overheating?!?!?

[Anonymous]

I took the bike out tonight to see if it was overheating or just smoking. I brought the bike back in after a twenty minute ride and tried the "water test". The water didnt even really sizzle. The bike doesnt seem to be running hot at all. It is still smoking and i noticed that around the far left (#1) cylinder oil was leaking from the end cover on the exhaust cam side. I'm assuming that this is nothing more than the end plugs getting old and brittle and not sealing up very well. I'm going to try to run some hotter plugs on the bike and see if that helps at all. any more ideas about the valve train?

Thanks for the help!

HST564

[Anonymous]

Black radiates heat better than bare aluminum, but black paint does not conduct heat better. A heavy layer of black paint will be like insulation, the heat won't conduct through the paint very well.

Heatsinks are anodized black aluminum, this gives you the ideal emissivity of a black-body (translation, it radiates heat) without the insulating effect of paint.

In other words, painting the engine black can actually do more harm than good. If painted, the paint layer should be as thin as possible!!

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Hotter plugs are just an attempt to compensate for the real problem. Compensating just creates more problems.
If you want to try to stop/minimize the oil burning, try an oil additive that helps the seals, etc. Sometimes they work and you may get several thousand miles before the problem returns.
I never thought your motor was over-heating. It's just burning some oil.
You never answered how you re-jetted for your mods though.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Hotter plugs are just an attempt to compensate for the real problem. Compensating just creates more problems.
If you want to try to stop/minimize the oil burning, try an oil additive that helps the seals, etc. Sometimes they work and you may get several thousand miles before the problem returns.
I never thought your motor was over-heating. It's just burning some oil.
You never answered how you re-jetted for your mods though.
When you say the plugs are black, are they a shiny/sticky black, or a dry/sooty black?

[Anonymous]

I havent had a chance to take a look at the carbs yet to find out their settings. What kind of additives work well for stopping this kind of leakage? Would just adding oil additives work or is that just going to mask the issue and not resolve it? Will just putting in additives and not really correcting the problem cause any real harm? I really appreciate all the input from everyone! I cant imagine how long and how much money it would have cost me to get even this far!

THANKS,

HST564@yahoo.com

[Anonymous]

Also the plugs are more of a dry sooty black than the black you get from excess oil or from rich carbs. That was the only reason that i was thinking of switching to some hotter plugs. Is that the right thing to do?

THANKS,

HST564@yahoo.com

[Anonymous]

I've been looking around at oil additives. Will something like turtle wax oil detergent cause the clutch to start slipping like other additives? It says that it "Cleans and quiets valves, rings, and lifters. Reduces sludge, gum and varnish." Do I want this or should I stay clear of it? If Not any other ideas on additives that wont destroy my bike/clutch?

THANKS

HST564@yahoo.com

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Let's back up just a bit.
If you have changed the oil and you're sure there's no fuel in the crankcase and the breather is still letting out white smoke when hot, then you need to take a compression test. This can help you determine what to do. A good mechanic should help you find what's wrong.
If you can't do a compression test or afford proper repairs, then I think an oil additive made to helps valve seals and guides, etc, seal better, might be a short-term fix. Some people get thousands of miles added by adding these additives. As far as I know they are safe.
I can't think of a brand name at the moment, but if you go to a good automotive store, you can ask for something. Tell them the motor is burning oil and do they have something to help seals and the valvetrain in general. The product should say what it will do.
Also, I wouldn't change to hotter plugs. I'd find out what's making the plugs run black. You DO have the correct plugs in now, right?

[bwringer]

Um, aren't most engine additives (like "motor honey", which is probably what he'll end up with) deadly to wet clutches?

PLEASE don't dump any mouse milk into your engine until you know what it will do to the clutch!

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Um, aren't most engine additives (like "motor honey", which is probably what he'll end up with) deadly to wet clutches?

PLEASE don't dump any mouse milk into your engine until you know what it will do to the clutch!

Yes, some additives may cause clutch problems. I think what you mean by "deadly" is slipping or dragging.
I only suggest this because his posts make me believe he's not going to do a compression check or have a mechanic look at it. That would be the course to take. I think he'll continue to burn oil and foul plugs. Now he wants to install hotter plugs. I think he's just getting in deeper.
I may be wrong and not reading his plans right. I consider the additive to stop the burning oil as a last resort.

[Sandy]

Do a compression check like Keith says! Sounds to me like you've got a bad cylinder or bad bore job and you're getting compression blowing pass the rings. This will cause any oil vapour to be blown out the breather when the engine gets hot. If a cold compression check looks correct then check the compression hot. If the cold compression check is low put a little oil down the spark plug hole and recheck, if the compression increases then it is most likely a ring sealing problem. There will be some difference between the hot and cold check but there should not be a lot. The readings, hot or cold, should still be consistant between cylinders. Hope for your sake I'm wrong. I've never had to do a hot compression check, but I assume the readings should be slightly higher than cold. Maybe another forum member has more information on this.

If all you changed was the cylinders, I would suspect that is where your problem lies. If everything else was working alright before you made the changes it should be reasonable to assume that the other components are still working alright. At least alright enough that the bike should run reasonably well. Rejetting and changing plugs shouldn't be required to make the bike reasonably well if all you changed was the cylinders and the bike ran OK before handhand. Jetting may be required to make it run 100%, but it should still run.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all of the help. I'm biting the bullet and taking the bike to a mechanic. I'd rather pay out some cash than destroy the bike. I appreciate all of the help that all of you have given me! This site is great and I cant believe the wealth of knowledge that I have found here!

Thank you all,

HST564@yahoo.com