i have a 85 flht that has been sitting for two years and noticed that the oil tank was empty the other day with nothing on the ground under the bike, im wanting to start the bike but dont want to add oil if it is going to over fill when i start it, does any body have any suggestions or can tell me what i should do. Thanks

 

the oil has leaked past the check valve in the oil pump and is in the cases- when you crank it, the oil is a gonna start spewking out of the breather, so have a pan ( and another pan!)

I would pull the sparkplugs- squirt a little oil in the cylinders, put the bike in gear and with the rear wheel raised turn the wheel, so the motor rotates, easing some oil into the nooks and crannies.

IF the motor is frozen, don't do anything more, take it to a shop for the cylinders/ piston rings to be freshened

if the motor turns you will start to hear the oil and air moving around. I'd turn it through at least a hundred revolutions and then let it sit.

this should get some of the oil back into the tank, but also through the passages to the top end etc.


get back to it later and repeat, you should have a good amount of oil draining out, take it to be recycled, add oil into the tank as we go.


take time to check that the fuel lines are not rotted or cracked and that the carb holds fuel with out leaking ( and be aware of the fire hazard if it does).

check the tires, see that the clutch appears to be working.

got a battery ?

so if we have worked a bunch of oil out of the bike, and added some fresh in about an equal amount... you can try cranking.

be ready for a flood of oil out of the breather...

that should do it.

mike

 

should i add more oil to the tank

 

in MOST cases the check ball is fine- but if this becomes a problem after only a short time of sitting ( days or weeks) with oil of the correct grade ( 'cause thin oil will flow and leak easier).

the fix is to buy 2 new *****. remove plug, remove spring and check ball.

new check ball in- put a drift on top of it a smack it sharply with a hammer/mallet.

this will reform the seat.

remove the ball and discard.

put he 2nd new ball in place, then spring and plug


mike

 

at this point the challenge is to get as much old oil out as you can before you try starting the bike .

you will want to make sure you have some new oil in the system, so try to keep track of how much drains out of the breather and how much is drained back to the oil tank ( which you can drain out).

so make sure you have at least 2 quarts somewhere in the system when trying to fire it up.

then the normal 3 or 4 quarts when you wanna fire it and run it for extended periods.




what you are experiencing is not unusual


mike