Well, a Buell actually.
My brother has a Buell Thunderbolt with a pretty big oil leak. At the top of each cylinder head is a chrome banjo fitting that allows oil to flow over to the opposite heat.
He's looking at the bottom of the bike because gravity sends the oil that way, I grabbed one of the chrome nuts and got two turns on it. Got two and a half on the other, and there was a trail fro there down the jug and eventually ended up under the drain plug.
I assume there's some kind of copper or aluminum gasket between the banjo and the head, but can anyone tell me for sure? Harley dealers are not forthcoming with help even when you're standing at the counter with a fistful of cash. Must be nice.
Thank you, Dan
You must be going to the wrong dealer then. The ones I've gone to are happy to take your money.
I'm not familiar with that particular model, but in general, a copper crush washer is between the banjo fittings everywhere else, even on Harleys. I'd just pick some up from the local auto parts store. Bring the old one in to match up the size.
Now, where exactly is this banjo fitting? On a later big twin evo, they went with umbrella valves in the heads and breathers as you describe on the right side of the motor just behind and to the sides of the carb/throttle body. There should also be a hose connecting the banjo fittings to the air cleaner. Most people route that hose down to the ground. I was not aware that Sportsters adopted this "top breather" arrangement, but I guess Buell or the later bikes might have. Note that this is not to allow oil to flow to the opposite head, but to vent blow by gasses.
If you want, I can give you the number of the local dealer. Their parts people are pretty good and friendly. They used to be a Buell dealer, still have the sign on the outside wall, and they would look it up for you and sell you some, I'm sure. I don't know if they ship or not. BikerBobsStore.com is a dealer in Chicago and they will ship. You can call them up too and order your stuff. If you know the part number, you can order it online, but the lookup function wasn't that good last I looked. Also keep in mind that The Big Riding Season (Sturgis) is just about hitting, so all the dealers are going to be swamped.
Hess got it. These are your valve cover breathers. Replace those crush washers and screw in those banjos tight. Route the lines that come off them into your breather or down to the ground. Some guys also route them to a catch can but I think that's over kill. You'll take care of your leak.
If you want to fix these permanently then go get some valve covers from a new XB series and use the PCV valves installed from the factory. Those handle the gases and oil mist much better. Retro fit the new parts to the older bike and you'll benefit from factory R&D. They knew these banjo things were a band aid fix.
I also use synthetic oil as these motors don't control oil very well. Synth doesn't foam as much so it cuts down on the crap these parts are designed to evacuate from the head.
Might also want to search at www.badweatherbikers.com. Best site on the web for tuber info. Search the archives and every question you'll ever ask has already been answered.
Thanks guys! The bike is on vacation for two weeks down south, but you're right, they are breathers. It has an aftermaket air cleaner on it so the hoses are routed into small (1.5" dia. X 1") chrome breathers.
This poor bike was owned by a kid before Mike bought it. He stripped off the plastic, put on some kind of mask up front for a fairing, replaced the turn signals with itsy bitsy LEDs, tucked the license plate up under the seat; you know the look. We brought it back to stock over the last winter.
I'm afraid I like this thing a lot! He's talking about selling it at the end of the season, if he does I can post it here, well under $2k.
Thanks for the help, Dan
