Tracings of vapor around head bolt

[WalterM817]

Any thoughts on this one guys?
Was washing the Triglide the other day(few weeks ago)and noticed the horn cover had a smoky film on it. It washed right off so I thought well that's new and washed on.
Last weekend I was scrubbing it down again and noticed it only worse.Checked on the other side of the motor and saw it was on the right side and had fogged up the rear of the air cleaner as well.
Got to looking closely at this point and noticed the only place any thing could be escaping in this area is from the head gasket on the rear head. After the first time I noticed this hazing I experienced a loss of power after I left the highway to gas up.Had to slip the clutch to get going.Strange for this bike usually.
Anyway I noticed some hazing or tracing around a rear head bolt like there were hot gases escaping and called the dealer.They were concerned and had me drop it off for evaluation.While there the service writer and I noticed the muffler bracket was rusty by the rear cylinder.Real rusty! The spark plug of the rear cylinder was rusting terribly as well.
Hope all works out well as we really like this machine.My wife is lost without her big lounge seat on the back.
Just normal stuff or should I be more concerned about damage?

[azbob09]

Any thoughts on this one guys?
Was washing the Triglide the other day(few weeks ago)and noticed the horn cover had a smoky film on it. It washed right off so I thought well that's new and washed on.
Last weekend I was scrubbing it down again and noticed it only worse.Checked on the other side of the motor and saw it was on the right side and had fogged up the rear of the air cleaner as well.
Got to looking closely at this point and noticed the only place any thing could be escaping in this area is from the head gasket on the rear head. After the first time I noticed this hazing I experienced a loss of power after I left the highway to gas up.Had to slip the clutch to get going.Strange for this bike usually.
Anyway I noticed some hazing or tracing around a rear head bolt like there were hot gases escaping and called the dealer.They were concerned and had me drop it off for evaluation.While there the service writer and I noticed the muffler bracket was rusty by the rear cylinder.Real rusty! The spark plug of the rear cylinder was rusting terribly as well.
Hope all works out well as we really like this machine.My wife is lost without her big lounge seat on the back.
Just normal stuff or should I be more concerned about damage?

Please keep us updated on what your dealer service dept. finds as our Tri-glide has started showing the same hazy or smoky film on the air cleaner cover & horn cover as you've described.
I'll be anxious to hear what they say about it!
Thanks...

[Paw Paw Willie]

It's from excessive engine heat. My horn and AC cover did the same. The paint around the spark plugs peeled. These things are crazy hot. I put on a Fuel Moto catless headpipe and a PC V and it cooled down a lot. N o more tan chrome.

[1550vt]

A rusty rear head bolt is sort of normal in most cases. The rear cylinder runs hotter. The area right around the rear spark plug may also discolor in time as well. Exhaust and manifold leaks and cracks in pipes can also deceive one into thinking they have other issues. Vapor (misting) from normal blow-by of the venting system can show-up in places you would not expect as well.

I pulled into a shop one day during a trip due to a sound that I was sure had to be a head gasket leak and it was so diagnosed by the mechanic that looked at it. It was still running well, so I brought it on home, only to discover a cracked head-pipe just where it exited the head.

A compression check should rule-out any concerns over a blown or leaking head gasket. Loss of power is not a good sign. Sometimes, when you see or hear something that dosent sound or look right....you start imagining other things that seem to be wrong. I've done it too. Once, I ran from Santa Rosa, NM all the way to Flagstaff, AZ thinking I had an engine about to self destruct and was running on one cylinder most of the way. When I got to the motel and let it cool-down...I found the rear spark plug loose. Hope it works out to be something less serious for you, but little smudges, lines and trails become more common as the motor ages.

Paw Paw is onto something too......it gets HOT down there.

[WalterM817]

I may be being a bit of a worry wart at this point but this is the first Harley motorcycle I've owned and it's the first Trike as well so I'm just a bit spooked at this point.
The rust is pretty flaky on the exhaust and the smoky mist on the other parts is new to me as well. The loss of power after highway speeds is what really makes me concerned. Hope the dealer can sort it all out. I haven't changed anything on the Trike pipes etc. Just because I didn't want any warranty issues.I'll post when we have any answer from the dealer.

[1550vt]

Owning a Harley is akin to owning a pool or a boat. Those of us that have been around a long time and owned 15-20 of these animals just consider it part of the package. I have NEVER been off on a long trip that one did not pay a visit to a dealer for some problem (one we could not fix on the side of the road)....and I can also fit a metric bike-or-two in there someplace.

I rank the maintenance and bother like this:
#1. Ex wife
#2. Harley
#3 Boat
#4. Metric Bike/trike
#5. Pool
#6. Lawn mower
#7. Kids and grand-kids

The list could go on and others can rearrange the priorities to suit their particular situation.

[WalterM817]

Well folks the service manager checked it out himself and verdict is I'm nuts! Good to know the last part anyway.
Says the compression is fine and the rust is normal on the bracket by the catalytic converter. Also told me my vapor tracings around the head bolts were reflections from the chrome head bolts. Hmmm! Maybe so,maybe so.
He seemed very concerned about the power loss after highway driving but said he
couldn't duplicate it but he wants to check it out if it happens again.
All In all I think they tried to find the problem honestly and I think it will show up again so I am going to ride it as normal and see if anything else developes.

[azbob09]

Well folks the service manager checked it out himself and verdict is I'm nuts! Good to know the last part anyway.
Says the compression is fine and the rust is normal on the bracket by the catalytic converter. Also told me my vapor tracings around the head bolts were reflections from the chrome head bolts. Hmmm! Maybe so,maybe so.
He seemed very concerned about the power loss after highway driving but said he
couldn't duplicate it but he wants to check it out if it happens again.
All In all I think they tried to find the problem honestly and I think it will show up again so I am going to ride it as normal and see if anything else developes.

What did he say about the hazing or smoky film on the air cleaner cover & horn cover?
Thanks for the info...

[msocko3]

Well folks the service manager checked it out himself and verdict is I'm nuts! Good to know the last part anyway.
Says the compression is fine and the rust is normal on the bracket by the catalytic converter. Also told me my vapor tracings around the head bolts were reflections from the chrome head bolts. Hmmm! Maybe so,maybe so.
He seemed very concerned about the power loss after highway driving but said he
couldn't duplicate it but he wants to check it out if it happens again.
All In all I think they tried to find the problem honestly and I think it will show up again so I am going to ride it as normal and see if anything else developes.

He is right about the plating being burnt off the exhaust bracket by the converter, it gets hot enough in that area it burns the plating off. The power loss could be from timing being pulled due to the heat, there is a table in the ECM which pulls power in certain areas when it gets hot. This is mine when it only had 2,500 miles on it.

[1550vt]

Those of us old enough to remember....opine for the days of the EVO, especially the last years of production when they had finally worked out most of the bugs in those engines. Many of us have suffered all the woes involved with the development of the Twin Cam and now many of you are suffering the woes of the MOCO trying to make the TC run on thin air.

I am currently "Twin Camless" and plan to stay that way. It is a proven certainty the TC will hold up much longer than the older EVO mil, but had and now has other issues that would make me not want to own another one. You can pump 85-90 ponies from an EVO easy enough and a lot more if necessary. The EVO still runs out there on the highway with the Twin Cams all day long.

My next trike is going to be EVO powered and will not have any cats, dogs, fly-by-wire controls, or require an IT specialist to tune it and make it run. I am looking for it now.