreciated.
Good find! Thanks for watching. Glad you found the issue
You are a class act. But I hope you reached out to the service manager at the dealer in question and notify him of the many issues you're aware of following repairs made at their dealership. It may be just one mechanic that's making these mistakes. In any case notifying the dealer will hopefully prevent others from experiencing substandard maintenance and repairs.
I got burned by my local dealership. No more HD service for me. I bought service / shop manuals for my particular scooters and doing the work myself from now on. Now I'm laying out my hard earned pay on specialty tools n parts, not only am I teaching myself about wrenching on my machines, I know its done right at the end. Great video.
Great helpful video my brother.
I'm new to Harleys and just got a nice 05 electra glide with a 95ci
I noticed it puking oil terribly.
If I change those breathers will I still need a catch can or external vent?
I don't want it sucking this crap back into the throttle body.
Thanks man
I've got the same prob, gonna go with a catch can.
Great video. Nice to see an honest mechanic taking care of customers. I put a stage 1 on my 2020 Softail Standard and the Screamin' Eagle Air Breather shows a mist of oil on the right side cover. I hope I may have just put too much oil on during the installation.
You are too modest Bro. We all need more pros with your work ethic in every industry. Way to go 👍
🙌🏻 thank you!
Good diagnosis. Nice attitude to customers. Best from NZ
Thank you!
Wow, you found that right away and fixed the problem with no trouble. I love and respect your work ethic and the fact that you didn't want to bash the dealership. I wish you lived near me so that I could get on your waitlist for some work on my 87 HD FXLRC. The HD dealership I took it to charged me $350 to diagnose an electrical problem and couldn't find anything, due to the intermittent problem. My bike sputters, cuts out, runs on one cylinder (I believe), and/or just dies on me. When it happens, I turn everything off and try to restart the engine. Sometimes to it takes two or three times, then it will turn over and run smoothly. Any ideas on what the problem would be? I'm 66 but I still want to ride my Harley. I would like to keep this bad boy running so my son can get it when I'm gone. I love this vintage baby!
Where do you live Joe? I’ve got a couple ideas what it could be. Sounds like a possible short in the ignition system if it’s intermittent like that. Your ignition coils could be bad too. They may work great for a while and then cut out when they heat up.
@@GilstrapGarage I live in Aurora, Colorado.
@@joet2577 beautiful city! If you wanna ship that thing about 8hrs east to Omaha then we can make some headway on it 👍🏻
This just might be the answer I've been looking for. I seem to go through a quart of oil every couple of rides. Thanks, Brandon!! Wish you were in Arizona!
I hope so, I always wish for the easiest fix haha. If there’s anything I can help with, let me know! I wish I was in AZ too lol
@@GilstrapGarage are you in minnesota by chance...?!
@@johngonzales2416 nope. We just moved from Southern California to Omaha NE
Thanks for posting and very informative. Was having a similar issue with my 2018 107 M8 and think the issue was fixed. However, I’m going to explore some other options and upgrades to keep the bike running as long as possible. Was mostly in the hotter weather (95 plus degrees in the Southwest) and one HD dealer in California was suggesting I replace the oil pump which I declined. Potentially going to upgrade to Fueling Parts oil pump (if needed) and their breathers. Thanks again. PS, no,issues currently
A major miss on the dealers part! I would be more than a little upset and would never trust them even with a simple oil change. I love the local small shops! better quality less money. Great video!
Thank you!
The indie shops definitely tend to care a little more about the bike and the customer. It’s not just a numbers game for them
I agree with you 100% I’m not the best and I don’t claim to be, but I have been a Harley Davidson Tech for going on 5 years now and it is crazy the stuff I see that comes to my shop from a dealership.
Great video. Nice work. Good to see a conscientious, knowledgeable indy. Wish I had one around me here in N Fla.Question...how can I know if my Automatic Compression Release valves/solenoids are working? I've got a terrible rattle/knock for the first 20 or so seconds of start up. Once running, great! No knocks/rattles. Had rocker lockers installed a year ago with new gaskets.
I wished you lived by me!
Great job diagnosing and repairing the problem.
For many years now I have not taken my bikes for repair at a HD Dealer!
