Gettin better..

[ClarkGriswald]

Well a bit of good news.. Finally finished up cleaning/polishing my cam cover and put that back on (after my valve adjustment). Before I put the tank back on I did a "cold" compression check.. just to see if things changed at all.

Well before I had 109-110-106-135

That was warmed up properly with throttles wide open. Then I checked em with some oil and they all went up 6 to 9 psi. (only got 100 miles on the bike so far after years of sitting hope to get a little more ring seating in the next few hundred).

Anyway my "cold" check yielded these #s

135-125-126-139

Then I put the tank on and fired her up. Sound is even a bit more even but I wont really judge it until next time I work on it.

Next I will warm it up and resync the carbs.. then do a real comp check. from there I'll put on a few hundred miles then recheck.

Im not sure about this but might have an oil leak from the base gasket but it seems like a weird spot.. on the back of the jug (higher area). kinda just below and in front of the send unit (might be that not sure yet).. Ill find out as soon as I get her rolling again..
Pretty sure I got a good seal on my cam cover so hopefully Ive eliminated any possibles there.

Thanx again everyone, I might not have so much motivation without this sight and the knowledge here. (crossin fingers).

[dbeardslee]

Clark - Check the oil delivery pipe connections. They use a banjo bolt and crush washers, and there's one real close to the oil pressure sending unit. There's another one higher on the motor where the other end of the pipe goes. They're a pain in the butt. New crush washers of the proper size and proper torque are the key, if that's where the leak is.

[Hawkins]

engine will be fine I think

The original engine in my 80sg was nearing the end of it's ring life ( i also had a severe leak exactly where you describe, in the base gasket by the sending unit. My left boot was soaked in oil. I was told it happened due to running too hard too fast on cold mornings, not giving a proper warm up to even things out). It's not real high pressure there so maybe a fix from outside would work. I never tried.

anyway, had bought a 79f for what parts I could scavenge from it. the bike was covered in leaves, appears to have been left outside for a few years on it's kickstand. The two cylinders on the high side collected lots of water and some eventually got in the cylinders. Don't remember exact numbers, but the 1st cold test I did was something like 110-110-60-30. Squirted the cyls full of some spray engine restore and left it all winter. Two bad cyls were now 90-50 or so. I decided to swap it in and see what happened. Been using it for several summers now and warm tests are way above spec (150 or 180, one of it) on all 4. The engine looked crap but seems to have been low mileage - the difference in the tightness of the gearbox was incredible.

Hopefully yours comes back as well.

[trbig]

I had an oil leak in that area myself before, and I finally found that it was the valve cover gasket leaking onto the head down around the #2 spark plug, then wind would blow it back onto the carb boot and dripping down right onto the fin that seperated the cylinders and base gasket.. making me think it was the base gasket. The base gasket shouldn't have any pressure on it, so a leak there isn't likely.


Tod

[Ivan]

FWIW, brass sealing washers on oil lines, brake lines, or anything else for that matter can be annealed by heating them to glowing with a propane torch and quenching them in water. This softens them up again, so they are maleable enough to emboss again for a good seal. The vibration and slow heating and cooling cycles temper them. Brass is opposite steel, in this respect.

[dbeardslee]

I read somewhere, not too long ago, that cleaning the engine and applying a light dusting of talcum powder was a good way to track down oil leaks. It's supposed to leave a visible trail in the talcum powder. Never tried it, but it sounds plausible.

[Ivan]

Yep, talc works well.

Even better is clean up with carb cleaner then spray it down with foot powder. Finds leaks, kills fungus, and leaves a pleasant aroma.

[ClarkGriswald]

Great tips guys, I read that talc powder thing here on this forum recently.. well heres a quick update.. I JUST took a 7 mile ride..

This morning I took my wheels to the local cycle guy, he had a rear tube I needed so I just paid him 25 bucks to throw it in there and then balance both wheels.. Later I put the wheels on and drove her around to the SHADY side of my house (hot today).. Did a resync and then a Comp test (yes fan blowing on it).

So my current warm comps are..

115-115-110-140

Orig warm comps before valve adjust were.

109-110-106-135

Sure is nice to be on new tires.. Taking it easy for the Run-In but the bike no longer feels like its teetering on a knife edge (left/right). Now it just goes down the road nice and balanced..

