This old girl has a custom catch can that doesn't seal well and a road vent that always dribbles to remind my wife how much she hates this it even when she can't see it. I scored some cast off copper bits from a neighbor and picked up a few brass and copper bits to create a vented catch can with a drain plug.
I'm going to solder the fittings on to the copper caps and then solder the caps on to the 2" tube after I cut it to length. This will eliminate the road draft vent and the poorly fitted drain plug on the current overflow can.
Well damn. Transmission started acting weird last week. Hard to engage gears at times when hot and couldn't engage gears at all a few times. Off to the resource review.
wawazat said:Well damn. Transmission started acting weird last week. Hard to engage gears at times when hot and couldn't engage gears at all a few times. Off to the resource review.
separate lube reservoir from engine, i assume? if so, maybe it's dry?
While the engine has a separate reservoir, the trans does not. Did oil change and trans fluid last summer and have less than 1000 miles on the new stuff. Thanks though.
Check the primary chain tension.
Thanks. I'll look in to that this weekend.
I was poking around CL and found these for sale. 
I called Ohlins Tech support and after a few days heard back. They said these would fit and work fine even though they were intended for a bagger. Well less than 50% of new and are beautiful. Seller was a great guy and easy to work with. I need to up the spring rate and will reach back out to Ohlins tomorrow. Got the spammers, the instructions and even the stickers!
Today at lunch I decided to knock out this copper puke cannister to replace the leaking piece on the bike now. I posted some pieces of the pieces a few posts back. One end cap has a barbed fitting overflow and the other end cap has a sintered bronze breather (top) and drain plug (bottom). I've put it together so that it can be drained while on the kick-stand. I'll use the breather as an overflow signal. Tonight I'l remove the old leaking pieces and clean up the oil and collected crud.
I used the line to locate the top of the tube for placement of the caps
Tonight I'll clean off the flux and then mount it.
Dr. Hess (Forum Supporter) said:Check the primary chain tension.
Primary is a belt not a chain. Local tech who has worked on it before thought it was shift forks being out of whack.
Well, 20 miles by tech and then another 30 by me and problem isn't manifesting now. Hmmm. However, tech did note that pushrod center seal is leaking like a sieve. It must be in retaliation for the better catch can I made.
Pushrod covers are the first place it will leak if venting is compromised.
I am concerned that the sintered bronze filter will be restrictive, the vapor exiting will always carry some amount of oil with it. You're still going to need a piece of cardboard to catch the drips. Any kind of filter just collects oil to drip after shutdown. The vapor exiting that can will coat everything behind it with oil and drip after shutdown.
Interesting. I'll keep an eye on that. The previous catch can leaked from the drain plug and from the road vent tube out of the tank. I can pull the vent plug pretty easily and vent to atmosphere as a test.
You do, of course, realize that your bike is the only Harley on the planet with a catch can, right?
I do now! I’m tired of cleaning up my driveway and garage floor after forgetting a pan or cardboard. Plus I come from a machinery and production background and oil leaks are always things to be fixed not to be ignored. The Cougar leaks are being fixed now so spotlight will be on the Harley.
Cork pushrod tube seals were crispy and leaky. Now neither. I'm picking it up tonight and will try and mount the Ohlin's tomorrow assuming spacer selection and bolts allow it.
Bad news-Trans is now leaking from what appears to be the output shaft area. Yay.
Good news-The Ohlins are mounted up and are remarkable! Unfortunately I misplaced the spanners but got the adjusters locked together and have put some miles on it and Im really pleased with how much better the ride is now that I have both suspension travel and a almost no spring pre-load. I'm going to crank some in tonight but the ride is great.
Bad news-New problem. While doing the test ride post shock install the bike stumbled a bunch and shut down in me three times in traffic. Thinking I was out of fuel, I flipped the petcock lever to RES and problem went away...for a mile or so...then returned shutting the motor down and forcing me off on to the shoulder. Tank levels were about 50% at that time. I flipped the petcock lever off RES and back to ON and she fired back up. I filled up the tanks and headed for home (1.5 miles) where the bike shut down twice more. Same petcock action got the motor running again. Last night I pulled the fuel filter (sintered bronze element) and saw nothing. Blasted it out with compressed air, then brake cleaner, then compressed air again. It ran much better today but still exhibited some slight stumbles, most notably when turning right (petcock on LH side of bike). What are failure modes of MC petcocks? This appears to be an aftermarket Dragmaster petcock and I'm wondering if the inlet screen may be blocked. Anything else to look at?
Yeah, those 4 speed transmissions do that. Pull the primary, remove the sprocket (good time for a new one if you need it), drill a hole in the big seal metal part, put a dent puller in the hole and pull the seal out. There's also another small seal between the 2 shafts (one inside the other.) Replace that one too. And, you can buy a sprocket nut with a seal built into it. Get one of those too. Get used to checking your transmission oil level when you check your engine oil level. It's a shovelhead thang.
What carb is on that bike? Is that an S&S Super E? How old is the fuel line? Put a new fuel line on it just for the hell of it. They tend to break down. Pull the carb bottom bowl and look for bits of fuel line or other garbage. Clean it all out and make sure the float valve is OK. If you replace the petcock, get a Pingle. They are the best. Look online for a discount price.
Thanks...again! I need to get the Cougar off the lift so I can get this thing off the ground. I was told I may need a super nut and the shaft-in-a-shaft seal. The shop quoted me 4 hours labor plus parts to do the job. The trans plug is chewed up due to age and apparent removal via angry beaver in the past. I'll keep a closer eye on it. I did buy a bunch of CRC brake cleaner and a 1.5 gallon jug of some type of degreaser solution that was on-sale just to clean this thing up so I got that going for me!
Yup, S&S Super E that I rebuilt last summer with new gaskets and jets as it was pig rich and wouldn't pull above 50 mph at all.
No idea on fuel line vintage but I'll look at replacing it. The current line is wrapped with a second layer of rubber hose and a metal spring to keep it off the cylinder cooling fins I assume. I hit it with compressed air after reassembling the filter.
I was looking at the Pingel's earlier today. Seemed to be the best option available. Off to buy more parts!
Got outta the house for a bit and put about 20 miles on with no issues at all. I haven’t ordered the petcock yet and will hold off for now. Nice weather for the next few days so I’ll roll up some more miles and see how she does.
The Ohlins continue to impress!
Alright, it appears the fuel filter reverse blast was the ticket. No more fuel delivery issues.
Clean out the tanks. Take them off, fill, dump, etc. If there is rust or crud in them, dump a package of BB's in with some water or whatever and shake it up real good. I personally don't like tank liners, as they come off in flakes that will clog up the system.
wawazat said:Tonight I'll clean off the flux and then mount it.
Please polish it before you mount it. I promise it changes the whole appearance.
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