I have a 2005 Road Glide that has a twin cam 88 with a 95 inch big bore kit. I bought the bike this spring and about a month after i did it developed an oil leak on the front cylinder. It seems to be coming out from the exhaust port around the exhaust pipe. It IS NOT a head gasket or rocker box gasket. I am getting ready to take it apart and start searching for the problem. Im looking for any ideas to what it might be before i dig in so i know what to look for. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Before you tear into it, I would be sure to locate exactly where it was leaking from by cleaning it down thoroughly and running the engine. Not too many places where it can leak from there other then the rocker box or head gasket, best to find out before tearing into it.

Generally the head gasket will be below the level of the pipe but the rocker gasket would trickle down from above. Of course the wind can blow the oil around when riding so try cleaning it first to locate the leak.

 

Thank you for the advice peppi i guess i should have included that this has been going on all riding season. During the season i cleaned it up and im certain its coming from the exhaust port. I have heard that the studs for the exhaust system can crack an oil passage in the head. Do you know if that is true? If so i have heard that can be fixed with a bit of JB weld on the exhaust stud.

 

There are a few problems that can cause the oil from the exhaust port as you are seeing on your bike which also include a problem with a valve seal too. Hard to tell unless you get into it a bit just where the oil is coming from. You may have to drop that pipe and see if the oil appears on the interior of the exhaust port or if it is coming from elsewhere.

 

Thats true peppi and i do have full intentions of digging in finding it and fixing it. Its just that im a farmer and right now is harvest time so i havent had much time to worry about bikes right now. So im just trying to gather any information that might help me so i might know what to look for when i get into it. I do appreciate your help.

 

Yeah i would take the pipe off not very hard to do. Hope you get your crops in before weather hits we finished getting our soybeans in last week thank to not having any rain lately.

 

Be sure to let us know what you find.

Good luck with the crops too.

 

Yeah we are done with our beans and we are into corn a little bit and our corn has looked real good so far this year hopefully it goes well with no breakdowns. I intend on starting with the exhaust pipe and searching from there. So hopefully its not a cracked head or something.

 

If your blowing oil out of exhaust port....then your blowing white smoke out of the tail.. No smoke...then oil is leaking from above

 

Thanks for the heads up Wheel. Im not blowing it out the tail pipe and smoking. It blows a little smoke but no more than my last bike did with the same motor. I think the leak is coming from the bottom exhaust stud. I have heard that there is a oil passage behind that stud that you can crack if you tighten the exhaust too tight.