The best or not, you sound extremely honest and I'd let you work on my LRS any day.
That red rt in the end is dope.
I'm glad I stumbled across your channel. Subscribed. I have a 15 softail slim and it is leaking from the filter. Has done it since I purchased it. Supposedly it previously had work done it. I know it's at least a stage 2, but was told by the dealer stage 4. I considered a catch can. But maybe I'll lift the rocker box first. Look forward to watching more great content. Thanks Tim. ..
Well done mate.
This is everywhere now. So called techs half the time have no idea how things they work on - actually work.
A mate here had his Harley not idling properly. We discussed throttle idle solenoid/throttle body etc gummed up/clean - but he took it to the dealer. Gave them the tuner box as it has stage one software etc - so they could check software loaded. They said "he had wrong software version loaded/they loaded correct". Then it wouldn't idle at all. So he brings it home, has to buy a cheap laptop (tuner not compatible with his Mac), reloads software version he HAD (they loaded wrong one) = that got bike back to "slight rough idle." THEN he just cleaned the solenoid/bypass idle (which we thought it was) = fixed.
So they had NO IDEA, charged him to change what it wasn't/he had to spend money to "undo what they did" then actually fix it.
As an "old bloke" it is easy to forget "what goes where/in what order." But as I understand exactly how it all works, then you know what goes where/when. If it can go in two ways, document/record it. It isn't hard.
I do everything on my bikes/cars myself...........................but I have had this so many times where my family has taken vehicles to dealers because they have warranty/need service to keep it. They then stuff it up. We then wait for the warranty to run out, and then I fix it properly = no more trouble.
My Dad's car, I TOLD them/SHOWED them what the problem was. They spent a couple of thousand on everything it wasn't - then I spent $100 on what I showed them it was = fixed.
They often have no idea.
I think what the average person now has to do is 1. Buy new vehicle and pray it is ok from factory. 2. Get is serviced and pray they ONLY change oil/fluids and do little else. Because that is the only way they won't make it worse/stuff it up.
Sad but true.
wow....i'm a newbie....saw your video...after seeing 22 videos...your version is simple and way better. just bought my street glide and put my KN filter and its leeaking oil....gonna check it out. thank you. hope your continue...subscribing.
WOW, just another reason to stay away from the dealerships for service. When we find tech's like yourself it's like finding gold. I live in New Orleans and still use a guy in Burleson Tx. Well worth the time to travel for service above my pay grade. Thanks for the tip on the oil breathers.
That’s awesome you show your support to someone who isn’t very convenient to get to. Sounds like he does a knock out job! 🤘🏻 thanks for watching
Class act, we need more people like you. Be safe
you're awesome, good dude as well. Really hard to come by these days.
Awesome words, thank you for watching!
I know you pride yourself on your ability to do the best job possible. Beyond proud doesn't do how I feel any justice.
thanks for the great info, I do all my own maintenance work on my bike and love to learn and with the shop rate so high it makes it easy to afford the tools. Looking forward to watching more of your channel. 👍😎
Right on man! Thank you 🙏🏻 🤘🏻
Thanks for sharing. I was kinda wondering why I had oil in my filter. This is my first Hallrley. Not first bike. I do enjoy working on it my self. Quality and honest work is hard to find these days. Have a good well bro 🤙🏼
Man, I have 2021 Road Glide special that started leaking oil out of the air cleaner like there is no other. Same thing dripping oil nonstop. Thank you for the info. New subscriber!
Hey man I have a 2000 heritage Softail and I'm leaking oil out of my air filter just like how was happening with your man and I haven't checked the head breathers so I'm going to check my head breathers and if it is the same problem I want to thank you from the deepest part of my heart for the assisted help thank you keep it up
Thanks for the show on your workmanship and seem like an honest dude wish there were more peeps like you on this planet thanks again u f**ken rock!!
Thank you! I definitely don’t take on work to give people a bad experience. I just want everyone to have as much fun with their bike as I do
Awesome work my friend..just bought a 2006 Dyna definitely very informative 👍
Im a mechanic as well looks like your in victorville we both know we are better then Harley because we fix it not just replace parts your video was great Mitch
Nice video, now I know about those head breathers. My 07 Ultra just has some seepage coming from that rubber crossover hose externally. Guess those breathers could be clogged?
