Here is someithing i have never seen before

[Boriqua]

So I took the bike out today and rode about 15 miles at about 75-80 mph and then got on the side streets home and just felt like thrashing it a bit so wound through the gears a few times hitting 8000 rpm on the shifts. It was indeed fun and something I rarely do but I just took my seat off to check something and found a couple of drops of what seems to be oil coming from the vent tubes that lead from the carbs. It feels slippery and doesnt smell like gas.

So how the hell would oil wind up in the vent tubes? Did I break something? It rode home just fine??

Only thing I can think is I caused some mist in the airbox from the crankcase breather hose and it got sucked into the carbs. It was already 98f and the laying on the throttle perhaps pushed some oil out?

 

[chuck hahn]

Is the oil sight glass got a little air gap at the top of the window? Do you check oil on the center stand as you should be doing? If the oil is ABOVE the top of the sight glass maybe its overfull OR the petcock has been leaking and gas is also filling the crankcase. Open the filler cap and take a good strong sniff of the crankcase. If you even remotely suspect there is gas in there change the oil.

Second. Get 2 clear plastic water bottle that are dry inside and 2 good lengths of vacuum line..or whatever will fit the vacuum and main fuel nipples. Petcock in the ON position. Run a line from 1 nipple into a bottle and the other to the other bottle. Let it set overnight, or a few days if permitted, and then see if theres any fuel in either bottle. If either one has fuel then youve found a bad petcock. Dont waste the money and time on rebuild kits..they have a super high failure rate.

 

[Boriqua]

I just did an oil change maybe three weeks ago and I am nuts to check the sight glass before every ride and it has been rock steady with just a small amount of air above the line. Just went out and took this pic

 

[chuck hahn]

Whats the compression like. Maybe a little excessive blow by forcing oil past the mesh in the breather cover?? A leak down tester will tell the tale. Bring each cylinder to TDC on the compression stroke. Move the airbox back from the carbs, remove the oil cap, and apply the air. If the rings are leaking youll hear a hiss from the oil cap. If the intake valves leak the hiss will be from the face of the carbs. And lastly the exhaust will hiss if the exhaust valves leak. Gotta get the ear close for a good listen.

 

[Cipher]

is your tube routing stock. Crankcase breather tube goes into clean side of airbox on my bik and I have had on a few ocassions the same thing happen to me. Seems ot be related to taking short trips that do not get the engine fully hated.

 

[Boriqua]

is your tube routing stock. Crankcase breather tube goes into clean side of airbox on my bik and I have had on a few ocassions the same thing happen to me. Seems ot be related to taking short trips that do not get the engine fully hated.

Its the first time this has ever happened and you may be on to something. My crankcase breather hose goes from the top of the engine to the empty air box. the two hoses I show are the vent hoses from the carburetor. All of it is routed to spec except for the fact that the drain hose opening at the bottom of the air box is plugged. I didnt get the one way hose that is supposed to be on there.

We all kind of know when the bike is fully heated up and I did get on it some before she was truly warm. When my bike is proper warm it will idle dead steady at 1100rpm .. it wasnt quite there yet before I started getting on it. I usually baby it until is is at that steady idle.

 

[KEITH KRAUSE]

I don't see how oil could be in the carbs vent lines. I've seen drops of gas that have been open to the air and form a "varnished", dark, syrupy liquid. It can feel just like oil, look similar (usually redder) and often won't have a true gas odor.
Maybe some kind of condensation thing going on? With all the heat under the seat, maybe a fine mist creeps up the lines and as soon as it hits the open air it collects at the end of the lines and turns into that varnish.
If it happens again, dab the drops onto a white paper towel. If it looks more red in color than typical oil, then it must be gas turning into varnished gas.

 

[Boriqua]

Its funny but what it actually smelled like was skunk. Some of you that live near skunk know what I mean. As I was messing with the battery and got to checking out this little bit of liquid I kept getting the fainest smell of skunk. I thought I was crazy. It had a film so I assumed it was oil but in 2500 miles I have never had to top off my oil. Its rock steady.

Now I have only been using the bike about once a week for the last month .. maybe that has something to do with it. Its already in the 105+ range here. I am pretty sure my bowls are drying out between uses. I can fill an entire bird bath with water in the morning and its empty by end of day and unless I have got vultures .. its the dry AZ summer weather.

 

[KEITH KRAUSE]

As my first reply said, varnished gas doesn't have a true gas odor, at least to my nose. Your term "smells like skunk" would fit. And syrupy, varnished gas does feel slippery, like oil, just a little redder. So I doubt you have a problem, other than only finding time once a week for your baby.

