2001 sportster sport, crane HI-4 ign., crane fireball coils, crane thermo-cool springs, ultima 1.69 ratio roller rockers, andrews v4 cams, accel #882 plugs, Blue max wires and duel plug heads. from my understanding the heads are buell lightning. Front Head gets noticeably hotter then rear head. noticed plugs are showing normal wear.
needed to replace cam seal, so when i took off manifold noticed front intake coated in oil - leaky valve seal i assume. would this cause the head to run hotter?
any thoughts?

 

The front cylinder shouldn't actually be running hotter. It may be running slightly leaner, though. If your plugs are good you are probably ok.

Due to the V-Twin setup, the front cylinder will actually run slightly leaner than the rear. It has to do with fluid inertia of the air and the way the intake strokes are set-up. I'll go into more detail if you want to, just let me know.

I'm curious, how do you know it is noticeably hotter? Just by feel, IR thermometer, etc?

 

Scuba10jdl, by feel and used electronic temp. probe at the same points on each head. averaged a 15 degree difference, also the front head warms up faster when cold started. Oil goes blackish after about 1000 mi. I run Lucas 20-50 motorcycle oil.

 

As far as temp, 15 deg difference isn't really much to be concerned with on an air-cooled motor. As long as peak head temps are staying in the 400*F or below range you're fine. I've seen a pic somewhere on XLforums where 330-ish was recorded and that's perfectly fine.

Warming up faster can be subjective, I know mine are all over the place when I check them. Possibly a case of you being too obsessed with it (I'm guilty of that too)?

Last, black oil is perfectly fine! The detergents in the oil clean out deposits/sludge and other stuff from your engine. It's the oil's job. It can still keep doing its job for quite some time. Synthetic is often good for 5-7k miles, and regular oil 3-5k depending on your bike/riding habits. Never judge an oil from it's color (unless it is metallic and shiny, then you can judge it hard).

 

ok, thanks.