Not necessarily. A little oil venting out is normal. They come stock vented in to the intake for emission purposes, so a lot of the time you’ll see the butterfly valve on the throttle body oily. Quickest, easiest way to check the integrity of the breathers (didn’t talk about it in the video) is to drain your engine oil from the bike with your fill cap still secured/tight. If the oil flows freely, you need to change the breathers. If it gurgles back at you, you’re likely in good shape.
Great video !!! Thanks. How can I tell the rocker box torque specs ? Should I use loctite ?
thanks man...just bought a 2010 ultra classic....vance hines slip ons...air breather...and fuel pack...spitting out out some oil inside the air breather...will certainly check out your recommendations
my 16' 103 used to leak oil out of the filter housing especially on hot days and riding two up? more so with the K&N high flow filter and the dealership told me it was a common problem and to just clean the filter more frequently! i used high temp grease on the backside of the filter where it buts up to the plate and it helped some on longer trips
They lucky to have u as a mechanic bro ,
Good work thanks for sharing !
Thanks for watching!
@@GilstrapGarage
Hey by any chance what size and brand handle bars on the Softail ? Looks awesome
The EPA made harley davidson run the engine blow by back into the throttle body . You dont have to leave it like that. Run it to the ground or a catch can. No more dirty air cleaner.
Great video. This is exactly why I try and do my own maintenance.
Glad I found this! 2 mechanics told me motor needed rebuild??
There could be bigger problems that contribute to the same symptom, but it’s always best to start simple!
Great Video. Im having similar issue but it started after sitting and now it keeps leaking even after running it for awhile. 8o in EVO.
does that wear out in the head over time?
New to your channel. Good video. My bikes leaking out doing the same thing. I’ve watched a few videos that show how to redirect the breather hose back into the crankcase. Problem solved…🤷🏻♂️
Your vid shows us the why it’s “puking oil”. So, thanks for that💪🏼
New subscriber now!!!
Awesome! Thanks for the kind words and thanks for subscribing. Glad it helped!
Ty for the video.
I have revolution x 2015 street 750 spurting oil after 9yrs.
I’d be showing this video to the HD dealership who initially installed this and get my money back! That’s just frickin wrong 🤬 Tech didn’t forget!! If one cover was on and the other cylinder’s wasn’t, then I’d say they “forgot” it. But both not having the covers, just solidifies the tech didn’t know what they were doing. I would also let others know which tech/dealership did this. Customers can decide the fate of the dealership with their wallets, since obviously HD corporate won’t do squat. IMHO
You have very real, very valid points. I have had a few people request that I expose the dealership that did the work, but I will still chose to remain silent on that issue because
1) my impact on the platform is very small, and the people who do watch my videos are very seldom local to my area, and would not benefit from a warning to “stay away”
2) if some how I was able to expose the sub-par quality to Southern California, it would only make things difficult for me, because i personally know owners of growing independent shops that have been turned away at parts counters because they are seen as “competition”
And lastly
3) the dealership was informed of what was found after their “repair” because the customer requested a refund on the unused part of the extended warranty, and he said explained why.
So I hope that the tech was able to learn from the mistake, and will strive to do better. We all started at the bottom, and unfortunately the best learning experiences come at the expense of mistakes.
I truly do appreciate the feed back, I appreciate the interaction on my page here. And if I ever have the opportunity to help you personally, I look forward to it.
It is a shame today when you go some where to get a problem fixed and you pay out of the ass for it and all you get is a good fucking and have to go some where else. so much for the qualified mechanics at some of these dealerships. get you money back for time wasted and the amount plus of what he paid to have it done the wrong way.
pain and suffering added on to the total bill. fuck em stick it in their ass like they tried to stick in yours. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
@@GilstrapGarage well at least the guy who bike this is knows now who to bring his bike to to get properly fixed instead of whatever dealership it was he had working on it before. Always good to gain a new loyal customer 👍🏻
Mind blown! Respect to you sir!