 

[Cipher]

Its funny but what it actually smelled like was skunk. Some of you that live near skunk know what I mean. As I was messing with the battery and got to checking out this little bit of liquid I kept getting the fainest smell of skunk. I thought I was crazy. It had a film so I assumed it was oil but in 2500 miles I have never had to top off my oil. Its rock steady.

Now I have only been using the bike about once a week for the last month .. maybe that has something to do with it. Its already in the 105+ range here. I am pretty sure my bowls are drying out between uses. I can fill an entire bird bath with water in the morning and its empty by end of day and unless I have got vultures .. its the dry AZ summer weather.

I know its not humid as far as one can feel it but hot air holds a lot more moisture than cold air so maybe its condensing in the tubes. The bodies of my carbs are cold to the touch at road speeds even in the height of summer.

 

[Boriqua]

My last two tanks of gas were from a different place. I had once suspected getting bad gas from them in my car. I am thinking I will go back to my usual.

 

[polletttim]

this is a bit off topic but are carb vent hoses supposed to be routed up and around the airbox? I just assumed they were overflow hoses and routed mine to the underbelly of the bike.. I feel like this is a common misunderstanding. when I bought the bike they didn't even have hoses attached to the carb vents.

 

[Boriqua]

this is a bit off topic but are carb vent hoses supposed to be routed up and around the airbox? I just assumed they were overflow hoses and routed mine to the underbelly of the bike.. I feel like this is a common misunderstanding. when I bought the bike they didn't even have hoses attached to the carb vents.

The overflow hose comes off the bottom of the air box. The one attached to the carbs and without air filter. Mine is currently just plugged because I dont want to draw in unfiltered air but I will order the proper drain hose with my next order of stuff.

The two I have going to the back of the battery are vent hoses and help with equalization. I originally had them running down the frame rails just in front of the side covers and one day out riding in heavy crosswinds the bike just farted and stopped.

After checking the manual and reading some posts I found out the ends have to live in dead air space.

here is the image from the original Manual

 

[polletttim]

The overflow hose comes off the bottom of the air box. The one attached to the carbs and without air filter. Mine is currently just plugged because I dont want to draw in unfiltered air but I will order the proper drain hose with my next order of stuff.

The two I have going to the back of the battery are vent hoses and help with equalization. I originally had them running down the frame rails just in front of the side covers and one day out riding in heavy crosswinds the bike just farted and stopped.

After checking the manual and reading some posts I found out the ends have to live in dead air space.

I had no idea they needed to be in dead air space, like I said I have them hanging down and routed to the bottom of the bike like drain hoses haha, so the only real drain hose is the one in the airbox? if the carbs overfill or the bike tips it backs up out in the airbox and down that drain hose?

another thing that I didn't think about is sucking crap up that airbox drain hose, good point

 

[Cipher]

you may have different carbs. The hoses are not drains they are for the equalization of air pressure in constant velocity carbs. Even in "dead" air a massive crosswind can suck the air from the tubes and in doing so cause the bike to lose power.

 

[KEITH KRAUSE]

The float bowl vent lines are supposed to be routed under the seat where the air is more still. Float bowls, just like the gas tank, need to be vented to allow good fuel flow. Crosswinds can create fuel starvation if the vent lines are in the open.
They should be removed when you run quality pod filters and let the bowls breath easier through the vent ports. Dynojet recommends the lines be removed (stage 3 jetting kits) when running their pod filters, especially if you ride on freeways or in windy conditions. If the lines are left on while running pods, my understanding is crosswinds actually create a vortex in the lines. This creates resistance to adequate venting and fuel starvation will happen at various levels. My '79 GS 1000 with V&H pipe and K&N ovals would show obvious fuel starvation even in calm conditions with the lines attached and routed correctly. My understanding is when you increase the air intake and straighten out the flow, the stock venting design is compromised because it's no longer adequate for the increased flow. If you remove the lines, you remove as much resistance as possible and it helps avoid fuel starvation, but some degree of fuel starvation can still happen under some conditions.

 

[Boriqua]

You know now that I have been thinking about it maybe I know what happened. I hope someone can confirm. I have been using grocery store gas for the last year. Then I put in 2 tanks of Chevron according to their advertising it contains techron. Could it be the techron was doing its job and lessened emulsified the varnish??

and that is what causes that bit of liquid to leak from the vent tubes?