New to the forum and Harleys and looking for some help. Just picked up an '05 Harley. After a good ride I'm getting oil sweating from the top of the head. Not sure if this is normal, related to posts I've seen about valve seals or something bad. Any thoughts/advice would be appreciaited.

Thanks
Pg

 

How many miles on the bike? Has the motor been built? My guess is taht the head gasket has been reused. If it has extremely low mileage there is a chance the gasket has dried out. I would also assume that it has synthetic oil? I would first try running some regular oil for a few hundred miles and see if that changes it. Clean the engien real good and see what happens. Often times synthetic oil in a "new" engine can cause this to happen if teh gaskets are not fully seated.

Drew

 

Yeah, it's just a leaking rocker box gasket. The oil tends too puddle up at the front on the front cylinder because that is where gravity takes it so it can seep through the gasket if it is dried out or the bolts are loose. If none of the things that Drew pointed out works then just replace the gasket.

 

I agree with Drew that it is the head gasket. I have an 05 Softail Standard that has the bad valve seals and there is no external leaking.

 

It's a little too high up too be a head gasket. Notice it's between the head and rocker box. Not the head and jug(cylinder).

 

Okay, then it's the rocker box cover gasket.

Drew

 

THanks guys. It has 18,000 miles and has not been rebuilt. It is running synthetic. What can i expect to get the head gasket or rocker box gasket changed if the switch to regular oil doesnt resolve the issue?

Paul

 

I wasn't trying too correct you Drew.

 

We would charge 2-4 hours labor. Try some regular oil first and see what happens. the slickness of synthetic has been known to cause this. I bought a bike with 5k miles on it once and had a sweating issue on the heads. Ran regular oil for a little bit and switched back and it was fine.

Drew

 

Thanks again. You guys have put my mind at ease! Appreciate all the quick replies. Hope one day i can return the favor.

Paul