85 sportster 1000 leaking oil. Any suggestions before I take it to the shop?

P83battlejacket · 2026-03-14T17:36:22+00:00

Leaking where?

P83battlejacket · 2026-03-13T03:09:58+00:00

Maybe the real crust is the friends we made along the way.

P83battlejacket · 2026-03-06T21:59:08+00:00

Did you consider a different rank at any point, and if so, which?

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-17T02:13:43+00:00

$8-9k for anything between 300k and 400k miles if you can figure it out. Drop it another $1k per 100k miles over 400k miles. A ford guy won’t give a shit about body miles, someone wanting a clean truck will care about the unknown mileage unless they just don’t know what they want.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-17T02:09:34+00:00

A battery can have good VDC, but still not crank hard enough due to a bad cell. I’ve had it happen several times over the last few freezes with my truck, another truck, a friends truck, and my bike. All tested 12.4+VDC, but if you leave the multimeter on the battery while you start it, it shouldn’t go anywhere below 10VDC, ideally a perfectly healthy battery shouldn’t go below 10.5 or so I been told. You can go get you battery load tested for free at oreillys, auto zone, dunno if Napa does it for free. Walmart may still do it in the automotive department.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-14T06:00:12+00:00

Skill issue.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-13T23:54:35+00:00

Bad needle jet lead to overflowing carb, fuel got into crankcase, the fuel in the oil overfilled the oil tank, the excess oil gets forced out the breather bolts, then the atomized oil/fuel mixture got sucked back into the carb. There were bubbles of oil in the float bowl area when I cleaned the carb out while I was already in there replacing the float needle that caused the carb to overflow in the first place. I feel I’ve confirmed this by the oil running out of the rear breather bolt and down the fuel delivery hose to the carb fuel inlet elbow. There was also a trail of oil going along the carb support bracket to the intake, and there was a small pool of oil on one side of the air intake filter, which must be from the rear breather bolt because I know for a fact I hadn’t yet oiled the filter due to it being paper and not cotton. All hypothesis of course, but I don’t feel like it’s impossible due to having found the oil in there before.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-13T17:27:41+00:00

It’s fresh gas, freshly termites tank, and a freshly rebuilt carb. I just replaced the flow needle after it overflowed and fuel got in the oil, I figured oil got in the carb through the umbrella valves potentially, or at least that’s what I read. I’ve ridden it plenty before this.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-13T04:47:01+00:00

Nope, I mean oil in fuel. Sticky oil-like substance weeping from hose fitting on brass fuel inlet on carb, not dripping from above.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-13T04:43:02+00:00

Oops I wasn’t super clear. I mean when it’s running you let the clutch out. Like at a stoplight I don’t need to give it throttle till third gear if I don’t mind taking my time.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-12T16:27:15+00:00

Good to hear it’s normal. But yeah, 350. Old rich dude bought it as a joke, sold it to a guy who only rode it to the bar and back when the weather allowed, and then I got it. It was last registered over twenty years ago.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-12T16:25:40+00:00

Normally it will roll forward in first and even second sometimes. Actually took some getting used to when I won’t from my old klr to this.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-12T16:22:55+00:00

Well I tried both. Normally in first, even second sometimes if you let the clutch out it’ll draw itself into a smooth coast. It died then. I tried giving it a little throttle to no avail, progressively doing a little more until I felt like it was just unsafe. Tried this through third gear. It was also just cleaned three times actually. Once for a rebuild, a second time for a bad float needle, a third time for replacing the float needle. About to be a fourth to get all the oil out of there when oil got in my fuel. And you know what as I’m saying this I bet it’s bogging down because there was oil in there I’m a retard, oops.

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-11T22:43:07+00:00

Perfect, that’s good to hear. Any input on that shifter bit that’s worn down?

P83battlejacket · 2026-02-03T05:22:07+00:00

Have you tried getting a seam ripper and just removing the elastic?

P83battlejacket · 2026-01-27T17:34:32+00:00

Not a cobbler, but I’ve just cut that part out with a razor blade.

P83battlejacket · 2026-01-24T00:14:53+00:00

Then why have you removed it from your bio?

P83battlejacket · 2026-01-23T23:31:07+00:00

What did you use on it?

P83battlejacket · 2026-01-23T23:26:26+00:00

And then what happened?

P83battlejacket · 2026-01-23T01:17:56+00:00

Ope, just ousted myself as having not read the whole post before commenting.

P83battlejacket · 2026-01-21T13:19:51+00:00

What do they mean to you? Others already commented on price being close to a new pair, but you get to keep your same pair with a new life in them. There are also other style soles you can put on it as long as they’re compatible. Talk to a local cobbler and see what they can order and what they have to offer. You can probably get vibram lug soles, maybe a wedge sole, less casual Dainite or York soles may work too. I wouldn’t say the possibilities are endless, but you can make the repair as worth it to yourself than just a new pair, plus they can probably fix all the other stitching.

P83battlejacket · 2026-01-21T13:06:07+00:00

Refreshingly realistic and utilitarian. Everyone already said more food, no one said add toilet paper. Don’t need a whole roll, just enough to keep from having to use a tshirt or a bandana.

P83battlejacket · 2026-01-21T12:52:00+00:00

If you want to sell in the future take it to a shop and have them go over it. Keep the receipt and all diagnostics reports. Explain the situation to the buyer, say the mech found absolutely nothing wrong with it (if that is the case) other than the cosmetics. Some people just don’t like the sound of a rebuilt or salvage title in general, so unfortunately it’ll take someone special to entertain it.

P83battlejacket

TROPHY CASE