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Post by robinpeck on Sept 22, 2008 10:02:22 GMT -5
SO....I think its going to be a two-Canadian-winter project so I'm in no big rush to convert the SD into a street tracker or a cafe racer (can't decide which yet) ..but yesterday I decide to do a little preliminary pre-winter work ...I decide to try to start the bike...check oil level...seems that there is some (I topped it up in the spring when I bought it)...change the spark plug ...okay...It takes me some time to figure out that weird petcock...but after consulting a manual I think I now understand it (maybe)...I kick and kick and after awhile (thirty or so) I almost get the hang of kicking it over...It almost tries to start (maybe)...a tiny puff-puff then nothing...my kicking lit up instruments though...then I notice OIL leaking from back of bike....where did that come from? (I thought at first it was brake fluid)...I decide to take off air filter cover...HOLY CRAP...it is stuffed TIGHT SOLID with a mouse nest...solid gross crap of some sort...but now its soaked in oil as well...see photos...I can't imagine bike starting with NO AIR....I clean muck out..I show muck to my wife..she runs away screaming (really)....I do get the mouse thing...you can see how they chiseled their way into the box from under the seat....probably lived in there for the two+ years of bike storage in a Quebec barn...but why the OIL!!??...it probably was overfull and maybe it just squished past the rings while I was kicking it....anyway..I cleaned it up...hell of a mess on the floor of my garage..more cleanup to do yet...and will clean filter somehow and try to start bike again...check out the mess in the photos...airbox container was stuffed solid...TIGHT with this muck. Anyway..its a start...or...well, nearly a start. Any thoughts on where the oil came from?    |
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Post by joneill4 on Sept 22, 2008 11:09:30 GMT -5
Do a search on this site for "Dry sumping". Over time, the oil drained into the motor instead of the oil tank. When you filled it, you filled it WAY too far. The oil exits the motor through the crankcase breather tube. I've never seen the original airbox, but I'm guessing that the crankcase breather ends there. BTW if you leave your bike parked in a barn for more than a week, check the airbox for nests. They just LOVE airboxes.
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Post by robinpeck on Sept 22, 2008 11:21:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the tip..but I tried and can find nothing under "dry sumping". Do a search on this site for "Dry sumping". Over time, the oil drained into the motor instead of the oil tank. When you filled it, you filled it WAY too far. The oil exits the motor through the crankcase breather tube. I've never seen the original airbox, but I'm guessing that the crankcase breather ends there. BTW if you leave your bike parked in a barn for more than a week, check the airbox for nests. They just LOVE airboxes. |
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Post by solo2racr on Sept 22, 2008 11:52:27 GMT -5
Just search "sumping". I got 53 posts searching that one word. But Joneill4 is right. The oil that normally is in the frame has leaked down into the engine. This will show on the oil stick as a low level. The only time to get a true reading of the oil level is just after you have shut off the engine. Since that is not an option here, I would drain the oil that is in there and and refill it to spec. Might as well change the oil filter at the same time. Over time, the oil will drain back down into the engine but not to worry. As soon as the engine is started, it will be pumped back up into the frame. If after doing this and you KNOW the correct amount of oil is in the engine and it still comes back out the crankcase breather into the air box, then you will have to replace the seal under the clutch cover that keeps the oil from draining back into the engine. Some drainage is to be expected but not to the point to where it exits out and into the air box.
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Post by robinpeck on Sept 23, 2008 5:38:25 GMT -5
Thanks for the info.....re: oil change, etc....that just what I thought I should do...
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