External breather big twin

103 ext breather

[@johnleardini1117]

That bike looks like HELL for only 2000 miles....lol

[@jimdilorenzo7513]

thats what i thought shit

[@billypeek7186]

the catch cans can be emptied and cleaned around the same time you do oil changes and the problem with your solutions is now your putting that oil on you rear tire...

[@megastick9324]

If there’s a bigger issue, yea. Harleys have vented out the bottom of the case and to the ground since way back. If you’re blowing oil all over the back tire you need some work done. It’s a fine mist, we used to point it at the chain, some straight to the ground. Pan heads and earlier had a drip hole in the primary, to keep it from filling up. That went all over, it was a designed leak.

[@robcip6133]

@@megastick9324 old post but gotta ask if you realize just HOW MUCH oil you drive through in any parking lot. A drop here and there is nothing that you dont do all the time 1000 times a ride.

[@stevewinkler2179]

I just finished jetting & venting 2003 carb runs great , have 2004 backing plate to do also . Your video gave me the answer, thanks

[@dave99887]

Brilliant..gonna do that immediately. On a hot summer day the pcv gases was causing my engine to ping and it further reduced power. I'm gonna route that back to an oil catch I have lying around though. Thanks for the tutorial man!

[@timconnors550]

Did a breather catchcan I put together on my 2011 96 inch streetbob. No residue in the throttle no oil in my air cleaner and I was smoking my buddies 107 until I put a catchcan breather on his now I can't keep up when he hammers it. So keep it going. I started all this breather catchcan stuff over a year and a half back before anybody.just made motor sense to me

[@stevenm4743]

I must be one of the lucky few that do not have issues with this. The intake on my road king with 10k miles is squeaky clean with the factory setup. So I do not see the need to modify it.

[@FreeSwimmer]

I too havent any oil to speak of in air cleaner, however my reasoning for the EBS is it eliminates hot air going back into engine..

[@christophersmay4508]

Lol exactly. My bike runs lean anyway so a little oil mist in the intake might be good for it lol. People seriously overhype this "problem"

[@thakery5720]

Well I know it is ugly in your opinion , but I drilled and tapped the airfilter backplate's 'towers' where the breather bolts are, used breather bolts for those horrible breathers that have the filter thing under the air filter, and by using hosetails fitted to the towers joined with a T-piece ran a hose back toward the oil tank filler spout. I removed the oil filler spout and drilled and tapped the spout in the uppermost are - a small area but it's possible - and fitted another hosetail . That has a hose fitted to it - and another T-piece for the breather hose from the air filter - and then that is connected via a breather check valve to a catch tank. The idea being that any 'carry-over' from the rocker box breathers ends up back in the oil tank, and the oil tank also has a breather. The check valve maintains a slightly lower crankcase pressure that helps alleviate 'carry-over' and stops the oil tank pressurising. When your engine stops turning and all the oil runs into the crank and cam compartments you end up with about a quart of oil in there which the return pump sends back to the oil tank. If you have over-filled your oil tank, then that extra oil goes back to the engine cases via the oil tank and cases' vent passages ! When your bike is cold, check the oil level in the tank with the bike on the jiffy stand then check it again with the bike upright (which is how it is when the bike is running) and you will find the oil level on the dipstick is higher.... When the oil gets hot it expands as well, raising the level on the dipstick..... thing to do is check your oil level on the bike whilst cold and with the bike on the jiffy stand - only fill the tank so the level is one third the way from the low mark going toward the full mark. When the bike is upright and the oil is warm the level of oil when the bike is running will be about where the full mark is. There will be less carry-over and not so much oil in the crankcase that the motion of the crank churns up into the 'oil-mist' and thereby less oil carried in the mist. There will be less oil in the air going through the rocker box breather's 'oil-trap' and the whole problem over carry over, oil leaks and sludge on the pistons just will not occur. The above modification can only really be carried out on later Dynas, but the main thing to do is STOP OVER - FILLING YOUR OILTANK !!!!!