Great video. I am pretty mechanical and have done all the work on my 21 Road Glide so far, however, if I was to run across an issue I thought was above my skill level, I would always look to an Indy shop before a dealership. Indy shops usually rely on word of mouth and reputation. Also, as I found out from doing work on friend's bikes, the Indy shop would most definitely not want a come back or revisit because of shoddy work they performed.
Oh man.
I picked up a '99 FXDL in the spring with 25k miles on.
Log says it's had 7 owners that barely used it, still got paper labels inside the fenders.
I declined a test ride until I'd been through it enough to call it safe to take around the block.
It ran like crap and the brakes were unsafe.
Spent a shed load of time trying to get it to run properly.
Turns out someone long ago fitted an EFi non venting cap on a carb TC88.
The symptoms are obvious once it's nailed down but that cap must have been on there through a bunch of unlucky people who still think a Harley is a temperamental piece of junk with bad brakes.
The rear wheel was a mile out making left bends scary, front discs had wavy wear from the top slide pins being seized.
Rear brake had EBC pads that were incompatible with the caliper.
All topped off with fueling 525 and Vance and Hines straight shots and a big sucker.
How it didn't dump someone off is a mystery.
Going with S&S 509g and hopefully put big miles on it.
3rd Harley since 1988.
Good luck with the channel.
The list of faults caused by just about everyone that touched this one is too long to be interesting.
I wish you were closer! Had blow back on a bike that recently had cam replacement and feeling gear drive kit to replace worn out tensioners.. Refused to bring it back and had another indy look at it and it was a shotshow. He also said it was overfilled and it sumped. 6 months last Friday to be exact, I was taking same bike( 01 Fatboy) to a Rally, Same highway noticed smoke in my rear view then got off the next exit and AGAIN Oil spewed all over right side of Bike! Any thoughts? Great Video!!!
I want you working on my bike. Just because you seem to enjoy what you do and it shows in your work. You want happy customers. I'm hitting the subscribe button and look forward to your videos.
That’s awesome man, thank you for that. And thank you for watching!
good thing you took some video of the problem, the attorney may want to use that in court, if it gets to that point./ nice video keep em coming.
Great video and yea the STEALER (aka dealer) are good for one thing, oem parts. The techs are lacking. Unless it’s an old dude in the service department. I have two, FLHTCUI-99 and a 2002 FLHTCU carb. And I wrench in my own. Service manual and some specialty tools and time and patience. But great catch on the problem.
I have a 2003 Road King Classic. I am losing oil through the air filter. It happens when I mainatin a speed of 80-85mph for a long period of time. This happens more since I had a hydraulic oil pump installed. Do you think this may be related to the same issue you corrected?
Hey bud, I got a 2005 Road King classic with the same problem,... highway speed for 2-3 hours and she starts dripping bad.
Another thing,
My engine oil always reads high on the dipstick?
Does your eng oil read high?
My oil is always over the mark, hot or cold.
I do all that myself so I know it's got the right amount in.
I'm wondering if the oily filter and the high reading on the dipstick are related.
ive got same bike awsome model i like how you just slid tank down to get to front rockers cover instead of getting petrol every where im going to put a fuel quick disconect in crossover line good vids mate
I added a quick disconnect line on my personal bike.I do everything I can to avoid opening fuel lines 😅 thanks for watching!
I wished u lived in my town. I am the same way. I am in QC business. I hate having to override somebodies decision. I believe it goes to how someone is trained or lack of. Also the persons work ethic. Maybe he should of asked before closing it up. Wouldn’t of hurt. I would rather make sure it was right. I do a little of my own mechanics as well on my softail. Great video
Thanks for watching man! A lot of people do their job just to make their money. Some of us need the satisfaction from a job well done though.
