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[r0de_runr]

Inexpensive fix for oil in air cleaner

I obtained a used backing plate for my 2012 CVO, drilled and tapped a 1/8 NPT hole in each breather, installed brass fittings, and 1/4 ID high temp fuel line.  Use a vacuum tube y splitter and just ran it under the motor behind where all the crap from the oil changes accumulates.

[r0de_runr]

the threaded fitting

[Para Bellum]

Well done.

[TinSpinner]

If you're getting enough oil in the air cleaner that you need to install a drain then I'm thinking you are running your engine oil level too high and it's puking oil into the breather. Most here will agree that the full mark on the oil dipstick is a little too much, a few ounces less and you won't have the oily breather problem.

[r0de_runr]

Thank you, been there done that.  I've tried all the other remedies, this is my 4th Big Twin Harley, all of them dripped oil out of the AC.  This fixes it, and has the other benefit of eliminating the crud in the combustion chamber from the oily mist in the PCV chain.

I use 3 qts at every oil change, which puts me about midway up the dipstick.

I think it is because I routinely lug the motor, riding down around 2k rpm.  LOL.

[grc]

    More likely because you're running WOT at high rpm.

The point made by TinSpinner is valid though.  These engines should not put enough oil into the air cleaner to make it necessary to just give up and vent everything to the atmosphere (and drip oil on the ground right in front of your tire).  Unfortunately Harley has chosen to avoid the subject for decades and hasn't come up with a real fix, much less even acknowledge the problem.  But since many bikes don't have this problem, obviously it is not "normal".  Rather than chase an elusive "fix", many people have chosen to just vent everything to atmosphere and bypass the air cleaner completely.  Some use collection devices that have to be drained every so often, most homemade versions do not.  To each his own I suppose, but the engineer in me hates to see having to resort to this sort of thing just because Harley won't identify and fix the real problems causing it in the first place.

Jerry