.....in my underwear.......... :icon_confused:
Riding home from the office on friday afternoon on nice dry roads, about 15 miles into the journey I gunned the motor across a set of lights that were on the change. Accelerating as hard as the little GS can I was off accross the lights and down the hill when suddenly........
SCREECH......... The back wheel locked solid and the engine stalled. I was going sideways and heading for the very well maintained gardens of a rather upmarket hotel. Pulled in the clutch and to my relief, the back wheel started spinning again and I was able to correct myself, get rolling in the same direction of the road and coast into a layby.
So I get off the bike and have a good look around it, nothing looks out of place, Chain - ok, Engine - Still there, Wheels - yep 2 of them, so I puts the bike in top gear and give it a shove to try to turn the engine, it goes round so not siezed. I turn the ignition back on, press the button and she fires up first time.
I rode the thing home at a very nervous 35-40 mph and she didn't miss a beat for the remaining 13 miles or so.
I gave her a good looking over but can find nothing wrong, which concerns me somewhat. I changed the oil and found no metallic bits at all, nothing in the filter. Chain and sprockets look good, no ecxessive slack in the chain, rear brake caliper is free and working as it should with good pads. No sign of starwalts or GOATS.
Anyone have any ideas as to what may have happened ? She rode fine to work today and I'm hoping will get me home again........
did you hit a bump and have crap fall out under the seat?
i was riding on the highway a few weeks ago and I hit a big bump and the extra set of riding glasses I keep under my seat fell into my chain, at 75 mph, and dragged my helmet bag with them. That sucked. but cleaned everything out and ran fine all the way home.
weird how the tire locked up though..
you might have accidentally hit the on/off red switch by accident.
There is somehtign called a heat seize. it will seize up for an instant, and when it shuts off, since it starts cooling very rapidly ... it will get cold enough to not do any damage.
Hard core racers know it. There is a way to tell with a tear down. Look for a impression fo a ring in the cyl wall I think. Anyone know ?? google it maybe ??
Cool.
Buddha.
In another post you mentioned that there is a split in your header (http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=43729.0). If you're running the bike with a hole in the header, the engine will be very lean. Lean running will cause the engine to overheat. At a certain temperature, the piston rings will start to stick to the cylinder walls - this is the first step towards engine seizure.
Assuming this is what is going on, you are very lucky that the bike is still running. I would suggest parking the bike until you repair the exhaust.
Buddha,
I googled heat sieze and from what I found it seemsentirely possible. It can be, shall we say, quite a spirited ride on my way home from work, so maybee it could get a little too warm.
erbilabuc,
The red switch has not worked for some weeks now, when it failed I had the wiring altered so it does nothing now. I guess it could be worth checking the new connection, I saw the guy add the connector so I know where to check.
beRto,
The exhaust header has been botched, its not pretty, but its not leaking at the moment. I had to replace the headers and collector on me Bandit 1200, so I cut one of the headers off the old system from that and cut the end off the split one on the GS, slotted the cut end of the Bandit one and slid it over the GS pipe, then put a clamp round it, as I said, its not pretty, but it works. But that said, I have been told it will be weak as it doesn't have the standard air box on it, it has 2 cone type filters and I dont know if the carbs have been fiddled with to suit.
Thanks for the Ideas guy's. But I did notice that on my way back from the office it was feeling somewhat hessitant. There was a noticeable lag in power whenever I gave her a fistfull. I changed the oil and spark plugs after work today, see if that makes a difference.
But I have to admit that I think she may just be geting too tired. Nothing lasts for ever after all, she is 10 years old and done a VERY high mileage. But she's not done bad. second highest Ive had on a bike so far.
HAHAHA... what an attention grabbing topic. Thanks for giving me my laugh of the week ;-)
Old and worn ... will not heat sieze ... it can seize from lack of oil pressure ... and that wont start and run like nothing happened. freshly rebuilt motors run on 0wt oil will seize up on the first race ... exactly what happened to the guy I knew who was showing me.
