Nice ride gone very bad . . . help!

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Well tonight my husband comes home early from work so that we can go for a nice ride and we are not more than 2 miles down the road when the back tire gets loose, I backed off the throttle and then the bike died. Fortunately, I didn't dump it and when I got to the side of the road I noticed there was oil all over the back tire and coming out from under the bike. It just blew oil all over the place. We were able to push it to my friends house just up the block from where it died and there it sits.

Just this past April I had the carbs totally rebuilt, valves adjusted, and complete tune up done. Any ideas why this happened or what could of caused it would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Charlo

[earlfor]

Re: Nice ride gone very bad . . . help!

Have you looked under the bike to make sure the oil drain plug has not vibrated out and is missing? Did a shop by chance change the oil for you and the oil filter?

Earl

Hi all,

Well tonight my husband comes home early from work so that we can go for a nice ride and we are not more than 2 miles down the road when the back tire gets loose, I backed off the throttle and then the bike died. Fortunately, I didn't dump it and when I got to the side of the road I noticed there was oil all over the back tire and coming out from under the bike. It just blew oil all over the place. We were able to push it to my friends house just up the block from where it died and there it sits.

Just this past April I had the carbs totally rebuilt, valves adjusted, and complete tune up done. Any ideas why this happened or what could of caused it would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Charlo

[Joe Nardy]

Carlo,

A buddy of mine had a similar situation on a 1983 Honda CB1100F. He had just changed oil and filter and had somehow managed to put both the old and new o-rings for the filter cap back on. The bike ran for a few miles then dumped the oil out past the o-rings. Luckily he was just accelerating from a stop sign when it let loose.

Thanks,
Joe

[Anonymous]

do you see anything hanging out the bottom of the motor? 8) mark

[KGB]

Check around the oil filter.
If you tightened the cover too much, you may have pulled out a stud.
The oil wil lflow out and along the bottom of the motor covering the rear wheel

Ask me how I know

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Thanks for your responses. Last night my husband went back over to my friends house where the bike was to check the oil filter and see what was up. Well he immediately smelled gas and when he opened the crank case it was full of gasoline. Guess I should of check the gas tank sooner because when he opened that there was no gas in it after only 70 miles. :? So I called the guy who had rebuilt my carbs and did an overall tune-up on it in May and he immediately said it sounds like a stuck float. He said perhaps some dirt got loose inside the tank and hung up the float therby dumping the gas. So I have to get it over to him asap and he said he will take care of it immediately. Of course now I have to find someone to trailer it for me again. :x

[Anonymous]

Have him check the fuel petcock also. With the motor off there should be no fuel flow through it.

[Anonymous]

for sure thing

there is a breather tube under the bike for the crank case specialy on older bikes when you leave your petcock on it lets fuel in the cylinders and then goes down and fill crank case and transmission so when you start your bike up it spits that over fill out the bottom to correct the problem and if its a stuck float thats a big over flow lol!! so all in all the bike was working correctly meaning the spitting hope the guys is more carefull this time

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

When my husband took it back to the guy he didn't even remember working on it! Mind you I had just picked up the bike in early May! 8O We think he lived a little too much during the 60's. When my husband reminded him he remembered right away all the work he had done on the bike. He did bring up the petcock and said he will check for that as well as a stuck float, etc. The thing is I never touch the petcock. I always leave it the fuel position. Is that a mistake?

Anyway, he said he should be able to get to it this week. I hope so. I will let you know what the problem was when I get it back. Thanks again for all your help!

