What have you done for your bike today????

[ThatOtherGuy]

applying Einstein to the problem, everything should be as simple as it is, if not simpler.

good solution, wish I'd thought of it.

[RossLH]

Started to consider the possibility of getting rid of it. The hunt for the mystery oil leak starts today or tomorrow, and if it is a cracked case like I suspect, I can't afford to fix it. Unfortunately, it has come to the point in which it may be best to cut my losses, sell the bike for dirt, and buy another bike when I can afford it.

[knowles]

Waiting to get home and see if i can come up with a way to put the main fairing stay on without welding a piece on the frame.

[RossLH]

Pulled the front chain cover to start hunting down an oil leak. Found fluids in the bolt holes and oil gathered on the bottom of the front-most surface of the cover. Smelled gasoline again, so I popped the oil filler off and got a STRONG whiff of gas. The crankcase is very overfilled and very fouled. Float heights are good--clear tube shows the level very slightly under the float bowl surface. There is an unsettling noise coming from the transmission when I turn the rear wheel in neutral.

Basically I don't know where to start with this. I'm half tempted to replace the engine and transmission, rejet the carbs (already ordered the parts before this whole fiasco came to light), and call it a day. On one hand, I dont trust this engine and/or transmission as it is, and dont care to try to fix it. I could sell the bike as is, take a huge loss on it, and end up with nothing. Or....I can buy said engine and transmission, do a transplant, take a loss on that, and end up with a working bike. Both scenarios have me losing, but one ends up with me having a working bike. Kind of a shitty situation.

[bombsquad83]

Are you checking the float heights with the petcock on prime?  Otherwise you won't have gas flowing to the carbs...

[RossLH]

Yep, on prime.

[bombsquad83]

The only way your crankcase is flooding, is through the needle valves.  Replace them with OEM replacements, adjust again, and be done with it!

[RossLH]

The needle valves have less than 100 miles on them....I have a hard time believing those are the problem.

There is something very wrong with the engine. After it cut out on me on the highway (there's an oil leak somewhere that I've yet to be able to trace), I let it sit for a weekend with the petcock in the 'ON' position, and now the crankcase is flooded with fuel. The transmission makes an ugly noise when I turn the wheel, which is just adding to the mess.

[bombsquad83]

Float height adjustment is a bit tricky.  Sometimes it will seem fine, but in reality it was a false reading and it's allowing too much or too little gas under normal conditions. 

First.  Did you replace the needle valves with OEM or aftermarket?

Second.  Once you have a new OEM needle valve set.  Set the float height by holding the carb body upside down and seating the needle valve and float.  Push down on the non-floating part of the float to make sure it's seated all the way, and while holding on to it, check that the straight seam part on the floats is parallel with the gasket surface on the carb body.  I've found that this is exactly where the float height measures to specifications.  Once I did this, the clear U-tube method measured properly, and I haven't had a drop of gas overflow into the airbox or crankcase.

Third.  Don't worry about anything going on in your engine until you fix this flooding issue and get fresh oil in it.

[RossLH]

OEM needle valves. The carbs are coming off again anyway, so I'll double and triple check the float height.

[bombsquad83]

Ross...I was thinking about it more.  I still think you have some needle valve sealing issues, because they should stop the gas flow.  However, if you waited a week with the petcock on "ON" and it flooded the case, then the petcock should be replaced as well.

[RossLH]

I'll definitely check it out. I know I've had trouble with it once before, but it seemed to work after that. I'll do some testing with the carbs and the petcock off the bike:

1) Carbs off, funnel fuel in and see if it flows freely.
2) Petcock off, funnel fuel in while testing modes with and without vacuum
3) Petcock attached to carbs, off the bike, funnel fuel in using various scenarios

Step 1 is a float and needle valve function check. If that checks out, I'll move onto step 2, which is a petcock function check. And again, if that checks out, I'll put the two together and move onto step 3. This will include testing various scenarios in an attempt to replicate a situation in which fuel flows freely when it shouldn't be. Covering all the bases in their most basic forms, then in combination. I'll get to the bottom of this if its the last thing I do.

[codajastal]

seized the motor and Killed it

[RossLH]

Did the motor owe you money?

[codajastal]

Lots but is was only my ct110 postie bike and I have a spare so its not really that bad.

[slipperymongoose]

seized the motor and Killed it

God I nearly thought it was one of the gs's

[codajastal]

seized the motor and Killed it

God I nearly thought it was one of the gs's

Nah if it was one of them you would hear me crying from there lol

[adidasguy]

#5237

seized the motor and Killed it

God I nearly thought it was one of the gs's

Or the cat 

[utzguy]

Finally added dash indicator LEDs. This is still my temporary dash until I build a nicer one. The Neutral light is thanks to the joy that is MS Powerpoint. Grrr...don't want to waste another sheet of labels now. It will get fixed when I do the final version.

[RossLH]

Pulled it back apart again (something I'm getting real good at). Noticed I had a leaking fuel line at the tank petcock, thats easily fixable. Pulled the fuel feed lines off the main petcock, pulled the fuel out line off the petcock, pulled the vacuum line off the petcock.....and fuel came out.

So for starters, I'm led to believe the petcock is working....less than perfectly. Tomorrow I'll be doing some testing on the carbs and petcock, then disassembling the petcock to inspect it, and probably disassembling the carbs anyway because they're being rejetted soon.

Also, I bit the bullet and bought an engine and transmission. 3400 miles and runs like butter, for $480 shipped. Should be here within a week. I'll have everything ready when it gets here, so I can just put the engine in, connect everything, reinstall the chain, carbs, and body parts, and ride it into the sunset. (And then back, but that doesn't sound as cool.)