[@thakery5720]

The thing to do is to remove the oil filler spout from the bike and drill and tap it to accept a 'hose-tail' fitting. As the oil pump sends both oil and air from the engine into the oil tank, there is a breather from the oil tank into the crankcases to vent excess air pressure to the engine and that then vents through the rocker box breathers into the inlet/air filter. If you vent the filler spout, the excess air pressure does not go into the engine and indeed the crankcases vent into the oil tank. Use solid bolts rather than the breather bolts to hold the air filter backplate onto the heads so that there is no 'carry-over' into the air filter.... it really is that simple, you can vent the oil tank filler spout via a hose to a catch tank, filter or just to the atmosphere - I route it through a one way valve just to make sure that nothing gets into the oil tank and so the crankcases/oil tank are kept at low pressure..... I do a similar thing on my Sportster as well - put a 'T-piece" in the line between oil tank and cases and vent it that way..... you have to make sure you do not overfill the oil tank in both cases - check the level when it's hot and only fill to a point half way between 'Low' and 'High' on the dipstick..... You might still find it blows some oil out of the breather as when you check the oil level with the engine not running, there is about a pint and a half in the engine still and that gets cleared into the tank when the engine is running.....

[@jasonsanderson9385]

So basically 2 solid bolts instead of breather bolts?? Instead venting to catch can or external Breather? My Dyna fxdb 2013 puked oil few times and cleaning rubber plug venting into intake is nasty and sludgy shit.... What would your opinion be? Thanks in advance

[@thakery5720]

@@jasonsanderson9385 Well yes, you can use solid bolts to hold the air filter backplate to the heads. THERE IS ALWAYS OIL VAPOR IN THE AIR INSIDE AN ENGINE - it's how the lubrication system works. The foam rubber parts of the rocker box breather valves is supposed to remove it from the air that is vented into the air filter, but if you overfill the engine oil tanl/pan then the air is 'over-loaded' and it cannot cope ! You must have the system vented somehow though obviously, so that when the engine and oil heat up and expand it (the whole system) does not pressurize. I myself have breather bolts that are drilled from the threaded end BUT NOT through the hexagon head as per standard H-D. Bolts drilled and 'cross-drilled' are easily available in the aftermarket. The bolt is cross drilled to allow the air pressure to vent into the 'tower' or 'boss' of the air filter backplate and use small 'hose-tails' in each boss to allow the engine breathers to vent the engine through hoses joined with a T-piece WITHOUT it going into the air filter at all. Some aftermarket air fliter backplates have small holes from the 'towers' into the 'engine-side' of the filter element to allow a 'standard like' breathing to happen - I just filled the small holes with silicon RTV gasket stuff before drilling and taping for the hosetails. The hoses from the air filter towers join and drain down into the hose that runs from the oil pan filler spout (as the tank's vent) through another T-piece. What I mean is the hosetails join via a T-piece, and run down to another T-piece that is in the oil-filler spout vent hose..... YOU MUST VENT THE SYSTEM SOMEWHERE and that (filler-spout) hose should run upwards from the filler spout and NOT downwards as that would slowly drain your oil system as oil vapour will be in the rocker breather 'venting's' air. I did run my bike for a few months with solid bolts holding the air filter backplate to the heads, and just vented the oil pan filler spout and it looks muck 'cleaner' without the excess pipework from the backplate to the filler spout vent-hose. Try it and see how you get on - remember NOT TO OVERFILL the oil pan though. Check out Rouge Choppers total oil-change system, it shows just how much room is needed in a non-running engine's oil pan because if you fill the tank/pan as H-D suggest then there is no room in it for the nearly 2 pints of oil the oil pump will clear from the crank cases as soon as you start the engine. No room in the oil tank means an 'over-loaded' air system in the engine as excess oil from the tank/pan goes back into the crancase, gets churned up (by the crank) into the 'oil-mist' in the engine and bypasses the foam rubber (or plastic0 seperators in the rockerbox breathers. Bikes (or cars for that matter ! ) never used the 'pressurized system' before emmissions laws made it compulsory and all you will be doing is putting things back to how they used to be. If you left and old Pan or Shovel so long that it 'wet-sumped' , when you started it the bike would blow the excess oil accumilated in the cases out the crankcase vent to the atmosphere. The EPA etc wanted to route these crankcase 'ventings' into the engine and burn them but because people over-fill the oiltanks, it ends up being 'carried-over' into the air filter and clogging everything. The pressurized system used in today's engines does work BUT only if the oil tank/pan is NOT overfilled ! I hope that all makes sense !

