What the hell is it?

[ZoomZoom]

Pardon my ignorance on this one fellas...

I recently bought a used Bullet and I'm curious what a part is...  It's the black, soup can looking thing full of oil on the right hand side right near the tool box.

I have already added the battery relocation kit and read here I cna add the duck bill breather on the crankcase vent.  Does that mean i can remove the soup can.

Again I'm sorry if this is a blatantly stupid question...

[deejay]

Yeah if you add a duckbill breather you can ditch the can. If it's full of oil you should drain it. Not sure what year your bullet is, but if the can is full, you should check you airbox to make sure oil didn't overflow in there. Draining the catch can is part of routine maintenance.

[Spitting Bull]

My 350 has three pipes to/from the catch-can.  One comes from the crankase to the can, one goes from the can back into the engine via a connection at the rear of the timing-chest, and the third goes to the back of the right-hand toolbox where the air-filter is.

This system was introduced in 2004 (I think) and removed the need to keep on emptying the can.  At least, I haven't emptied mine in over 5000 miles.

Tom

[deejay]

My 350 has three pipes to/from the catch-can.  One comes from the crankase to the can, one goes from the can back into the engine via a connection at the rear of the timing-chest, and the third goes to the back of the right-hand toolbox where the air-filter is.

This system was introduced in 2004 (I think) and removed the need to keep on emptying the can.  At least, I haven't emptied mine in over 5000 miles.

Tom

The can should be collecting a bit of oil, but mostly white foam from the oil vapor. Once you see this stuff, you'll quickly rethink if you want that draining back into your timing chest.

[Spitting Bull]

I agree with you, Deejay, but I think the white foam - which is like mayonnaise - is an emulsion resulting from water in the oil and its presence increases during short runs in the winter, when the water is formed as a by-product of the combustion but is never boiled off because the engine and the oil never get hot enough.

I learned about this is April when  I went on my first long run on a freezing cold day, after a month or two of more-or-less daily short runs in cold weather. The pipes to and from the engine became clogged with this stuff (or they were clogged before I started) and I lost a lot of oil through the air-filter in the toolbox as the whole system became blocked on that long run. There was a lot of water mixed in with the oil remaining in the toolbox afterwards. On that occasion I changed the oil (some water came out first) and cleaned out the pipes. However the can itself was empty.

Now that I'm getting in some longer runs in better weather, there's no emulsion in the pipes and none visible inside the filler-neck.  My most recent oil-change (last week) showed no oil in the water, either, and this is why I think the two problems go hand-in-hand.

Mind you,  I think there are other worrying things being recirculated through the system via the catch-can - other by-products including acid. It doesn't seem a good idea to let these back in if there is an alternative.  (But I wouldn't want to spray that acid out over my chain, either).

Tom

[deejay]

Spitting Bull, I didn't want this going all over my chain either. I bought a long clear hose which I attached to the vent and routed to the back of the bike under the fender. I zip tied it to the rear brake wires that are routed under the rear fender as well. I then attached the original duckbill breather (from inside the catch can) to the end of the hose, which sticks out about 1/4 of an inch off of the rear fender and vents to the ground. This setup is completely hidden unless you look under the rear fender. The hose being clear allows you to check on the gunk accumulating, and since the duckbill is at the rear of the fender you can hold your hand under it before each ride with the engine running and make sure it is venting properly. If gunk does block the hose, simply detach it and blow some air through it to unclog.

[ZoomZoom]

My 350 has three pipes to/from the catch-can.  One comes from the crankase to the can, one goes from the can back into the engine via a connection at the rear of the timing-chest, and the third goes to the back of the right-hand toolbox where the air-filter is.

This system was introduced in 2004 (I think) and removed the need to keep on emptying the can.  At least, I haven't emptied mine in over 5000 miles.

Tom

OK, if I remove the soup can and add the duck bill breather to the crankcase, it seems that I could just seal the connection going back to the engine, correct?

Also...deejay, I like you're idea of running it to the back of the bike, but how did you connect the duck bill to the longer clear line?  Did you find some sort of connector?

[deejay]

I'll take some pics this weekend and post them. and yes cap the connection on the back of the timing case. I used a rubber cap from autozone.