I guess the reasoning was to keep the oil cooler and prevent the oil from gettin' all hot, and fried all over the top end as it was pumped up through the hot cylinders? You take those old panheads apart, and the non-detergent oil is burnt all over everything... It worked.
I just took my 67 Shovelhead top end off, the oil seemed all burnt and tar like. I've only had this engine for a year and decided to see what was inside. It ran but the whole bike (Electra Glide) has issues, so its getting a complete go thru. I've had other Shovels older and newer that don't get that way on the inside. Think it's just an extreme heat issue?
ReplyDeleteBC
...and you wonder what he ran for oil? Or maybe ran it with not much oil, or old oil? I only run Harley oil. In a shovel with hydraulics (20-50) unless I was on a summer road trip(50wt).
ReplyDeleteThe basic H-D oil (not synthetic fancy stuff). I have many high mileage engines, I built all of them, so I know they're good - but I never have a problem, and when I pull stuff apart - it still looks pretty good and clean. From flatheads to overheads to stokers...all H-D oil - and I feel it's the best for older Harley motors.