[@jasonsanderson9385]

Great explanation! Thank you!!!!

[@thakery5720]

@@jasonsanderson9385 You are welcome, the real 'problem' if you wanna call it that is the scavenge side of the oil pump has two inlets. One in the crankcase and the other in the camchest so when one is cleared, the pump sucks air and doesn't clear the other. If the oil starts to build up in the crankcase then the crank churns it up and 'over-loads' the air with oil and then it just gets carried over into the inlet again.... it's a bad design. The S&S TC3 oilpump has two scavenge sides to stop it happening,

[@ccollins9981]

Head breather seals(plastic seals on top of breathers in heads) won't stay open long enough to pressurize your uphill lines........therefore your oil residue will pool in the lines at your fittings and go no where, eventually allowing no breathing. The system will not defy gravity.....oil residue must go down. a simple can/breather combo, or hell a can with a hole in the top BELOW the breather bolt level is the only way to prevent clogging and eventually head breather failure.

[@brush5072]

I’ve used the kind you can buy that bolt to one breather bolt then goes up 1 1/2” or so then 90 degrees then down 90 degrees to the other breather bolt. Kind of like this “n”. Never seemed to have an issue with them.

[@joemaccrory8121]

Nice job - your fix is better and easier than drilling and tapping the breather bolts. The only thing I would do is add a catch can or filter just so i dont end up with an oil spot on my garage floor

[@jeffakamax]

I figured I'd add a catch can too but I've yet to see a drip out of it when parked.... yet

[@dmystify1381]

@@jeffakamax you've yet to see a drip out of it...of course not...how do you expect the oil to go back 'up' the hoses,the hoses vent...not 'suck out'....please explain.

[@jeffakamax]

@@dmystify1381 while running there is Positive Crankcase Pressure. If enough vapors condense into liquid within the line while under pressure, it will be forced out. When the bike is turned off any liquid in the line is free to return to the rocker cover.

[@kevingrace1378]

Nice job I think I’m going to route mine same way looks clean.

[@davidweathers9946]

Great video dude, helped me out! Neat route!

[@beri232]

I did an external breather as well but ran it straight down. When you run it up like that, gravity is working against you and so is that long run of vacuum line. I used to run my breather line like you and I never did get any oil drops out the end after I parked the bike. My Indy did some work on my engine and told me to run the breather line straight down with the least amount of vacuum line as possible… so I did. Now after a long ride I get 1-3 drops of oil drip out of that line once I’m parked. That’s all crud that would have either got stuck sitting in that long line or would have just gravity fed itself down and pooled in your fittings.

[@whdbnrm3023]

running the line vertical automatically creates a trap much like the plumbing under a sink. Eventually oil will build up and clog the line. The second problem I see is putting a T in the line. I performed a simple test using a water bottle and vacuum line. 2 lines drained water faster than 2into1 line. Conclusion, 2into1 creates back pressure. I ran two lines straight down and aimed it out under the floorboards. Bike thanks me every time I crack the throttle.

[@beri232]

@@whdbnrm3023 vertical doesn’t create a trap…. Horizontal slows the flow.

[@whdbnrm3023]

@@beri232 Depends on the direction of flow, in this case flow is gaining elevation which would create a trap. Unless you have a way of defying gravity.