[Anonymous]

Fuel dumped

As long as it's in either the run or reserve position you're OK. The prime position will flow gas so long as there is gas in the tank. The petcock is a vacuum operated unit that isn't supposed to leak any by until it senses vacuum from the motor. If the diaphragm gets a crack or hole in it, it will also flow fuel until the tank runs dry. This wouldn't be a problem (except that you lose your gas) but it runs into the cylinders and down around the rings into the crankcase, diluting your oil and will kill your bearings in a very short time. That's a very good reason to ALWAYS check your oil level before starting a bike. If there is more than when you parked it, you have a problem. Good luck, Bob

[Anonymous]

yes and no

only on some models do have a on and prime and off the others have on res and off there both diffrent

if your petcock has a prime on it you will be ok caue it uses vacum to pull the gas down but if it has a on and res then you have to turn it off becuase it runs freely or it will poor gas into your cyclinders filling your crankup so the next time you start it the blow out tube coming from the casee will spit oil and gas out to correct the over fill from the gas

not all suzukis have them and some do i know a few people who have taken theres off cause there carbs dont get enough fuel then turn it off when the shut the engine off but thats for when they rejet and new pipes stuff lke that

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

Mine has a prime, reseve, and run position. I always have just kept it in the run position. I will take your advice and always check the oil before I set off for a ride. If I had done this I probably would of noticed something was up. As it was, I noticed that I had very little fuel in the tank for the trip to have only 70 miles on it. I was going to mention it to my husband before we set out but I was so anxious to get going that by time he got home I forgot. :? If I had he would of check things out further (at least that is what he says 8) ). Next time I will do a once over on the bike before I go out. Looking back my husband use to always check the oil and open the gas cap on my bike before we set out. I guess since I had just gotten it serviced I didn't think that was necessary. I am just thankful that I didn't dump the bike when the rear wheel got covered in oil. That really would of ruined my day!

Char

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

Here is an update on my bike. Called the guy today and he said he found some small bits of rust in the carbs. He said he didn't actually see any of the floats stuck but he said sometimes they get hung up and then just by put the bike on the trailer and all the jostling that goes on they release. Other than that he didn't see anything else wrong (he check the petcock as well). He installed a fuel filter and cleaned out the carbs. He hasn't taken it for a test drive yet (due to the continuous crappy rain) but will do so tomorrow. Now when he had the bike back in April he totally rebuilt the carbs, tune-up, and cleaned out the gas tank. He is charging me $60 for this lastest service. I paid $500 back in April and had less then 200 miles on the back since then. He also suggest that I have the gas tank lined. He said this would run about $200. He said there are products out there that you can do yourself but only last about 5 years. Have any of you done this and what do you think?

Thanks for all your help.

Char

[dgeorge]

Charlo, there are products that are much less expensive. Take a look at this http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=306 as soon as cooler weather gets here I will be using this in my tank. As for a quick fix that is real cheap fill the tank with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water then let it sit for about 24 to 36 hrs, drain and rinse the tank out with plane water until all of the rust is out. Dry the tank using a hair drier, blowing warm air through the tank then fill immediatly with fuel and try to keep the tank as full as possible, especially if parking the bike for a day or two, it keeps the air away from the tank so that more rust can't form. Then when cold weather gets here you can use something like the Por15 stuff to clean and coat the tank, (their process takes a couple of day to do). Hope this helps you out.

[nabrams]

Charlo,

I have a 1980 GS450L too. I've taken those carbs apart several times. When I had a leaky float (so it wouldn't float - behaving like a stuck float) the gas went out through the overflow tube (as it should), NOT into the engine. If the seal around the float valve seat is imperfect then I can see why gas would get into the engine/crankcase - but your mechanic should have checked this when he charged you $500.
When I got my GS450L it was barely running (see my previous posts by searching by my user name). It turned out that there were numerous carb blockages, air leaks, exhaust leaks and questionable petcock that all added up to a bike that could only idle (as soon as the throttle was increased it would die). Since I had bad experiences with mechanics in the past I decided I would invest the time and energy to fix it up myself. It took me several weeks to work it all out (with great advice from the folks on this forum) and now the bike runs like a champ and I've learned tons. I also saved a ton of money.
I've found that a typical mechanic (not all mechanics) will do just enough to get the bike out the door running. He/She won't invest the time to insure the bike will be functional for years to come. Remember, you're just one of many customers. They know you don't want to pay the $60 per hour they're charging, so they try to turn it around with minimal investigation into the problem.