fork tubes wont take air / burning oil

[tab1324]

Guys,

It's been too long! I've waited a long winter for riding and finally got the old XJ out of mothballs. Started up a bit rough and is burning a little oil - maybe a stuck ring or something because it stops after engine is heated up well. It's not just choke cause it happens without the choke and the smoke is definately oil. Any thoughts on diagnosing or fixing this??

I adjusted my fork tubes so that the front end of the bike is now a bit lower... After trying this out I thought I'd better check the air level in the tubes after it's sat all winter... Nothing. So I went to air it up and it wont take air. Does that mean my tube seals are shot?? How can I fix this?

Tom B.

[MAXIMAN]

Tom,

Is it burning so much you are having to add oil constantly...or fouling plugs? If not try replacing a quart of your motoroil with a quart of Risolone (SP?). It comes in a yellow quart size bottle and looks like blue oil...and you can run it like oil...it's not a flush. Put a few hundred miles on the bike with that in the crank and see if it helps after next oil change.

As far as the forks...seals maybe gone. If the seals are shot you should see oil on the tubes. I can't imagine they are so bad that you wouldn't hear the air escape as you put it in. Are you sure you are getting your air connection on the fork air chuck right?

You might also check the O-rings in the fork caps.

[dntemp_ca]

Tom,
My 78E smokes white when I start it up after winter storage but I think it's just burning off the oil that drained into the cyls over winter. Once it's all burned off and during the summer, it only smokes a bit on start up mostly from the left muffler. I do have to add a bit of oil between oil changes, but I'm not concerned. I think I'll try the Rislone treatment, too. Some old school mechanics swear by the stuff.

[John]

Tom, what has happened is the inflator rings on the forks have been slid down the fork tubes when you raised them in the triple clamps, and the air holes in the tops of the tubes are no longer covered by the inflator rings. You will have to lower the tubes back to the original location, and then relocate the inflator rings to their original position. These rings are connected to the air valve via a rubber hose leading to each fork tube. Just look at the top of the tubes and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[tab1324]

inflator rings

So they must normally sit just below the top triple clamp on the fork tube? Yeah, now the top clamp is about 1 3/4" down from the top and the inflator rings are below it. You say there are holes in the tubes for the inflator rings?? I didn't notice when I covered that spot with my new windshield mount........... Guess I'll be finding another way to mount my new windshield.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Tom B.

[tab1324]

Burning oil

It seems to be only at start-up and for about 10-15 minutes of riding. I'd say it was choke but the choke is usually off after about 5 minutes. My riding buddy noticed it the other day when we were starting out our day. I revved it pretty hard for a few miles after that and he said it stopped which leads me to believe that maybe I have a stuck ring. Does this "Risolone" help that situation? Never heard of it.

Tom B.