Boorrrringggg Build/Rebuild/Refres&restore

[puskrat]

Wiring solutions TBD. in the midst of looking over something else, I realized the front of my engine is covered with oily dirt. For those new to this thread, I had gasoil. The PO claimed to be shocked that there was any gasoil. Is the oily mess on the front of my motor an indication of gasoline/ethanol seeping out of the cylinder/head gasket?

[3Phase]

I suppose it all depends on how long the fuel's been leaking and the bike was run with fuel in the oil. If there was already a leak, the fuel would thin the oil and leak faster but it's really unlikely the oily dirt on the engine is from any recent problem.

Assuming you ignored the noise and none of the pistons tried to escape, the rings and bearings would go bye-bye before oil started leaking.

[motoman]

Wiring solutions TBD. in the midst of looking over something else, I realized the front of my engine is covered with oily dirt. For those new to this thread, I had gasoil. The PO claimed to be shocked that there was any gasoil. Is the oily mess on the front of my motor an indication of gasoline/ethanol seeping out of the cylinder/head gasket?

Doubtful oily mess is related to head gasket. Number one area mess is likely coming from valve cover gasket and tends to leak on inner sealing portion of valve cover and runs to open finned area of head.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Puskrat,
Valve cover , as mentioned by Motoman and also the camchain tensioner is another frequent offender.
I suggest you get a can of de-greaser and clean the engine from the top both front and back as the oil gets moved around by gravity and weird wind currents. Then check after every ride to trace the leak.
Phil

[puskrat]

Thanks dudes. i always feel so much better about my panics after a quick visit here. Wish I could just start the smoker, invite everybody over, and get out of the way, let you combine your skills on Dora and rock and roar.

[puskrat]

Early Spring

Thank God for global warming. And Lulls in body shop activity.

Today the painting begins. After work tonight I anticipate installing a new oil filter, filling my crankcase, and trying to turn this beast over. I'm going to be sizably disappointed if my efforts thus far have gone into fueling a locked up seized up engine.

Vision for the future:

Installing a headlight bucket
Wiring headlight
Source, mount, install signals
Get a windshield or fairing (I have a bad feeling about trying to match a batwing to my 80G, but I really don't like the disco era Yamaha unit)
Install my new Chicom mirrors with groovy on board supplemental signals.
Petcocks to tank, mount tank, reinstall or replace seat (I've read "somewhere" a Sportster seat adapts well)
Reinstall side covers
Address as yet undiscovered booby traps
Possibly reinstall hard bags (probably with some goofy lighting)

Develop multiple foolish notions like side cars et al

[puskrat]

Can I do this?

I know there is a circuit that switches lighting if there is a problem. IIRC, the high beam is switched on if the low beam goes south. Is that correct? If so, is it present in both Standards and Specials? I'm thinking Round headlight, and if I scrounge up a Special light for my Std, I'd just as soon not have to pursue electrical engineering to pull it off.

[DiverRay]

The headlight plugs are all the same, so no problem there. You just MAY need to make a change on the vertical adjustment site. I do not know if the two buckets use the same bits for that. It's on the lower triple tree, so just try to get everything with the bucket and it should work fine.

[puskrat]

Gentlemen. And lady/ladies:

Hello again.

While things are going on, I need to do some other things. Right now I'd like to try turning my motor over to be sure it's not seized. My battery is dead. Not discharged. Dead. Connect a charger and it just simmers. In fact I'm not sure I didnt help with it's demise via improper charging. My Yamah manual Spec is for amp hours, not cranking amps. Batteries I'm finding locally are rated in cranking amps. The rack catalogs, of course, don't list a battery for a 1980 Jap cruiser.

[bikerphil]

This is the correct battery at a low price, I have used them and they seem fine...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-12v-Fire...tXGjYK&vxp=mtr

[puskrat]

Thanks for the tip. Goodness Miss Smith sure has an ample charge.

[motoman]

Hello again.

While things are going on, I need to do some other things. Right now I'd like to try turning my motor over to be sure it's not seized. My battery is dead. Not discharged. Dead. Connect a charger and it just simmers. In fact I'm not sure I didnt help with it's demise via improper charging. My Yamah manual Spec is for amp hours, not cranking amps. Batteries I'm finding locally are rated in cranking amps. The rack catalogs, of course, don't list a battery for a 1980 Jap cruiser.

A 1amp. charge rate is as HIGH as you'll wanna' charge batt..

[puskrat]

A 1amp. charge rate is as HIGH as you'll wanna' charge batt..

gUESS i HAVENT BEEN MAKING SENSE. i WAS LOOKING FOR A CLUE AS TO BATTERY CAPACITY i SHOULD HAVE. tHINK THE dIVER HAS ME HOOKED UP.

[bikerphil]

260 CCA is the capacity of the type of wet cell listed above if that helps any.

[puskrat]

Oops, the biker as hooked me up, not the diver. Thanks Phil. I've one of those coming. Everything I saw was rated in cranking amps. My specs from the manuals held only an amp-hours rating. I remember both from boating adventures, and was used to a world where strong capacities in the two categories were mutually exclusive.