I removed a sump breather pipe yesterday from a Terra that has done ~ 25,000 kms and noticed that the first 50 mm from the bottom were soft and expanded. It's like the oil has attacked the rubber, like you would find on a spark plug cover that has been doused with oil from a leaking tappet cover. I wonder if the wrong hose material has been used for this task? Anyone else seen this problem? Mine is fine, but it's only done 5,000 kms. While I'm on the subject, this bike had recently been at a dealer for it's valve shim adjustment. The shop broke off the airbox breather nipple and used the drain nipple instead when re-installing the breather tube. The result was a spray of oil on the upstream side of the filter, dirt stuck in that oil, and rain water draining into the sump. Fortunately the sludge blocked the drain hole limiting the deluge. Worth keeping a check on this. It's easy for a shop to hide the mistake, or simply not notice the mistake, but it could cause problems down the track.
Many of us who have moved our air filter have moved the crankcase breather into the old air filter area, and added a breather filter. That's an option for you, especially since that stock air box isn't doing much actual filtering for you anyway.
Mine was the same way. A 4" section of hose on the engine end was swollen from day 1. I noticed this when I bought the bike with 5 miles on it. I just did the Pod Mod and installed a breather in the air box. I had this hose off anyway so I replaced it a 5/16" fuel hose. I was surprised to find the old hose was even more swollen on the inside to the point of being blocked (280 miles). Probably a good thing for everyone to check.
Yeah! mine is looking the same, I haven't removed it yet. Sounds like I should take a look and could explain the oil being pushed right into my breather after doing the pod mod. Didn't really think about the rubber swelling reducing it's ID. Thanks for the heads up. Cheers, Q
I just bought some 8mm ID hose to replace that one. it's been swollen since new, about 3 months ago. The connection is about 8.5mm (not the lump on the end)
