I bought a Suzuki Service manual for $550 and got a free bike

[mnferwerda]

Base gasket leak

WOW this thing is nice.
It is now plated, insured and riding. I need a PA inspection but it has new brakes front and rear, and 2 new dunlop tires so no problem there. it is the smoothest, most stable bike I've ridden for some time. It idles great, pulls with authority and altho I've not had it up too high in speed, feels like it will easily top 100. The speedo goes to 140, and while that might be very optimistic, I think the thing would do the ton quite easily.
there has developed an oil leak on the cylinder base gasket, in the front. the cam cover vent is ok,and with 30k miles who knows. After a half hour ride, it leaks enough to cover the front portion of the motor, like a teaspoon or so.
I am going to clean it off and apply some urethane just to see what happens. can't hurt and may slow it down!!!!

I've got a GR650 too with about 30,000 miles on it also. It also leaks around the base gasket, but not enough to do anything about it. I'm finally getting the carbs sorted out and it pulls nice. I put in a 16 tooth sprocket on the front too. That is a very common mod to get good gearing with these bikes.
Mark

[barnbiketom]

UPDATE: Since the bike is not CHERRY and the mufflers/exhaust system is less than perfect, I opted to DRILL the mufflers yesterday. I drilled 4 7/16" equally spaced holes around the rear and the sound is now perfect!!! just a wee bit louder and not very noticeable at speed ..always a cheep upgrade lol..
Now to order a base gasket/head gasket/cam cover gaskets/orings for the head and hope I can see if the camchain is stretched by somehow looking at the tensioner to see how far it has extended???
I would hate to think 35,000 miles is the time to renew the camchain, but I will if need be.. split time??

[bwanna]

Glad it's working out. Just a suggestion. You may want to check the chain rotation based on your change. The concern would be to ensure that the sprocket teeth and individual chain links don't line up to make the same contact all the time, possibly leading to premature wear. This website is a REAL help in at least understanding what's happening.

http://www.gearingcommander.com/

[barnbiketom]

Hmm I never thought bout that! but stock is 15/38 and I'm now 16/38....it would seem like not a prime number when divided???
so the chain/sprockets will never be on he same spot??
as opposed to , say 45/15= 3 so every 3 turns of the big sprocket will end up on the SAME spot.

[bwanna]

Hmm I never thought bout that! but stock is 15/38 and I'm now 16/38....it would seem like not a prime number when divided???
so the chain/sprockets will never be on he same spot??
as opposed to , say 45/15= 3 so every 3 turns of the big sprocket will end up on the SAME spot.

You should try plugging in all the details into that website and see what it tells you. It actually provides a number if details you might find interesting.

[Gorminrider]

That IS interesting,Bwana! thanks for that link,
I haven't done the research yet so it's not (yet) exactly clear to me how much difference it makes, since all links are "repeating" if one is....and yet if manufacturers believe it important that they don't, perhaps that should be enough...

I suppose if a person really wanted to change the ratio despite the "tooth-link-repeat-fault", shifting the chain on the sprocket one link whenever the chain slack adjustment is made (500km or less) might mitigate the the issue....?