Red line start + oil leak 1980 GS450L -- HELP!!

[prmccormack]

Hi, all. Newbie here, so apologies if I don't get this right. Here's my issue:

Just restored an 80 GS450L. A capable friend did a lot of the work but he's out of the country for a few weeks, so no help there. I go to start it up and it immediately revs to full redline and bleeds oil. Oil leak stops after about 2 minutes when I kill the bike. This has happened both times I've attempted to start it. I thought I was accidentally opening the throttle, but sadly it doesn't seem that simple. What's going on? Vacuum leak? Throttle cable issue? Am I hurting the engine badly by this happening? I'm more concerned with the start up than the oil leak right now (assuming they're not related). Thanks for any help.

[tkent02]

Throttle cable issue? Am I hurting the engine badly by this happening?

Two mintutes at redline on a stone cold engine?

Even the bulletproof GS engine doesn't like that much.

[Guest]

Hi, all. Newbie here, so apologies if I don't get this right. Here's my issue:

Just restored an 80 GS450L. A capable friend did a lot of the work but he's out of the country for a few weeks, so no help there. I go to start it up and it immediately revs to full redline and bleeds oil. Oil leak stops after about 2 minutes when I kill the bike. This has happened both times I've attempted to start it. I thought I was accidentally opening the throttle, but sadly it doesn't seem that simple. What's going on? Vacuum leak? Throttle cable issue? Am I hurting the engine badly by this happening? I'm more concerned with the start up than the oil leak right now (assuming they're not related). Thanks for any help.

Pull the gas tank off and check the throttle cable routing, then check the cable adjustment, check to make sure the throttles on the carbs are closing all the way, check the choke system/cable as well, check the idle screw for the carbs and make sure it's not set way to high. An air leak wouldn't make it red line like your saying it does. And yeah, it's not going to do the motor any good to red line it with out a load on it.

[Larry D]

Did your "capable" friend work on the carbs ? It sounds to me like they are not adjusted properly. They need to be bench synced and the master throttle screw needs to be set as well for a proper idle.

As far as the oil leak, I don't think the are related. I just think the engine is running now and old leaks are revealing themselves.