Hitchcocks Forum

Plan for this winter is to strip down my Electra X engine to try to find why it is spewing a lot of oil out of the breather, much more than 'usual' amount. Any ideas about why this may be happening would be very helpful. Also this is an opportunity to add any improvements you would recommend bearing in mind I have a limited budget. I know some dislike the Electra X engine but that is the engine I have so, please, positive suggestions?

Too much oil in the engine? (This has caused problems for a lot of people) I made my own checking dipstick which reaches the bottom of the tank to check the oil level with a cold engine before going out for a ride. As long as there is 5 inches of oil that is sufficient. (If you fav about using the long winded procedure in the manual 5 inches when cold ends up as midway on the normal stick.)
On the normal dipstick the oil does not even show on a cold engine.

Recent oil change? Air displaced by the descending piston vents across the top of the oil surface in the oil tank, a higher oil level will result in more of it ending up in the breather tube. The recent colder weather is probably not helping either. Excessive ring blow by adds to the problem but obviously doesn't suddenly appear without reason.

An inline one way fuel valve (which can be had for under a fiver) along with some plumbing changes (while retaining the catch can) reduced my emulsification/oil loss problem to minimal. Perhaps a compression test would be a worthwhile investment before getting the spanners out.

I have for some time been puzzled by comments about a catch can, my Electra X does not appear to have one.

It was located behind the left hand side panel. They were designed to return emulsified oil back into the engine but could be reconfigured to work as an efficient oil separator with gases venting into the air box and the minmal discharge of contaminant draining to ground. The redundant return feed into the timing chest simply blocked off.

It would have had one Papa, perhaps someone removed it (best thing for them)

I have just located a cylindrical black object that the breather pipe connects to but the outlet from it just goes back to the top of the timing case.
(I can't see anyway of emptying it anyway.)

That's the catch can. It's supposed to drain down that tube to the timing chest. Any overflow goes into the air filter.
Have a read Here

PeteF your reference looks nothing like the catch can on my Electra X(ish). I can see no way of emptying the one on my bike even if I wished to.
(It would take removing a lot clutter from around it to check fully, like taking the battery out, the seat off and other bit and pieces from under the seat.)

Don't quite know what you mean as there isn't a picture of the catch can in the article on my link.
However, there IS no way of draining it except for removing it (quite a palaver as you describe) It's supposed to drain automatically but if it gets gummed up with mayonnaise it can't do that very well.
There have been reports of the catch can overflowing into the air filter after a prolonged ride. I'm convinced this is because the can can't drain against the pressure in the timing chest so, if the engine is breathing anything more than the usual slight mist, the can gets full and overflows.