Sportster info

in 88, what inch sporty was out. also, the oil line to the head, does the head have to be removed to change the "o" ring? a friend is looking to buy a 1988 sporty with a leak, but is getting conflicting info. thanks gabby (it sucks to be stopid):gah:

Had A 89, There Was A 883,and 1200, Same Basic Design Till O3. Evo Sportys. Don't Recal Any Oil Line Going To The Heads, The Crank Case Breather Line Comes Out Of The Case Up To The Ac, Instead Of The Head Bolts. The Only O Rings I Can Think Your Talking About Is The Ones At The Base Of The Push Rods, I Had This Leaky Problem There. If This Is The Case You'll Have To Pull The Rocker Box Covers To Change Out The O Ring, And Since Your Going To Be Half Way There My As Well Do The Hole Top End Gasket Job, Fairly Simple If You Have The Right Tools, Allen Wrenches For Most Of The Outside, The Only Special Tool You'll Need Is For The Jugs, It's Like A 8 Star Sockethead Bolt.

sporty

thank you cowboy and sportsterboy, this clears alot.didn't think the oil line would be a problem. just wanted to know what he may really be dealing with. he was told it would take 300 to fix. guess with the price of shop labor this could be right. again thanks gabby

883 & 1200 models (1200 replaced the 1100). Differences in cylinder bore (3" vs. 3.5") & combustion chambers/valves, but everything else the same (cases, flywheels, rods, stroke, trans., etc.).

There is no external oil line to the head as on several earlier H-D models - oil goes up thru the pushrods/tubes. The pushrod tubes have O-rings top & bottom & those can go bad. I'm almost positive '88 models had collapsible pushrod tubes rather than 1-piece as on later models - I say that because my race engine is based on the '86-'90 case design & when building it, I bought collapsible pushrod tubes for those year models.

That design makes the O-rings a lot easier to change out because you don't have to take anything else apart if you have adjustable pushrods & can shorten them up enough to pull them out from the right side of the engine. If not, you have to pull the rocker boxes, loosen up the rocker arms & pull the pushrods out the top.

However, there is a trick I've used - pull the pushrod tubes, cut the O-rings with a razor-knife & remove them. Then clean everything up very, very good. Then take your new O-rings & very carefully, with a new razor blade, cut the new O-rings @ a 45-degree angle @ one point in the circle - so you can open up the new O-ring to get it around the pushrod. Then ease it into place & get it seated properly so the cut will line back up perfectly & disappear.

You have to take your time with this & you need to coat the area where the O-ring seats & the O-ring itself with a heavy straight-weight oil, like Valvoline Racing Oil, SAE 50, or even 60. But if you do it right, the cut O-ring will seal right back up @ the cut. Put the pushrod tubes back on carefully so you don't dislodge the O-rings & you're good to go.

Start the engine & see if you get any oil seepage where a pushrod tube goes into a tappet block - if you do, you'll have to do the job over again. But it's worked for me & on an engine that flows a heck of a lot more oil than a stock one does.

THAT'S A NIFFTY TRICK THERE, HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT ONE, YA KNOW HOW I'M ALL ABOUT SHORT CUTS:roflmao: