I checked for previous threads on this subject and didn't find any so here goes. When I lived in Georgia, and still had my '78 wing, I frequented an Indy that was an "old man" who said he had been riding forever. He had a nice shop and stayed busy all the time so seemed he was successful; anyway, while shooting the breeze one day he asked me if I "top oiled" my Gold wing and which I did not. He said that he had been top oiling his bikes for a very long time and recommended it to everyone; he only owned metrics and a beemer I think. So do any of you guys top oil? If so, and say maybe you started back in the days of Shovel heads or whatever and now you have newer HD's do you still do it? Any comments and or info appreciated.

I'm riding over 30 years and this is the first time I heard the term "top oil." What exactly is that?

Top oiling as I know it goes like this , when Harley built the panhead , the top end was oiled from inside the head , a small passageway that passes within an inch of the combustion chamber was what the oil traveled thru , when it hit the top end it was substantially hotter , reducing viscosity drastically .. Top ends didn't last very long needless to say .. First year or two of the shovelhead was the same design , then they routed a couple small lines externally to lubricate the top end ..

My panhead top end was a pita , but those bikes had poor oil and fuel control , shovelhead included .. Changed the oil every 2000 miles and it smelled more like gas than oil ..

On Harleys it was a Pan thing. The internal ports would coke shut from the jug heat. I always heard it called external oiling.

And on stove bolt Chevy's We used to run a line into the rocker shaft, through the valve cover for the same reason. The passage in the head would coke shut. The ones with add on oil filters just got the existing oil line tapped. The ones without filters needed a t at the oil pressure fitting.

I've also seen it done to older inline farm machinery and some older 6's made by other brands. That early oil would clog up oil galleys more often than you would think.

Sorry guys, didn't explain what I meant by top oiling to start with; AIRHEAD ATTACK!!!! What I'm referring to is the addition of something similar to Marvels Mystery Oil directly into the gas tank. Purpose is to add additional lubrication to the intake valve stem and help with eliminating the buildup of carbon in the combustion chamber including on and around the valves. In the days of carburetors it also helped keep all those little passage ways clear. Thanks for the feedback, I did learn something new about the older HD engines.

Thanks for clearing that up asshole.

Blowing smoke out your ass.. usdta be little cans of top lube to pour down the carb while thumbin the throlle linkage, like yanking yourself...
Smoke screen at pipeline parties when you were looking for your halter top drooler
You slowing pour the tranny fluid down the carb, couldn't see such asshole she was in front of

Lol now thats some funny shit! We kinda would do the same thing on our tires is high school. Made your shit look a whole lot badder then it actually was.

Oh that , yeah I used to add a quart of atf to a tank of gas in a big block chevy , did the marvel mystery oil thing too on the bikes , seemed to help ..

You're welcome douche-bag!