[Joe28]

So, yesterday I HAD to get out for a ride, (at least on the road, thank God for my KTM and XR off road bikes for year @ riding or I'd go crazy)!
I was impressed. The Military fired after a few kicks with the decompression lever pulled and then the real thing!(it had been sitting since my Xmas day ride on the ice).
So off I go, who cares if it gets muddy, that's what car washes are for!
I had put a 1 tooth larger gear on the front, (to pull the side car, when I get it), a Harley 1200 slip on muffler, (cuz my son took his off), opened the bottom of the green air box and made a filter to breath easier.
I put the engine breather hose hooked to the air box.
I went through town, a few country roads, then this 3 mile hill.
Well, me being me I kept twisting the throttle 50mph is top speed.
The bike was purring along like a tiger, all was good!
About half way up, I smelled oil??
"Man that car up front of me was have a MAJOR oil leak.
I crest the hill and at the stop light, the bike won't idle?
Crank up the idle screw, (must be water in tank, (wishful thinking).
I pull over a bit up the road to decide where to head next, and look down-OIL EVERYWHERE!
Out the bottom of the air box, out the valve adjustment cover!
I shut 'er down and start looking.
Then it hit me!
The motor only has 550 miles on it, I got "throttle heavy", this is blow by
What a bone head!
I check the oil, OK still good, let's just take it easy and head home.
25 miles later, I pull into the garage, (pulled the door off the hinge! Hit the door with the crash bar)! "Yep, 45 years of riding, and I can't even pull the bike in, (who put that door there)!??
No oil dripping, oil in the crank case, I guess it's OK, (what a Maroon)!
So, the question of the day is...............................................
With everyone changing out the air box for the cone or pancake filters, (I didn't like how the cone looked on my military), what are YOU doing with your crank case vent hose???
I way thinking of getting a small breather filter I saw and running it to the back of the engine, or leave it breath in the box, (realizing that now 45mph is tops with the bigger sprocket! )
Ideas?
Thanks,'
Joe
Sometimes my brain is a brick!

[ace.cafe]

Joe,
There are several threads on the board which describe the breather hose.
It is a problem, but is relatively easily solved.

First thing is to reverse the main breather hose that comes off the oil tank.
It has a bend molded into it, right above the oil tank. That is bad.
If you take off that hose and swap ends, and put the bent end up at the catch tank, while routing the hose up tall, so it acts as a "stand-pipe" to a certain degree, then this will typically stop your oil blowing issues.

When going to a K&N type filter without the airbox, you can just get a long hose from the hardware or auto parts store, and run it back to the rear end of the bike, like along the fender brace, and let it exit the fumes at the rear of the bike. Use cable ties to hold it to the frame members, or however you can affix it reasonably.
This will solve any overflow, and if there was any overflow, it will go out the rear and not onto your bike or your rear tire.

At 550 miles, you are lucky that you don't have a blown engine by running it to max up a long hill like that. That's the worst thing you can possibly do. You actually may have done damage that will remain in the bike and will show up later as an early failure down the road. AVL pistons are known to fail from heat. It's an epidemic problem in Australia and NZ with the AVL.

[UncleErnie]

Well, ADDING a tooth to the counter shaft sprocket will lower the revs some on the freeway, but it will also diminish some low-end torque.  I would think that might have been a mis-guided thing to do when pulling a sidecar?  Correct me if I'm mistaken here...

I found myself wondering if you just put too much oil in the crankcase from the get-go?

I'm inspired to start a thread myself ~

[Joe28]

Oops!
 I lowered the gearing, picking up the bottom end, lowering the final ratio.
Yeah, it was pretty stupid of me, I'm not usually, "red liner".
I guess it was spring fever, or a new bike, or old age.
The oil was filled to the top line, so maybe it expanded to over filled.
I was gonna run the vent hose to the back of the bike, but an open hose is an invitation for dirt to go back into the engine,
I've seem a small cone filter that goes on the end, (on some quad motors).
If my motor starts to go south, a perfect excuse to put a good piston in, maybe the heavy duty crank, a little porting....................................
Joe
A broken up engine is a blank canvas.

[Spitting Bull]

What Ace said about reversing the pipe, and I agree with UncleErnie too -  don't keep the oil filled right up to the top mark on the dipstick.  The main reason for getting oil blowing out like that is putting too much in.

I used to suffer from this problem a lot and was losing confidence in the bike.  I reversed the pipe and now keep the oil just below the half-way point on the dipstick and check it often.  No recurrence in about 5,000 miles.

You were lucky on that hill......... phew!

Tom

[PhilJ]

If the bike was cold and filled to the full line, there definitely was too much oil in the bike.
The best way to check an AVL is hot or just under hot and it should be a little lower than full. I think most run it about half way between full and add.

[clamp]

[quote author=Joe28 link=
If my motor starts to go south, a perfect excuse to put a good piston in, maybe the heavy duty crank, a little porting....................................
Joe
A broken up engine is a blank canvas.
[/quote]

       Yeah I cant wait for mine to blow up!!!

     Shall use an Isuzu diesel flat top piston.  or the like,- If it fits,-- dunno.

[Joe28]

I'm gonna run 'er to the car wash and clean off the road salt, mud and earl today after work!
I'll flip that hose and see what happens.
The oil was topped off cuz I had set up, "winter storage".
Stay tuned to, "As the Oil Drips"
Joe
It's only a 1 car funeral. How did I screw that up?

[Cabo Cruz]

"It's only a 1 car funeral. How did I screw that up?"     Joe28

Were you in a two-stop lights town?