Thank you for the great video and your pro approach. I have a an 2017 Iron 883 and its also leaking oil, but from the charcoal canister in front of the rear wheel. I'm not sure what can be the reason. Do you have any experience with this Evo engine? Thank a lot for your reply in advance.
the only place oil would enter that system naturally would be from the lines leading to the throttle body, but I would think that you would be able to notice the oil leak at the throttle body because that would only be a vacuum line picking it up. Did you buy the bike brand new? I had a customer bring me a (used) sportster because his primary was leaking. When I opened it I could smell gasoline. I drained it, cleaned it, ran it, and it happened again. I started looking closer and somebody had hooked up the transmission vent to the emissions evap system, and it would heat up and then when the bike would cool off it would create a syphon from the fuel vent and pull it down to the trans and primary. so the point I'm making is, if you don't know the history on the bike, it might not hurt to check that the lines are plumbed correctly
@@GilstrapGarage thanks for your reply. Yes, just bought the bike second hand and the garage just done an oil and filter change, you are correct dont know the history of the bike. Is this a serious issue, because I still have a 3 month warranty. I already mentioned it to them but they only advised to empty it. But I'm not a mechanic and not sure if ai should really touch this or take it to a specialist or to HD...
question: i have a 23 street glide and a few months ago, May 2024, I performed a stage 1 upgrade. Hi-Flow breather, head pipes, mufflers and used the screaming eagle tuner to tune the bike. The tuner is the small one, the size of a thumb drive in length. gas mileage seems to be worse, and now i have an idol issue. When at a stop light, the idol will rev up a little and then slows back down. it feels like it doesn't know to idol high or idol low and it is related to what I've done so it has to be the fuel/air is not set right. The Harley tuner only has one option for the stage 1. That is for the hi-flow breather and exhaust. Anyways, I pulled off the air breather today 7/7/24 to inspect it and noticed the side of the breather that faces the front tire was dirty. The rest of the filter was clean. I also noticed a little oily residue on the inside of the air breather casing. There was no evidence of oil on the inside of the filter, because the inside of the filter looked brand new. I really believe the bike is not tuned correctly. I paid over $400 for the tuner and I feel the tuner has made it worse. What are your thoughts?
Yeah it’s probably an issue with the tuner. Those plug and play tuners are usually not great, unless you go high end with a thunder max or something with wide band 02 sensors. Most options don’t dial in the air:fuel proper for your bikes needs, it’s just a base map and a marketing scheme really
Good old Harley Davidson in Victorville fuck that place
the guy had to had part on his tabel when he was done right the top part had to buy a newone????
Good Job... sad to see this was down to the bike from a Dealership...
Bloody well done m8, It's a real shame that Harley Dealerships give the buyers, "US" a bad taste in our mouth getting a new bike and the after service from the dealerships give this sort of crap service that miss putting parts back in when doing a simple head breather change/service. I'm no Harley mech' but I try to work on my own bike and if i stuff up, then it's MY butt that I kick, but if a "So called Harley Mech'" gives this sort of work, DAM!!!! There is a lot more I could write here but I'd get kicked off for "Ragging" a dealership using "Language" they don't like................ Good work brother, Keep the Wind in Ya Face and Not up your Butt" Cheers Teddy.
That crank case was breathing really well. No doubt bout it.
I think you've answered my problem. Can this be done at home?
Good job on the work. I have a question I have a 2011 Road King and I just started noticing a little bit of oil coming from the air filter. I'm the original owner and haven't had any work done lately on it. Do you think the pieces you were talking about are loose. Bike has 19,800 miles on it.
They probably aren’t loose, but it is a service item, it may just be time to replace them
Good stuff Brandon, cheers to you from Oz
Thank you!
I've had the same oil issue for over a year with 3 different mech and still not fixed. This is my first king and I'm seriously thinking of going back to roadstars .
I'm convinced too much oil is the culprit. I ride a 2017 fxdl, when I took the bike to the dealer for the first oil change after break in, shortly after riding, oil started dropping out the air cleaner. I checked the oil level after the bike sat for awhile. The oil level was up close to the HOT line. I drained out the oil change. And refilled it myself with fresh oil, only difference is the cold oil reading is exactly center between ADD and HOT.i haven't had oil dropping out of the air filter since. I've put thousands of miles on it.
That’ll definitely cause it, but in this case it was definitely the top half of the breathers missing lol. We sealed it all up the right way and never had a problem again
@@GilstrapGarage you're right! The breathers weren't installed correctly, my first thought was they were installed by a amateur..
Same happened to me. Too much oil from the dealership oil change.
great job , like the way you were trouble shooting the problem very good info keep up the great work
Thank you!
