I'm reassembling my 1959 FLH that has been in a basket for 15 years ,I was just reading the HD service manual ,and it says to inspect the fork cap breathers if oil comes out of them ,or if the original snubbibg action of the forks has been lost .In either case it tells us how to drill,pry or use a tap to get the breather out to replace it .I am wondering about how it is suposed to be inspected. I ran across this about a week ago and since the bike only has 27000 miles on it ,the breathers are probably good .I wanted something to do on the bike so I had been reading the manual ,looking for just such a thing .I asked several poeple about these and none of them even new they were there .I started asking on different HD forums on the internet ,and found no one knew the answer .I have asked this on at least 8 forums .Lot of speculation ,but so far no expert has answered ..I'm am now making it my mission in life to find out about these breathers .I have in total 4 caps with breathers in them (2 off a 61 pan basket case ) I can't blow through any of them of **** air through them either .I shot air into either ends and nothing seemed to come out the other hole .I sprayed them with loads of WD-40 still the same ..I noticed in the parts book it shows they didn't start using them until 1950,but they used the glide starting in 1949..Could this be a clue ? In late 77 they stoped using them ,but my book doesn't show them being replaced with any other breathers ..I'm wondering if they could be 2 way pressure releif valves . they stop oil from blowing out .( the book tells us if the forks are over filled oil can come out of these ) and they give the forks the right amount of snubbing action ( HD's term) .One guy on the net pryed one out of a fork cap he had laying around and said there was a little plastic looking ring in there ,and mentioned a plunger ,but not how they fit together or anything ..
Some folks told me not to worry if they work or not ,and that it wouldn't make a difference .I of coarse disagree ,there in there for a good reason ..Regardless of whether or not I need them ,I want to find out how the HD mechanics checked them and ,there history and so on ..At this point I'm more interested in all the trivia attacheched to them and there use than if I need them ..Between the 2 dealers in town here they have 5 instock .They are now obsolete .and $20.00can. each, I may just buy a pair to see what they look like .
BTW this mystery is what drove me to searching for HD forums ,and I ran across you folks ..So whatever I find out I'm glad I discovered AMCA .I'm going to have lots more questions ..
Neil
Some folks told me not to worry if they work or not ,and that it wouldn't make a difference .I of coarse disagree ,there in there for a good reason ..Regardless of whether or not I need them ,I want to find out how the HD mechanics checked them and ,there history and so on ..At this point I'm more interested in all the trivia attacheched to them and there use than if I need them ..Between the 2 dealers in town here they have 5 instock .They are now obsolete .and $20.00can. each, I may just buy a pair to see what they look like .
BTW this mystery is what drove me to searching for HD forums ,and I ran across you folks ..So whatever I find out I'm glad I discovered AMCA .I'm going to have lots more questions ..
Neil
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