[@beri232]

@@whdbnrm3023 lol…. Read the first sentence on my post…. “Straight down”. Pretty sure I aced Physics in school. 🙄

[@frankrocha1479]

oil will run down back the elbows, not enough pressure to go up and over, and then down. the oil and water are heavy. good luck!

[@robcip6133]

You dont need to get rid of the oil just the pressure. The oil will just flow back into the valve covers.

[@jeffg9058]

I'd think with vacuum the oil will just build up in those tubes because they run up, crank case pressure might push it but I worry it'll cause an issue. I'd try and get some super small container you can drain and hide it below the air cleaner, just my thought. I'm going to do this soon since I'm currently having the oil leaking from an aftermarket filter directly on the engine.

[@supsurfa1a501]

This is poorly thought out. Yes, it works fine for the gases, but once it vaporizes, where do you think the oil goes? Liquid doesn’t travel up hill. The oil is pooling in the lowest point of your lines. The highest point of your hoses shouldn’t be higher than the ports where it enters your intake.

[@pogmothoin7164]

I did this very similar set up but also added a vented dipstick. I than ran all the tubing into a catch can.

[@Spikes_HD]

You did a nice job, the only issue is that the air filter element can no longer seal properly to the backer plate. The reason the original tubes were flat on the back and the same width as the slots was to seal the back plate surface. Now you have slots open around the vacuum fittings that are drawing dirty air straight into your throttle body.

[@jeffakamax]

The vacuum tubing is a tight friction fit where it passes through the plate. It seals up as well as it did before the mod.

[@Spikes_HD]

@@jeffakamax I’m talking about where it passes in front of the plate and connects to the original fittings from the head. Where the air filter element touches the nylon vacuum connectors and seals against the backing plate on both sides. I wasn’t trying to argue with you my friend, it’s not my bike. Peace.

[@RobertB56]

Does the oil run up hill okay,just wondering if gravity prevents it doing so,I just drilled through the rubber parts that connect to the breather bolts and pushed through some vacuum tubing straight onto the breather bolts sealed off the part that goes into the throttle body with some gasket cement then ran down to a T piece and connected it to a catch can I made from a CNC motorcycle brake fluid tank I turned upside down and attached it to the timing cover with a bracket neat as a pin.

[@-MrRichBiker1967]

Sounds like a very good idea and a neat job I was reading your comment

[@floydrose4828]

oh,i see your going over the top. i'll figure it out, thanks a lot!

[@whdbnrm3023]

Great video. Would love a long-term update on how it worked out. My specific concern, did oil build up inside the vent tube behind the air filter plate where it goes vertical? did running 2 lines into 1 cause any back pressure problems? Any oil on tire problems? Definitely a super clean installation with a lot of thought put into it.

[@jeffakamax]

Been on there since I posted this with no issues whatsoever.

[@whdbnrm3023]

@@jeffakamax Thank you for the update. I do like the professional looking install. The 90-degree fittings are perfect.

[@dsaikaley]

great video , ill be doing that

[@adamriley8731]

Just my 2 cents but I think the reason for the breather or catch can is not to vent directly to the road, last thing you want is oil discharging near your rear wheel

[@jeffakamax]

Granted not the most environmentally friendly, but a drop or 2 every couple hundred miles surely isn't a hazzard.

[@gerryvancedaniel6471]

Good job and a genius ideal Much better ideal than there costly kit. $$$

[@pharaohnile867]

Fantastic 👍

[@sethg8501]

I am building a similar type breather today on my 103 Dyna that has 16k on it. Wondering if it wouldn't be a bad idea to run some Sea foam or something to clean up any existing build up to clean up inside the motor.

[@jeffakamax]

Seafoam never hurts. I'd spray out the throttle body with some carb cleaner too while you're in there.

[@sethg8501]

@@jeffakamax I'll do that. Thanks for the advice and video!

[@floydrose4828]

i got a can of seafoam you spray through the carb,or what ever, and let it set then run it down the road and blow it out. then change the oil

[@Greenmachine305]

I have the same cleaner. I was going to turn the breather plugs 180° and run them beside then under the filter, but I Iike your idea better. Still gonna drop the lines straight down though.

