Another Great Day!

[davewallen]

Well, after picking up an 850 2 weeks ago, and carrying around two batteries because it wasn't charging..I got a good R/R 3 days ago...and had a dead (brand new) battery the next day.

So, I followed the advice, and replaced the bullet connectors, and ran everything straight to the battery.

So, today, (with spare battery in fairing) I decided to test it once and for all.. and headed northwest (WI - Oconomowoc, Waukesha, Waterford, Dousman, and all sorts of little burbs.....200 miles put on today, anyway.

And I made it home..and didn't have to switch the battery out.
:-D:-D:-D:-D (I had 30 smileys here, but there's a 4 smiley limit, so I owe 26)

Now, I still need to (I hope) retorque my head, since over 55 or so, I get oil out of the head blowing onto my left foot...but, hey, NEXT weekend, I'm going on a TRIP! (assuming the weather doesn't call for rain, I'll be headed up to Hurley and the WI/MI border (about 400 miles?). And that's with or without the oil - since my main buddy wrencher isn't in town right now.

Also, just a little bit of background.. I come from a honda background, I've owned THREE CX500's- paid 400,500, and 700. ALL ran me at least 7 years (I ride all year long, and they sit outside all year). So, when I picked up the 850, it looked really good (fairing, which I thought I would hate, but now love), great paint and chrome, BUT IT WOULDN"T CHARGE! - and I thought, oh no...but now I'm a happy camper.

And anyone who thinks a chain beats a shaft can pay me $1 every time they have to tighten it. And I'll pay them $10 every time I LOOK at my shaft. And that will take care of MY gas bills for the year

And I hope you all have a great day too!

[BassCliff]

850's rule!

Another rider snatched away from the Dark Side! :-D

Glad to hear your 850 is doing so well. Are you blowing oil from the head gasket or valve cover gasket? Torquing might help but keep an eye on it.

By the way, Honda's are OK. I have a Honda r/r in my 850. :-D

If you haven't already, be sure to check out The Stator Papers in the Garage section. It's everything you've always wanted to know about GS charging systems, and more. Keep us informed about your leak.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[davewallen]

Another rider snatched away from the Dark Side! :-D

Glad to hear your 850 is doing so well. Are you blowing oil from the head gasket or valve cover gasket? Torquing might help but keep an eye on it.

BassCliff

Heck, do I look like a mechanic???8-[

It seems to be the front of the cylinder heads, near the exhaust pipes. I assume that would be valve cover gasket???? Seems to be only one cylinder..

And yes, although is isn't a MAJOR leak (in the big scheme of things), I do check the oil at least 5 times a day ;-) It's probably been 5 days (350 miles?) since I had to add any.

[davewallen]

Another rider snatched away from the Dark Side! :-D

Glad to hear your 850 is doing so well. Are you blowing oil from the head gasket or valve cover gasket? Torquing might help but keep an eye on it.

BassCliff

Ok, I'm not a mechanic. But I went and took a look, and the oil appears to be coming out of one end of the camshaft cover seal. (that IS what those round things are on the top, right??)

So, my immediate non-wrencher questions:

A. Is there supposed to be oil in there? (I assume yes)
B. Is there a gasket that's supposed to stop if from coming out, and will retorquing possible help? Or does it need replacing?

C. The oil only SEEMS to come out at high speeds. At 70-75, it seems to be worse (as in, 20 minutes and my foot was soaked) than 50-65 (as in, 4 hours and my foot got wet), and at city speeds, I went three days without noticing any.

[DanTheMan]

Dave,
From my experience (I am a wrencher, and fairly good at it, I might add [pats self on back throwing right shoulder out....]), it sounds like your head gasket is leaking. That is a much bigger job than the cam cover gasket. All it will do is get worse until you replace the head gasket. You might want to ask me how I know????? EXPERIENCE......it happened to me, but I managed to put 2k mi on it before the head gasket failed completely..:-D

[ironb12s]

You're talking about the half moons at the end of the cams? They, like the O-ring between the head and the jugs on both side, get old and dry, and pressed down, and leaky. They are fairly easy to renew, not sure if they come with/on a new valve cover gasket (my Bandit's come that way) or if they can be had piecemeal. If it is the former, you need to remove the valve cover, it is the latter you just need to loosen the valve cover enough to remove and replace those half moons...

