Hey Guys,
Well at 53 yrs of age I finally got my first HD, an 07 Sportster Classic 1200, the exact bike I always wanted. Picked it up today and rode around the neighborhood for a while, brought it home, parked it in the garage and low and behold, found oil dripping underneath. I know very little about Harleys and am somewhat bummed this happened, but nevertheless I want to get it fixed. It appears to be leaking from a hose in a reservoir that has a drain under the bike. It doesn't have hose clamps it has those crimp type clamps so I suspect that could be the culprit. I pulled the dipstick and it was very low, not empty, but very low and appears to have sprayed on the frame just in front of the rear wheel. This reservoir looks to be plastic, but I could be wrong. Any ideas or suggestions? The closest HD dealer is in Boerne, Tx. which is 32 miles away but there is a bike shop in the town near me, just not sure I want anyone but a HD dealer to look at it. I'm open to suggestions or directions.

 

Can you not tell where the leak is originating...normally from the drain hose with the plastic plug. It normally has a hose clamp. Try changing the hose clamp and start the engine to warm up the oil, then fill the oil between low and full. Take it for a ride and check for leaks. Perhaps a simple fix.

 

had a similar issue-

Loose oil pump fitting detective work:
2007 883 / 1200 sportster: Oil on the bottom of my bike

post a picture please, so we can see what you mean. it can be hard to tell where the oil is coming from. it could be blowing there from somewhere else. it could be as simple as my issue above or require you to just replace a fitting or tighten something that has vibrated loose. no biggie, don't freak out.

check here for proper oil level check proceedure

sounds like you are talking about this area:

 

hscic,
It looked like it was coming from one of the two lines on the bottom of the reservoir, they have those crappy crimp clamps so I thought about replacing with regular clamps, washing the bike down and checking again. I did however find the rubber boot for my rear master cylinder was torn while I was leak searching, add another repair to the list.

 

cvaria,
Yes, that's exactly where it looks like it's coming from, I tried to look again a few minutes ago but it's too dark in the garage where I parked it and my eyes ain't what they used to be so I'll look again in the morning and confirm. Thanks for the reply I really appreciate everyones help, especially at 11:00 at night.

 

Well I'm not going to lie, I played hooky today to mess with my bike and see if I could find that leak. Thanks to cvaria's picture I located the leak! The drain hose has a crack in it at the tank. Can I cut that end off of the hose and reattach with regular clamp or do I need to replace the entire hose? Also, the guy I bought it from didn't put the dipstick back in correctly so there was some oil getting past that "O" ring and running down the side of the reservoir. If I can cut and re-use the existing hose then I'll be riding in a little while, if not, well I can only hope the HD dealer has that hose in stock. Thanks for all of the input and advice.

 

You could cut it but then it may be to short to reach. You could also go to the local auto parts store and get a new hose there and cut to the correct length. Take the old hose with you so they can match it up for diameter and type of material.

 

i would just replace the hose with a nice gates napa hose. i don't know the diameter of the hose though. search the hose here and call your local dealer and play dumb. asking diameter. someone else may chime in with the exact size of the hose.


the pinch clamps were the safest bet to avoid destroying the oil tank nipple. i replaced my oil tank a while back and was torn between a pinch clamp and worm clamp. since the oil tank is plastic, you could crush the nipple with too much force using a worm clamp. so i opted to replace the pinch with a new pinch.