[@leseverman4152]

i would think the hoses needed to go down , not up , to keep the oil from pooling in the hoses . amirite ?

[@jeffakamax]

Without getting into a complicated discussion of condensation and reflux ratios, the short answer is the minimal rise i have does not cause any reflux back to the throttle body.

[@pmaint1]

@@jeffakamax but you're causing a low spot that can block air flow with fluids.

[@jefflittle8872]

You got a catcher on the end or are you coating rear tyre with crap

[@jeffakamax]

Rarely ever see a drop. Rear tire and wheel perfectly clean.

[@djKail05]

Hey man, clean setup. How is it holding up? Might go with a similar configuration.

[@jeffakamax]

So far, so good

[@jimscycleandautotn8508]

How much hp increase?

[@bradlozano2571]

Like that idea....Thats a cheap fix for a guy that knows how to use his hands....I dont have that problem with my 103 FatBob....at least not yet....I had that problem with my 96 Wide Glide though.

[@tooltimze]

good idea

[@BigFiveJack]

Thank you for presenting your system. Are you seeing any waste getting onto your rear tire, or onto your motorcycle frame, or onto your motorcycle anywhere? I respectfully offer to you, that waste could possibly get onto such. Best regards to you!

[@jeffakamax]

No signs of any of that after thousands of miles

[@floydrose4828]

so your bringing the hose through the backing plate? just wondering if thats how it seals. iv'e got a hole big enough so far to get the fitting through . it looks in your video as the hose is coming through the hole.

[@jeffakamax]

Yeah. Drilled a hold just big enough to pass the tubing through.

[@DoucetteMichael]

What size vacuum fitting did you use?? Thanks this looks like a much better way of bypassing the oil.

[@jeffakamax]

If memory serves, it was just some 3/16" vacuum line, 2 90's and a T fitting.

[@floydrose4828]

will line that small handle the pressure? i don't know how much pressures involved at high speed. nice setup though. just went and got all the stuff to do it. i had an exhaust valve burn up at 21000 miles,it was caked with carbon. 2005 fatboy

[@jeffakamax]

Sure will. There is very little flow, hardly even noticeable. .

[@floydrose4828]

got it all together. the lines are touching the cylinders,are my hoses too long?

[@SDGunfighter]

Smart setup but you'll still need some sort of inline filter as now you are sucking in unfiltered air near the rear. Not to mention you suck up water having it so low.

[@Spikes_HD]

The umbrella valves prevent air / water from being sucked into the breather. Stuff only comes out.

[@tartalcubo]

Does the elbow that connects to the rubber of the heads pass nothing? Doesn’t the rubber dilate where the connection is?

[@jeffakamax]

no, it's free flowing through the head breather bolts.

[@NoeySee211]

What size is the plastic vacuum elbow

[@ronlheureux7623]

I'm just wondering if your solution is smog legal in states like California. It does subvert the burning of the gasses in the combustion chambers. One the other hand, I would likely do this.

[@jeffakamax]

I'm sure it's not .CA approved, then again not much is. This bike was used in a promo video for harley in .CA, you should see the exhaust baffles they had in it just to meet standards.

[@t.s.racing]

Prison sentence for bypassing a breather, but used needles, urine and feces in the streets is perfectly acceptable.

[@lookin420]

This looks way better how it runnin now

[@jeffakamax]

Perfect. I don't ever see a drip and all clean inside.

[@chromefinch]

did you just oil-slick your rear wheel?

[@jeffakamax]

I get maybe 2 drips every 500 miles

[@thomasgibson8025]

You keep stating vacuum lines when in reality they are pressure lines coming off the heads. Also, you are now placing your rear brake caliper and rear tire in jeopardy, due to potential oil slugs being blown out.