My reference would be a 1979 GS750, that is completely dismantled for a restoration at present, and 1800 miles away. My GSF1200, as I said, the half moons are part of the cover gasket...

You might check the schematics at

http://www.babbittsonline.com/pages/parts/viewbrands/default.aspx

or at

http://houseofmotorcycles.bikebandit.com/Suzuki-Motorcycle-GS850GT-1980/o/m6122

to see what your model takes. Without the year it's hard to say what you might need....

[DanTheMan]

If it's the half moons leaking, they don't come as part of the valve cover gasket for 850's, you have to buy them seperately. from the description of the problem it sounds much more like the head gasket is leaking...

[davewallen]

If it's the half moons leaking, they don't come as part of the valve cover gasket for 850's, you have to buy them seperately. from the description of the problem it sounds much more like the head gasket is leaking...

It's not the half-moons ( I assume these are the ends of that whole cylinder thing? (I'm missing two end caps)). That whole cylinder seems to have a seam down the front of it, and that seam seems to be where it's leaking.

From there, it dribbles down onto the head, and from there, the wind blows it on my foot.

[tkent02]

If you clean the engine all up, then run it to make it leak just a very short time, you can tell where it's coming from. Take the round caps off and run it without them, they are just decorative. Then you can see the half moons. Some people like to powder it up to help find the leak, it's usually not needed.

[koolaid_kid]

Dave, do you have a camera? It will help us to figure out where the leak is if you can post a pic or two. Instructions are in the first section of the forum, if you need assistance.

[davewallen]

You might check the schematics at

http://www.babbittsonline.com/pages/parts/viewbrands/default.aspx

.

Look at that, it's the cylinder head cover assembly (damn, I figured a head cover LOOKED like something else. I guess I was thinking of car head covers..).

So, I guess, new head cover gasket? the gasket is only $20. I have a wrencher that I can go see, but getting him to actually get up off his butt and do the work is a trip and 1/2.

My current config won't let me zoom in on the pic there, but I'm on my way to school and will take a look there.

THanks!

[davewallen]

If you clean the engine all up, then run it to make it leak just a very short time, you can tell where it's coming from. Take the round caps off and run it without them, they are just decorative. Then you can see the half moons. Some people like to powder it up to help find the leak, it's usually not needed.

Like I say, I'm already missing the two caps on the front cylinder, and it's not the half moons. Looks like definitely the head cover gasket, according to the babbitt pics. In fact, if you look at the babbitt drawing of the cylinder head cover, the leak is right about where the #1 points to, between the two screws on the seam between the top half and the bottom.

I will dig the camera out, but I'm in the hospital tomorrow for some tests, so I'll try and get them up thursday. I figure it's about time I put up some pics anyway ;-) I did clean it tonight, so next time I ride it should give me a clue for sure.

thanks for all the help, guys.

[davewallen]

Somebody slap me (was, another great day)

Well, I was trying to figure out the massive oil leak I had whenever I would get up to 60-70 MPH for over 20 minutes. It looked like it was the cylinder head gasket. My foot would be full of wind-blown oil.

Well, call me stupid. Everytime I would get that oil blowing out, when I got where I was going, I would add a QT. Had the bike 3 weeks, and never put it on the center stand....(I bet you can guess where this is going..)

Yup. Stuck it on the center stand, holy cow! Do I have oil? I drained a QT out, and now it's where it should be. And I'm no longer leaving a smoke trail down the interstate.

Why, oh why, do people who design bikes not design the oil sight for the side stand? Or for both stands?