Sportster Horseshoe Breather Kit

After four years, we finally had enough, and we weren’t going to take it anymore. Something had to be done about the oil dripping from the Sporty’s ham can, and having it blown by the wind rearward to cover both the oil tank and saddle bag.

There are several solutions to this problem on the market, but the one we decided on was the classic horseshoe breather. We got ours from Drag Specialties (part No. 2110-0316) and the kit was specified to fit XL models from ’91 to ’03. Using this kit lets us vent the oil vapours from the engine anywhere but back into it. No more oil dripping air cleaner and less engine carbon build-up too. Sorry EPA.

Kit components: 1 breather crossover assembly, 2 each ½” banjo bolts, 6 each ½” sealing washers, 2 offset brackets, 1 breather hose, and 2 each of ¼” mounting bolts and washers. Canadian retail cost: $36.99.

Also purchased (but not shown) for this project was a crankcase vent filter ($22.99), and a couple of extra HD gaskets, part no. 29059-88a ($1.49 each).

In this photo, you can see the breather crossover assembly installed. The brackets for the AC backer plate are roughly positioned, but are still moveable for fine tuning.

Although the kit says it will fit 13 model years of Harley’s XL Sportsters, it wasn’t quite right on ours. The brackets pushed the air cleaner backing plate a bit too far from the carburetor, leaving a sizeable gap between the two (see above photo). Although some have just pulled the carb out from the intake manifold to make up the difference, I felt that the chance for an air leak was too great in our application. Others have used extra HD spacers successfully, and perhaps we could have too. However, another opportunity presented itself and it didn’t cost us a cent.

I have had a long relationship with our local dealer, Ottawa Harley Davidson. I’ve always tried to be reasonable with them, and they in turn always have been with me. So when I explained my problem with the breather kit, the service manager told me to wait a moment while he headed into the shop to look for something. A few minutes later he returned with a spacer from an old Kuryakyn Hyper-charger (unknown model) and asked me if I wanted to give it a try. No charge. It always pays to be on good terms.

In this photo, you can see the Kuryakyn spacer and backing plate test fit into place. Since the spacer is thicker than required, the mounting brackets will require shimming to the backer plate for proper fit.

In this photo you can see the Kuryakyn spacer finally bolted on. Also required was the original HD spacer and gaskets for the Kuryakyn part to clear the carb’s float bowl.

The neat thing about using the Kuryakyn part is that it gave me the option of somewhat maintaining pollution control. With the hoses routed through the spacer (as shown in the photo), I assume the vented oil would continue along to the small air cleaner under the transmission, while vapours could still be drawn up through a cavity in the spacer and burned as originally intended. After taking these pictures, I changed my mind (couldn’t stop thinking about the carbon build-up issue) and bypassed the spacer altogether with the hose. And yes, I did remember to plug the Kuryakyn spacer.

With the brackets aligned, I drilled two new holes in the backer plate, and bolted it on using the kit’s hardware. The original backer plate mounting holes were taped up on both front and back with muffler tape. There is some concern that gasoline may affect the adhesive, but after several thousand miles it seems to be holding up just fine.

This shot shows everything back together. The ham can now sticks out a bit further, but not enough to be noticeable while riding. One thing I have found is that the banjo bolts loosened a bit after a few hundred miles and needed to be tightened again. After that, no more oil leaks or air cleaner drips. This was an easy fix well worth doing.