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Hi:
I've got a 1981 GS1100E. I purchased it in July of last year. I rode it about 1,100 miles from August - November and stored it for the winter. I'm pretty stupid about mechanical issues, but I'm working on that and now I'm just dangerous in the garage - upgraded from absolute disaster.
I woke the GS up last week. I had a starter motor rebuilt over the winter. I installed it last week, but it would not crank the engine - the newly rebuilt starter just spun. That is not the subject of this post, but any suggestions would be welcome.
Anyway, it was a bitch to bump start. After two unsuccessful tries, I removed the air box, and the third time down a steep hill was the charm, and it sputtered to life.
I replaced the air box and rode it about 5 miles to warm it up. During that time, I had the choke out about 1/3 way. When I pulled back into my driveway, my wife said she needed me to clean up something in the attic - thinking I would be doing that for 15 minutes or so, decided to keep the engine running to "warm-it-up".
45 minutes later, I came back to my bike, now running rather hot. There was oil pooled all over one of the cooling fins on the right side of the bike (leaned because of the kick stand). There was some smoke coming from the engine - either an exhaust leak or burning oil. This bike never leaked oil last year, and I did not move it from a spot in the garage for 4 months and there was no oil on the floor before I woke it up, so the "leak" does not occur when the bike is not moving.
Anyway, why would the oil pool this way? Could this be a temporary problem caused by the stupid way I woke up my bike? The oil only gathered on one cooling fin. I'm hopeful that the oil came out of the valve cover, which I hear is common. The center bolts of the valve cover was covered with a dried, black gunk, so it appears that it's thrown off oil before.
But, when I traced the oil pooling from my cooling fin, it appeared to be the head gasket (I think it is the head gasket) was closer to the seam where the cooling fin that the oil pooled on was.
Is this indicative of a long term problem, or may I have overheated my bike causing it to throw oil temporarily?
Yesterday, I only had time for a very short ride - it started right up (bump start) and I did not notice any new oil on the fins. The "smoke" looked like it was coming from my second cylinder exhaust tube instead of oil burning on the engine - I need to tighten the exhaust bolt or get a new exhaust gasket. For the week I had the bike in the garage from the wake-up to yesterday, the oil never hit the floor, it just pooled on the fin.
Did I mess up my bike? Is it common for an aircooled bike to leak oil if it is standing still, is running rich (choke) and hot? Would not having started for 4 months make the situation worse?
ANDYS116
I've got a 1981 GS1100E. I purchased it in July of last year. I rode it about 1,100 miles from August - November and stored it for the winter. I'm pretty stupid about mechanical issues, but I'm working on that and now I'm just dangerous in the garage - upgraded from absolute disaster.
I woke the GS up last week. I had a starter motor rebuilt over the winter. I installed it last week, but it would not crank the engine - the newly rebuilt starter just spun. That is not the subject of this post, but any suggestions would be welcome.
Anyway, it was a bitch to bump start. After two unsuccessful tries, I removed the air box, and the third time down a steep hill was the charm, and it sputtered to life.
I replaced the air box and rode it about 5 miles to warm it up. During that time, I had the choke out about 1/3 way. When I pulled back into my driveway, my wife said she needed me to clean up something in the attic - thinking I would be doing that for 15 minutes or so, decided to keep the engine running to "warm-it-up".
45 minutes later, I came back to my bike, now running rather hot. There was oil pooled all over one of the cooling fins on the right side of the bike (leaned because of the kick stand). There was some smoke coming from the engine - either an exhaust leak or burning oil. This bike never leaked oil last year, and I did not move it from a spot in the garage for 4 months and there was no oil on the floor before I woke it up, so the "leak" does not occur when the bike is not moving.
Anyway, why would the oil pool this way? Could this be a temporary problem caused by the stupid way I woke up my bike? The oil only gathered on one cooling fin. I'm hopeful that the oil came out of the valve cover, which I hear is common. The center bolts of the valve cover was covered with a dried, black gunk, so it appears that it's thrown off oil before.
But, when I traced the oil pooling from my cooling fin, it appeared to be the head gasket (I think it is the head gasket) was closer to the seam where the cooling fin that the oil pooled on was.
Is this indicative of a long term problem, or may I have overheated my bike causing it to throw oil temporarily?
Yesterday, I only had time for a very short ride - it started right up (bump start) and I did not notice any new oil on the fins. The "smoke" looked like it was coming from my second cylinder exhaust tube instead of oil burning on the engine - I need to tighten the exhaust bolt or get a new exhaust gasket. For the week I had the bike in the garage from the wake-up to yesterday, the oil never hit the floor, it just pooled on the fin.
Did I mess up my bike? Is it common for an aircooled bike to leak oil if it is standing still, is running rich (choke) and hot? Would not having started for 4 months make the situation worse?
ANDYS116
In NO WAY do I recommend "experimenting" with this - I'm just saying that there is an ambient temperature at which it would be OK to do.
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