FlyingDutchMan
18th February 2006, 19:50
Well I am an idiot. I spent about 3 hours this morning putting a new (second hand new) into my bike. Quite an involved process. But I got there eventually, pay meticulous detail to make sure every little bit has been placed back on the bike. Everything went back to gether perfectly, didn't miss a single little bit. The carbs were a pain, but they eventually seated home with the aid of a hammer. :shit:
Filled it with water, oil and petrol. Started it. Sounded exactly like a lawn mower, and blowing about as much smoke as one too. This isn't good I was thinking, but I was guessing the smoke was from the excess oil that had been in there (2 litres too much). So I went for a spin around the block and revs wouldn't go over 5k (i.e. managed 23km/h max!). Drove it back up the driveway. Guessed the bike was running way too rich. Turned the fuel tap off and revved the bike as much as I could (unloaded). It struggled its way to 13,000. Getting closer to the redline, I was thinking, but as soon as you put some load on there, she'll bog right down. But it had stopped smoking now. At least one good sign.
Decide to go further for a test ride - but still with 1km from the flat just in case I have to push the damn thing home. Wow! It managed to get to 50km/h eventually. Bikes seems to be revving easier now too. Righty, time to make a visit to the olds. Turned the fuel tap back on and headed for the closest 100km/h piece of road. Low and behold, it actually managed a 100. Then I over over took someone. Hell this is going really good. 20 mins later was turning off to my folks place and the rear sliding round like it wanted to go anywhere but where I was. WTF? I know i did the axel bolt up.
When I stopped I noticed the oil light was on. :doh: Hit the kill switch straight away. Hopping off I noticed the bike was absolutely heamoraging oil like no-one business. Noticed the sump plug was gone! The fucking idiot I was had forgotten tighten the damn thing up more than finger tight. :slap: Had to borrow a car, go back to the flat and flog the sump plug out of the other engine and stick it in, so THEN put in more fresh oil. Two oil changes in the distance of 30km. But aside from that, and a little tuning, it will be like it was meant to be. One the way back to my flat I noticed where the sump plug had finally come out - huge arse oil stain on the road. Luckily it happened only 2ks before I stopped, so minimal damage I recon.
But here is a rule I've discovered: I always forget to do one (exactly one) thing (tighten, replace, fill etc) when working on the bike. This time it just so happened that it was a potentially fatal mistake for the engine. I can see why they wire bolts on race bikes now.
Filled it with water, oil and petrol. Started it. Sounded exactly like a lawn mower, and blowing about as much smoke as one too. This isn't good I was thinking, but I was guessing the smoke was from the excess oil that had been in there (2 litres too much). So I went for a spin around the block and revs wouldn't go over 5k (i.e. managed 23km/h max!). Drove it back up the driveway. Guessed the bike was running way too rich. Turned the fuel tap off and revved the bike as much as I could (unloaded). It struggled its way to 13,000. Getting closer to the redline, I was thinking, but as soon as you put some load on there, she'll bog right down. But it had stopped smoking now. At least one good sign.
Decide to go further for a test ride - but still with 1km from the flat just in case I have to push the damn thing home. Wow! It managed to get to 50km/h eventually. Bikes seems to be revving easier now too. Righty, time to make a visit to the olds. Turned the fuel tap back on and headed for the closest 100km/h piece of road. Low and behold, it actually managed a 100. Then I over over took someone. Hell this is going really good. 20 mins later was turning off to my folks place and the rear sliding round like it wanted to go anywhere but where I was. WTF? I know i did the axel bolt up.
When I stopped I noticed the oil light was on. :doh: Hit the kill switch straight away. Hopping off I noticed the bike was absolutely heamoraging oil like no-one business. Noticed the sump plug was gone! The fucking idiot I was had forgotten tighten the damn thing up more than finger tight. :slap: Had to borrow a car, go back to the flat and flog the sump plug out of the other engine and stick it in, so THEN put in more fresh oil. Two oil changes in the distance of 30km. But aside from that, and a little tuning, it will be like it was meant to be. One the way back to my flat I noticed where the sump plug had finally come out - huge arse oil stain on the road. Luckily it happened only 2ks before I stopped, so minimal damage I recon.
But here is a rule I've discovered: I always forget to do one (exactly one) thing (tighten, replace, fill etc) when working on the bike. This time it just so happened that it was a potentially fatal mistake for the engine. I can see why they wire bolts on race bikes now.