Smelly cat!

[rpickle]

Hello. Its been a year now since I picked up my '79 850. It needed quite a bit of lovin' for the first several months. It leaked oil, carbs leaked everywhere and my rectifier ended up being toast. Replaced gaskets down to the case, completed pulled carbs apart and soaked them, replaced intake o-rings and installed the new Ricks rectifier. Wow, a ton better. Adjusted the valves, then did a synch job. Really runs well. Ah, but here is my concern, it smells! (Exhaust-rich, clothes wreak after rides.) It doesn't appear to burn oil and the plugs are cream colored in the middle and dark around the outsides. It smelled a lot worse when I got it, but the way it was dripping oil and leaking gas, I figured that was it. Well it did lessen, but it still on the obnoxious side. Could one of my floats be just slightly out of adjustment, causing a slight bit of gas into the oil, just enough to make it smell? Only real disappointment I have with the bike.

Appreciate any and all help.

Rick

[earlfor]

What brand oil and gas are you using? Always same?

Earl

[DaveDanger]

I doubt seriously that this is the problem, but it's worth mentioning... is the gasoline in the tank the same that was in it when you got it? Automotive gasoline really begins to smell awful after a few months of storage. It begins to break down and separate into its individual components... one of which is the really cruddy varnish that tends to clog carbs that have sat for a long time.
Just a thought.

[rpickle]

I have run a few tanks thru in the past couple of weeks. I get gas at a few different stations, Shell or Speedway usually. I have been using diffent brands of oil too. I plan on changing it back to 20w50 in a few weeks. I put 10w40 in last fall.

Thanks.

I did have some additives thrown in with this last tank to help clear the winter poop out. But, since this is on-going, I wouldn't think that was it.

Rick

[mrquadriga]

Crazy Thought....did a mouse crawl inside the exhaust system and die? Just a thought, and I personally know that dead mice smell bad.-Pete

[GS550joe]

It sounds like a couple of issues

It could be you are running rich..... I was on mine

and with a couple of different bikes that had a 4 into 1 exhaust.. it got smelly
alll over my clothes and anything I had on the back.. switched back to 4 into 2's and the smell is gone from the clothes... may need to modify the exhaust system... try turning the muffler upside down... that will redirect the output.. to see if it clears the clothes issue... if it does you will need to find a replacement muffler that goes more to the rear than up..

just my past $.02

JP

[snowbeard]

my bike runs great (650), but it does smell very rich when at idle, and even when running. smells like raw fuel at the tailpipes... I haven't figured out what to do about it, but I'm glad you brought it up!

would low compression make it have poor or incomplete combustion? with my crappy compression tester I got about 50 PSI on all my cylinders? anyone think that's normal?

could the loose or stuck cam chain tensioner cause the valves to be less than perfectly timed, causing incomplete comb?

just guessing here at my thoughts so far...

mine is all stock, btw.

[rpickle]

Thanks guys. This bike did come with a 4 into 1 header. I would love to have the original 4 into 2 pipes. Hard to find though. I have not done a compression test. Probably should have before and after the teardown replacing gaskets. It pulls well and it doesn't smoke so was hoping that compression was OK. I can check that just to make sure.

Oh, not a cooked rotten mouse smell, but thanks anyway.


Rick

[snowbeard]

I was actually asking the rest of the gang if that would even be a suspect, I don't want you to go out of your way to test it if no one thinks it might be a likely place to start ';-)

[earlfor]

I have to congratulate you on getting the bike running with 50psi on the cylinders. Anything less than 100 psi is considered rebuild material. It shouldnt even run with that little compression. YES, incomplete fuel burn is likely your problem. Gas is going through, ......and right out the tail pipe.

Earl

my bike runs great (650), but it does smell very rich when at idle, and even when running. smells like raw fuel at the tailpipes... I haven't figured out what to do about it, but I'm glad you brought it up!

would low compression make it have poor or incomplete combustion? with my crappy compression tester I got about 50 PSI on all my cylinders? anyone think that's normal?

could the loose or stuck cam chain tensioner cause the valves to be less than perfectly timed, causing incomplete comb?

just guessing here at my thoughts so far...

mine is all stock, btw.

[snowbeard]

well, I'll bet it's more my guage than anything then, as it runs pretty well, and still gets ~45 mpg!! gosh, imagine if I did rebuild....!

[earlfor]

Your guage has to be about a double smidge off. :-) If the bike is running well and getting 45 mpg, I will cover all bets the compression is greater than 50 psi. :-)

Earl

well, I'll bet it's more my guage than anything then, as it runs pretty well, and still gets ~45 mpg!! gosh, imagine if I did rebuild....!

[Boondocks]

well, I'll bet it's more my guage than anything then, as it runs pretty well, and still gets ~45 mpg!! gosh, imagine if I did rebuild....!

Sounds like you would get more accurate results from a Ouija board than your compression gauge.