I noticed that I have an oil leak at the base of my rear jug. Only a little one not losing much oil to speak of. So I am wondering if it is anything to be worried about. I'm thinking that it is just some seepage around the seal and that having to add some oil every now and then is a lot cheeper than having to tear down my engine to replace a seal. Any thoughts? I do have over 72k on the engine a 98 FLHTCUI

 

You might try cleaning it with spray carb cleaner, then when it dries run a bead of Krazy glue around the joint between the jug and case. The glue is clear so won't detract from the appearance of the motor, and beats rebuilding the motor. It should last a couple of years.

My .02 worth

 

1340 Evo's have a little history of seepage/weepage of the "base gasket". The new TC 1450's use an o ring instead of the base gasket and are not as prone to leakage as the old base gasket style.
Seeing that you have a 1998 you probably have the latest and greastest of the H-D designed gasket with the latest material.
Some say that cold start and warm up are imperative to the gasket longevity and i will have to agree. I had no problems with base gaskets on the Evo's that I owned but there was always a warm up ritual before riding.
The seep will NOT get better...and it does require the removal of the heads and jugs along with any other thing bolted to those....

Good Luck.

 

Very common on EVO's. The paper base gasket sucks. James makes a better base gasket and make sure to have the base of the cylinder trued on a Trock plate. Your lucky they usually start leaking around 15-20,000 miles.

 

I figure I will need to keep an eye on it and if/when it get worse do the job on it. I figure I am going to need a few things done when I do a tear down so hopefully I can get throught his next riding season before it is needed. I do alway allow the bike to warm up before riding. It performs better when I do.

 

Number one mistake with new owners! The old iron heads you could fire up and take off! Evos, very dependable, but gotta let them warm and expand to seal...

 

So are we saying that the newer bikes with the oring inplace of the paper gasket don't need to be warmed up prior to ride?

 

EXACTLY RIGHT!!!! Also has been known to pull bolts out of the cases.