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New with a problem!

606 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  stever975
Hey guys. New to Seattle and this forum and very excited.

Have a problem though ? had a 2012 vrod muscle shipped from Jackson hole Wyoming and it has been sitting for about two years.

She is blowing oil all over the place but only has 600 miles. From the cylinder head gasket it looks like. I’ve heard to put heavier oil but it’s about to be summer or some stop leak. I think the gasket should be ok even though it was expanding and contracting in the garage. The breather tubes were the other suggestion

Pretty bummed because labor to take it apart will be too much for me right now. Friend said just bite the bullet and dump the bike ?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated as I love it and want her purring.
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Pull the airfilter box, check front and rear breather hoses closely. Cheap and easy fix.
ive been doing my research and trying my best to find them....would you be able to post a pic of where they are? outside of the ones in air filter box I feel like i am just guessing :(
ive been doing my research and trying my best to find them....would you be able to post a pic of where they are? outside of the ones in air filter box I feel like i am just guessing :(
The breather hoses he was referring to are in the air box but the connections you need to check are where these terminate on the front and rear cam covers under the air box.

The one on the rear cam cover is often not reconnected properly when the air filter box is replaced following a service. The front breather hose fits straight into the front cam cover tube and usually gets connected OK since the cover won't fit right if the connection isn't made.

Here's a picture of the upper engine:

  1. Ground strap
  2. Radiator hose P-clamp
  3. Front cylinder breather tube
  4. Rear cylinder breather tube (shows location not the actual tube)
  5. Cable strap
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I agree with stever975 but I must say I got a tidy discount on my R Model when I bought it because it too sat for over a year, the owner took it to a good local H-D dealer to install a new battery and guess what ? Yup, they did not get the fwd breather hose on the breather tube - oil was migrating down the fwd cylinder and I was concerned. So the H-D mech was able to force the airbox into place with the fwd tube not slipped over the breather tube. Idiots. Most don't work on these bikes because they don't break and they know nothing about them. Unless your bike has been raced, abused over and over I doubt the head gasket is the problem. Clean up all the oil, reset the breather hoses, all will probably be OK. Please explain the expanding/contracting head gasket whats that ?
I couldnt be more appreciative of this. i really am....and no the bike hasn't been abused in any way. literaly 606 miles on it.

i was concerned as it has been sitting in Jackson Hole Wyoming that has a harsh cold season and can have beautiful summers. I thought that it could have to deal with some of the plastic in the gaskets freezing cold and shrinking then expanding too quickly. it sat for a good 2 years just being cranked once a month as I was in another state.

i will do exactly what you have suggested

again many many thanks
Stever975-

been a minute but finally got to this. there was litearlly no front cynlinder breather tube. i think streetrodracer even had the same problem. they replaced the battery and it lierally looked like they took the whole compartment apart. the battery strap was basically melted through and hanging OVER the breather tube. what i can glean

in the immediate what is the heavies oild you think i should run?
Stever975-
in the immediate what is the heavies oild you think i should run?
Amsoil 20W-50 synthetic motorcycle oil (4.97 quarts) is pretty much the approved solution around here for V-Rod's.
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drained her and replaced oil with full synthetic. she is still blowing all over the place. the breather tubes are cleared out and i fear its now a gasket problem as its all the way up on the fins and trickling down. seems like they will need to remove rocker covers and look where there is a leak or maybe a bad gasket.

any other thoughts?

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drained her and replaced oil with full synthetic. she is still blowing all over the place. the breather tubes are cleared out and i fear its now a gasket problem as its all the way up on the fins and trickling down. seems like they will need to remove rocker covers and look where there is a leak or maybe a bad gasket.

any other thoughts?
I doubt it's a gasket if the cam covers haven't been replaced recently. The VRSC engine isn't prone to gasket leaks (unless miss-installed).
Where is the oil coming from? What do you mean "blowing all over the place"?
How much oil did you add?
How did you measure oil level (bike should be up right and level not on the side stand)?​
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