I am trying to find these parts online for a sportster, 2017 xl1200cx to be exact. I would like to refresh them as I notice a decent amount of oil condensate in the air cleaner. Having trouble finding the part number, as I would like to stay oem.
Thanks for this video brother. I just bought a 2014 fat bob that is doing this 🤘
I have a 2017 Ultra. What is the best cure for oil blow -by, and dripping oil from the air cleaner?
Great vid Gilstrap. I have the same issue with 2005 Sportster 1200R SE IV. I have been to the dealership and they told me it’s how those bikes work. To be more specific the oil is dripping from the bottom where the breather is connected. Even for a newbie like me it certainly looks like it’s dripping too much. If you have any tips or ideas it would be appreciated 😎
Sportster are a bit more prone to this and you can get kits to either direct it properly into the intake to burn or route an external pipe that just leaves it breathe into the atmosphere. The latter is better for the engine long term
My 03 xl 1200 seems to have excessive oil in the air cleaner. I can see that bike is different in design. I was going try a newer year air cleaner for the look, but it doesn't fit a carb. I did notice the ports in the bolts were much smaller than what my old bolts are. Way back people used to say it was normal and lugging the engine to low was the cause. I'll be pulling the rocker box tops to switch them to chrome, is there anything I should check for? It did this since I bought it with 4000 miles on it, I would say probably not as bad as the bike you just worked on.
I like you channel. Solid work. What you think of rocker lockers for my twin cam?
Thanks for the feedback! I run them in notoriously noisy bikes. My personal Dyna had a set in there. They are cheap, and they do make a difference
Do I need to Torque the bolts putting the head breather cover back on
I never knew of this potential issue , I'm glad I discovered your video. Thank you for sharing your motorcycle know how . I am subscribing .
Thank you for that!
Great video! I think I may have similar problem. Comming home from 400 mile ride and on the last leg home, I was on the interstate and cranked the bike to about 90 MPH for a minute or two. When my GF (who was riding alongside me) notice oil dripping fron the air breather. Got home checked it out, sure enough...oil all over the place and it was comming out of the air breather! It was odd that it only spewd oil out when at 90 MPH?? Could there be another problem?
Same thing is happening on my bike now too. I just took a 2500 mile road trip, last 200 miles I saw it dripping. But I was pushing it 90+ the whole time, and I just installed a high volume oil pump. My guess is that’s happening because of the long run time, more oil than normal is sitting in the rocker boxes, and when it gets opened up (85,90+) the amount of vacuum pulled through the intake increases enough to pull the oil through the breathers.
from test ride after the area looks like could be victorville area?? mention about hot day and terrain looked like desert. i changed all 3 holes on my 2 bikes and appears might have a small leak(s), haven't had any problems in the past when done them, all plugs have new o rings.
Yupp I was in Victorville at this time. I’m pretty far from there now though. It could just be some residual oil that was on the drain points? Wash and watch 👀
@@GilstrapGarage i looked this morning and was thinking that, not much on concrete, i'll just make sure check levels on regular basis for few weeks.
thanks for reply.
I got a 2005 Road King, 96 cube, with a carburettor.
I got oil coming out the air filter, not much, usually just a bead.
But after about 2-3 hours at 120-140 kph it'll start to drip.
Also, a while back, the eng oil started reading high on the dipstick.
I do all the oils and most other stuff myself, so I know I'm not overfilling it.
But I also know bikes don't make oil.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Having the same problem with my twin cam 88. Is it the same as what you just worked on in this video?
I have had bikes in the past but this is my first Harley. I am starting to get a little disillusioned because of all the things that go wrong with them. For a big matcho Harley Davidson, is has many problems. Chain tensioners, leaking oil out of the air filters,ticking noises that require rocker lockers and the list goes on
It’s a 2000 fxstd softail deuce. It only has 9000 miles on it. The oil is coming from the air filter is a normal thing? Do people really want to have oil running all over their chrome and then getting it baked on from all the heat?Harley had to have known this was going to happen.