[@Element-tu8jw]

I’m a licensed aircraft mechanic. Plumbing hot unfiltered gases into your intake is extremely stupid. I don’t know why anybody thought this was a good idea. If you plumb the gas through a filter and cooler first then it would be fine.

[@jeffakamax]

Stupid, yes. However common practice in order to meet epa emissions. On diesel trucks that mod is referred to as a "road tube ". Venting crankcase to atmosphere rather than gumming up the turbo and intercooler with oil.

[@Element-tu8jw]

Jeff theExecutioner I’d rather spray a little gas into the atmosphere then gum my engine up. I’m going to use the hollow bolts with filter caps

[@Element-tu8jw]

Jeff theExecutioner Small GA planes use an airwolf filter. Vented case gas into a canister filled with a steel wool material

[@IronCavalier]

It’s the government, it isn’t suppose to be smart, good, right, nor common sense. Tyranny doesn’t care about your feelings.

[@snodragon13]

Lol. I used the slobber tube analogy too. If you over fill a big diesel it will push the excess oil out. Thing of the past now with these burn box trucks. The vent tube goes through a filter and back into the motor. I was wondering about the up hill too. I don't think it would clog. It's not like it would burst open the connections with the minimal pressure. If anything it would just keep filling the tube until it gets to the crest. It probably would dump the few inches of blowby crud left over in the tube when disconnected but nothing a rag couldn't handle on the rare occasion the AC is removed. Some external breather kit have banjo like fittings that route up towards the gas tank and back between the rocker covers. Even the T-Man kit runs it up to the back bone and back. Your video solved my problem. I have a Screamin Eagle extreme flow AC. I was trying to figure out how to connect to the breather bolts with out running the hoses straight out and then finding a way to seal up the AC. Tapping into the plug the plug like you did is perfect.

[@riffraffchoppers]

So you bet not out right in front of your rear tire ?

[@jeffakamax]

Sure did... If it drips 1 drop every 200 miles that would be a lot. If these motors lost as much oil as everyone thinks, you would be adding a qt every ride.

[@reecejamieson7586]

Have fun with oil on the rear

[@jeffakamax]

If it were loosing enough oil to make any difference on the tire it would drain the sump in a few days. It's been on there for years and 1000's of miles... not so much as a drip on the tire.

[@steelhorsecountry5245]

Can you do a follow video on how it's doing, thanks

[@christophersmay4508]

You have way too much line, not to mention it's discharging onto your rear tire. 😂 Seriously though, terrible idea.

[@jeffakamax]

Been on there for 4 years now. Nothing discharged on the tire yet.

[@jonsixxx6569]

Catch can call it a day

[@chrispybattyone5937]

Yeah but now the oil blow by is exiting right in front of your rear tire.

[@jeffakamax]

If it leaks a drop in 100 miles thats a lot. If it were blowing enough oil out to be a traction issue the motor would run dry in a few hours.

[@chrispybattyone5937]

@@jeffakamax some bikes are squirters lol (spitters), so hopefully common sense will prevail and they route the hose elsewhere or use a catch can

[@DarrelllCampbelll]

I dont like that the oil has to travel upwards towards the gas tank. Its going to pool and clog up your breather filter in your rocker assembly.

[@jeffakamax]

It's not pumping oil' it's vapor with a very low oil concentration. with everyone's comments suggesting that is oil just pouring out out of the breather... how long would the bike run before it was out of oil? by the way, this bike has been run like this for YEARS and there isn't so much as evidence that any oil (in liquid form) has ever come out the other end. Maybe it's time for an update video...

[@MEGLADAD]

Does that hose just run out open to the ground?

[@jeffakamax]

Yeah, it just vents out down by the swingarm pivot

[@MEGLADAD]

@@jeffakamax Great Thanks for the reply..I didn't expect one so soon.. Cheers mate👍

[@MEGLADAD]

I'm gunna be doing the same to mine tomorrow..Its also probably the cheapest way to go..Thanks for sharing your idea👍

[@DPaz-zb8td]

Any issues with the oil getting on your rear tire?