1978 Standard, a near mistake

[Del Tysdal]

A couple of years ago I got the bike started and put it on high idle. The phone inside the house rang and I went to get the call..
The call took a bit longer than I thought. Got back to the bike and it was shut off. The oil in the case was bubbling. I opened to see a real volcano inside the oil case. I let it cool down, started it, ran it a few miles and all was okay. But I thought for sure I had ruined the engine. I must have been lucky that day. But later that year or the next my son hot rodded it and stuck the gears together 140 miles from home. Found a place to leave it and got an engine and tranny on ebay. Just thought you would like to know. My first name is Delbert and whenever I do something dumb I call it a Delbert.

[trbig]

I'd be willing to bet that you just need to replace the middle drive. If there was any oil at all in the motor, the actual gears wouldn't lock up unless something broke. If there was no oil, the motor would lock up before the gears.

On the back side of the motor the middle drive attaches to the front of your driveshaft. A new (Used) middle drive and gasket and you could fix it on the side of the road pretty easily. Just remember to check the oil in it this time. While you're at it, check the final drive level also.

But it doesn't hurt to have a spare motor either!


Tod

[Wildkat]

But it doesn't hurt to have a spare motor either!

or in Tod's case... 3 or 4 spare motors...

[Del Tysdal]

1978E motor

I did put in a usesd motor with 19K and kept the old one. Took part of the lower off to see what happened in the tranny. But to difficult for me. Thanks

[trbig]

On the bottom of the motor under this middle drive unit, there is a bolt that is the oil drain plug for it. If you drain the oil, then take out the 7 allen screws shown with the white arrows, the middle drive can be removed. The other 3 allen screws just hold that shiney cover on. After taking it off, hold it in your hands and try to turn the middle gear flange that a black arrow points to. It should turn freely... I'm betting it doesn't. They are pretty cheap to replace, then you'll have another motor ready to go. Next time you swap, bring it by and I'll gladly do it for a mere $300! lol.

There really isn't much to be worried about by trying to work on these bikes yourself. Even if you're the type that can tear up a steel ball bearing with a rubber hammer, most of the things are really user friendly. A service manual is a must, but any problems can be solved if brought here. It's only scary because you aren't familiar with it. Every one of us has been there.

Good Luck.

Tod

[79XS11F]

Foaming or excessively bubbly oil is often caused by an over full crank case. That's what there's an upper fill mark as well as a low mark. If you over fill the crankcase the movement of the crankshaft, con rods etc will create bubbles in the oil which can drop oil pressure.
Rob

[Del Tysdal]

Thanks

For all the suggestions and information.