So I guess for now its time to just put miles on it and Ill check it again after a few hundred. Now I can get to work on all the other little baloney like working and greasing all the electrical connectors and replacing the fuse block ect.. need a speedo cable so Ill probly get new throttle/clutch/speedo and yet another one of those little cable lubers that everyone always steals from ya heheh..

Seat is POOP.. I have duct taped up the bottom of it to keep rust from falling into the intake. Got a K&N in there with stock setup. Wanna leave the bike as stock as possible until I can determine where I am with it.

I need to start the searrch for some side covers as I have neither and I think that any hope of gettin the orig's back is no longer in play.

79 standard seat and side covers anyone? anyhow thats where I am.. Man I really wanna ride to lake michigan right now and take a nice "my crappy bike at the beach pic". But my small test drive was enough for now.. its time to head for the mountains of busch. (I know, crap beer but the cans match my tractor hehe)

Here she is today.

[Hawkins]

I used a can of combustion chamber cleaner on mine after I had it running - get her warmed up good and spray it into the carb inlets until it stalls or almost stalls, can't remember but may vary from product to product anyway. Don't know if it helped, but didn't hurt either.

[ClarkGriswald]

Heres one I just took, makes me think of the old vid game TRON .. (not the same look but, dont ya just wanna jump on there and fly?).

[ClarkGriswald]

By the way at the shop today, the guy had an xs1100 rear rim that needed a new tire. heeh go figure..

Anyway I hung out long enough to see him take off the old tire and see the corrosion inside.. too bad, I almost wanted to clean it up for the guy hehe.. Mine are like mirrors inside.

Was cool to see another version of the same rim. No locks. And yeah, no inner safety bead. I dont consider any of these rims real tubeless ones if they dont have that lip. I did however think that the one I saw (which was marked tubeless) seemed to look a little more concave? on the outside edge of the bead (that you see when you look at it mounted). Mabye there is that 5 degree difference milled in there not to mention I dont know how tight they make the tire on the rim (how they turn the castings) . So just an observation after reading some stuff on this forum.. no real point I guess just trivial.

By the way I went with a 110/90/19 on front and a 130/90/17 on the rear. Plenty of room.

[skids]

You better not let her hear you speak of her that way!

Clark sez: "Man I really wanna ride to lake michigan right now and take a nice "my crappy bike at the beach pic".

[ClarkGriswald]

Oh I am sure that she has already had communication with my 88 Grand Wagoneer and understands that to me "crappy" is a complement..


Websters (NOT)... Crappy.. Not something other people would value by merely viewing it but right on, on the inside.

My "crappy" jeep could do any hill at the dunes around here or whatever I asked of it. Not to mention pulling a dumptruck full of old shingles/roof waste, while my buddy fooled around and kept stomping the brakes and droppin it in gear.. he never did stop me.. and i was in 2 wheel drive "low".

Im sure this bike will perform accordingly, she knows I think that above cleaning/restoring, anything else is putting makeup on a pig. I like a nice wholesome bike that wont stray, you wont see it riding along next to you one night on the back of yet another bike hahahha. (?)>

Call it a term of endearment

2nd edit.. I could leave it as it is but I want side covers (rain) and am considering takin it on a trip if I can get it up to par.. could care less about the logo's. but would be nice to have it complete. (I stripped the yamaha's off my banshee that I used to race. liked the clean look but that didnt mess the tank up..)

[Ivan]

I have a side cover for the right, it has slots not round holes on top, black, and I think the emblem is messed up.

If that works for you, I could send it to you if you were to cover shipping. Well, that and get a ride in the Wagon Queen Family Truckster

[ClarkGriswald]

Ill have to look at what mine is, I didnt know there was a slot/hole controversy. (Lord let prometheus miss this one) hehe. Yeah, my name came from when I got my first full size jeep. Its the last one I have left now, 88 grand wagoneer. When I first got it, it still had the woodgrain giant label on the side.. I pulled up behind the stage of some gig we were doin downtown kalamazoo (I was an audio engineer) and my buddy called me Clark Griswald. hehe.. It made sense so when I joined the full size jeep equivilant of this sight I used it as my name.. I use it for all the things I join now. I need to put my avatar pic on here. Its "Clark" leaning out the window of the Wagon Queen FT but I photoshoped it into My wagoneer. haha. Mabye I'll work on that .