Just stock tensioners for now. As mentioned, i have health issues (brain tumor) and I have no idea how many more seasons I am going to be riding. Hopefully many. It's too soon to tell. Otherwise i'd just do the cams, pushrods, tuning, etc. What do you mean by "drill rocker supports out while there as well"?

 

My .02. You are already going into the rocker boxes to fix the leak. If you are using an HD set of cams just use the stock pushrods. Most HD cams have the same base circle. There are fewer problems with the stock pushrods. No nuts ticking against the pushrod tube, no nuts working loose and you know the length is correct. Adjustable pushrods are a labor saving thing and nothing else.

 

Do these bikes have adjustable rocker arms or do you just tighten them down all the way?

 

Rocker arms are not adjustable.

 

Is drilling the rocker supports something that you can do on the newer TC's or just the 2k era motors?

 

I did not do this when I redid my cam change tensioners this winter. I don't think I even knew of this recommendation at the time, but I also hadn't had problems with oil in the intake or dripping from the filter, so I wouldn't have been looking for a fix.

I went through the rocker boxes for inspection purposes, and to save the price of adjustable pushrods. The job took a little longer than expected for various reasons, one of them being frame clearances weren't quite what is described and a special notch/hole is not there on my frame, making working on the rear cylinder a little tough. Front cylinder was easy.

 

Ok, i am pretty quick to learn how things work. I have not dug into the engine at all except for the cam cover. I do have a basic understanding of how everything works, but until i get in there and see how everything goes together, i don't fully understand what you mean. I did not mention "oil in the intake, or dripping from the filter" but i do get oil that drips from the filter occasionally. So, what does this mean? I would like everything to be 100% when i put it back together with minimal cost at this point in time. Performance upgrades are in the future if my health holds up.

 

I'll take a stab at answering you, but bear in mind while I'm a decent mechanic, I've had one whole Harley in my life so far. The link I gave you was not of my own writing either, I too had to go searching to see what he was talking about. Once I found it, I understood it.

These bikes are notorious for oil coming out of the crankcase ventilation system and getting the intake filter oily, and even dripping out of the air filter.

This article claims the problem is in that area, that oil may not drain out fast enough through the small holes. Oil would then pool up, and get stripped out by the fumes vacating through the ventilation tube.

The section in the picture has a smallish cover removed. There is a funny poppet valve and some filter mesh to separate out oil from the fumes, just like under the valve cover of a Chevy. Just more complex (and no, I've no idea why Harley makes it this complex).

The oil dripping from the air filter seems to be very inconsistent. Some folks complain about it, others seem to have no problem with it. I know so far I haven't had any problem with it.

I'm rather dubious about there being vast quantities of oil getting up into that chamber, and I'm even more dubious about it being unable to flow down the holes quickly enough. But, I don't see where drilling the holes larger would harm anything, and I could well be wrong and somehow it really is a problem that needs fixing.

 

After i posted that last reply i did some researching and came across an article that addresses "blow by", and gets into everything you mentioned, and then some. I'll take a look at these things while I am in there. Thanks

 

I get the blowby issue. Especially if I'm going down a steep hill and engine brake. I can literally smell it. Now that may be the tranny breather from what I've read.. I definitely get oil in the breather though. I always run 1/2 way up the fill level to minimize it as much as possible.

I was just curious if the drilling was a modification that the 96" motors see a benefit from. Seems like most of the articles reference the 88's. I was researching making a catch can or drip tube for the breather holes. Thought this would help.