Yupp, it would be the same as this. The breathers may look a little different if they haven’t been replaced since 2000, because they’ve “updated” them. Those cam chain tensioners you’re talking about do suck. They ran from 1999/2000-2006/2007 and cause destruction when they go. Keep working through those problems man! It sounds like it just needs a little love from sitting all those years.
That’s wild and great job on catching it. I got an 08 Ultra Anniversary and previous owner had a screaming eagle throttle body put on by Harley. I bought a V&H Fp3 and never could get it autotune past a certain point ((40%!TPS)). Anyways i was cleaning my bike and checking for oil leaks basically getting it ready for riding season here in Ohio and as i was looking at rear valve cover on throttle body side I noticed that A Harley tech never put back in one of the bolts on the throttle body that mounts it to rear cylinder. Anyways luckily i had a correct bolt so i went ahead and put it back in. Now mind u i never got any codes nor did I notice any real issues as far as idling etc. before hand, but i decided to try Autotune again on my Fp3 thinking maybe just maybe that was causing my FP3 not to work properly and long behold it actually now works auto-tuning my map. I am the only one who work on my cars and bikes and it things like this + ur great catch in video is the reason why plus i save $$$ doing it myself and if something gets messed up I can’t blame anyone but myself. By the way i just changed the rocker box breathers on my bike last summer so whoever the tech was clearly didn’t pay attention to what he was doing when he took it apart cause it’s a pretty easy job and to screw up like that just Wow!
Things like that happen when people are in a hurry. I think the worst thing HD could have done was switching their employees from hourly to commission, because things get rushed.
I’ve seen where those throttle body mounts become loose and they don’t throw codes, but they will idle really high at start up and then come back down.
There is a sense of pride doing maintenance/repair on everything yourself.
@@GilstrapGarage i didn’t realize that HD put their Techs on commission and no doubt that is why things are being overlooked. Yeah i never had any issues with high idle or anything and i bet your right about throttle bolt probably just loosened up over time and probably fell out. I know for now on to check those bolts along with many others i do every year when she has to go in my garage for winter.
I think you should say the name of the dealership toward other people and hopefully someone will do something about it
I think where the problem lies is that they went from being hourly technicians to commission technicians, and now they get paid on how many bikes they can shove out the door. Less pride in the work they do. But they aren’t the only local dealership in my area putting out poor quality work.
Too much drugs happening at that DEALER, and HARLEY DAVIDSON should be made aware so they can shut that dealer down .
Your the better man not calling that dealership (tech) out but if I lived in the area, I'd want to know so I can steer clear. On a side note, what are your thoughts on external breathers? I'm thinking about modifying both my M8 and '08 twin cam.
I am going to be doing some external breathers on my personal bike at some point soon. There are big benefits when it comes to keeping oil (and water too) out of the combustion chamber. The counter argument is that you are losing the vacuum your intake was pulling from the heads
But nothing a good tune can't resolve, right???
@@rickeyvarga5432 the tune is critical no matter what, but yeah. As long as you have that tune dialed in you’ll be okay. You just wanna make sure the breather tubes are filtered so you don’t pull junk back in to your engine. And you gotta consider, Harley primarily only ran the oil back in to the engine for emissions purposes. Their engines were vented to the atmosphere for a looooooong time.
That is disgusting,paying good money for a slack ass job.
Ran into similar issue on my dyna
Wondering if my dyna has head breathers as well? As dumb as it sounds
Before I go in there and check?
I notice a small leak in the air intake took it apart
Cause I’m going to clean it
Bike stalled on me for running hot today
I even put an oil cooling system but now I have this small issue
Wondering if it’s even normal
Thanks hope to hear back
N dope video bro keep up the great content
Yeah, all twin cam models will have this same style breather. If the problem started happening significantly after the bike got hot, you may have another issue.
When you take apart your rocker covers, look for any parts that have a gold tint to them and that will be an indication of excessive heat
@@GilstrapGarage thanks man will check it out
Took my 2015 SGS to Atlanta Harley for a safety inspection. After done drove home and saw the front brake reservoir cover was just sitting there not bolted down. I was able to just pull it off. With the bike having custom paint I was lucky not to have any fluid drip on the paint. I was pissed to say the least.
You have a great channel keep the good videos coming.