Cool.
Buddha.
I'd love to see a picture of this header with the clamps and everything, sounds pretty funny. How high mileage are we talking.....it seems like this bike must get some serious use.
Quote from: pjm204 on August 26, 2008, 08:08:36 PM
I'd love to see a picture of this header with the clamps and everything, sounds pretty funny. How high mileage are we talking.....it seems like this bike must get some serious use.
I fear if I posted a picture of the bike on here, several members would cry. I will try to get a picture for you though.
The miileage is showing 28K miles. But its not the first time its seen those numbers. I was having a good think about it last night and feel now that it may be time to retire her. She rattles alot, smokes, burns oil, but has been so reliable for the last 2 years. The last MOT pass was "only Just a pass" in the words of the MOT man, so I had guessed this would be her final year. On an easy day she does 60 miles to the office and back, but I work at many sites, some local, some hundreds of miles away. I use the GS as I get paid expenses per mile so the GS means more profit for me (and expenses payments are tax free). Then there is the tatting about town, of to supermarket for food, off to little shop for smokes, of to mates houses, its all done on the GS. I will start scouring ebay for another and strip this one for parts I think. Shame though, I put 2 new tyres on her a couple weeks ago.
Oh, and the hesitation seems to have gone now she got new plugs in, but again the oil came out with no signs ao any metallic bits in it. But it was quite dark, allmost black, is this normal? that oil has only been in for about 200 miles.
Oil black in 200 miles ... dang you're blowing a lot of carbon in there .. you sure its a profit to ride this with your expense paid type deal ... gas and oil costs factored in ?
Cool.
Buddha.
Pictures of the exhaust header......
I took the clamp off to show the two pipes in some of them, Its a difficult thing to photograph.
The pictures are not great, I only have a camera phone.
(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x98/oobyscoot/DSC00389.jpg)
(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x98/oobyscoot/DSC00390.jpg)
(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x98/oobyscoot/DSC00391.jpg)
A friend of mine is looking at her now and thinks she needs, Piston rings, possible rebore or maybe de-glaze and hone, cam chain and possibly cams. He says the rings are shot and thats why she's not as quick as she once was. Gearbox has another nuetral between 4th and 5th but I learn't to live with that. Reckons the rest of the bike is good for a while yet. He actually is very impressed that its as good as it is after 100K plus miles. Allthough he cant explain the random lock-up last friday.
Will it be cheaper to fix up the original engine, or buy a decent second hand one? or do you guys think a second hand engine will be a bit of a risk?
I feel a project coming on......
I'll sell you a low mile (think 15K miles or there abouts) for 350. Yea shipping ... yea forget it.
Cool.
Buddha.
Personally, I'd rebuild the motor over chancing a second hand unit. something about KNOWING your motor was just rebuilt, and is in good working order once again just makes more sense than a motor that could be an honest 5000 mile motor, or have 105000 miles on it.
I'm sorry but what is the GOATS disease? :dunno_white:
Quote from: bobthebiker on August 27, 2008, 05:39:29 PM
Personally, I'd rebuild the motor over chancing a second hand unit. something about KNOWING your motor was just rebuilt, and is in good working order once again just makes more sense than a motor that could be an honest 5000 mile motor, or have 105000 miles on it.
Well, having owned 14 of them so far all the way from 2K on 1 and 8K to 48K on the other as well as having bought several of them in any number from 3-4K to 20K, I can place a bike within a few 1000 with 1 ride and an inspection of the valves, carbs etc etc. I also bought a just rebuilt motor one ... you can ride and tell what its mileage is, assuming its not been raced and ripped to shreds. In which case, I'd see it as more not less, unless its been modded for performance, in which case the valve and carb inspection will tell.
Ayekay - search - goats, starwalts etc ... its an elite club. Cheesy/se7enty7 got it thrice. starwalt is yet to recover, buddha and cheesy recovered with not even a rebuild ... goat needed a rebuild. Starwalt - who knows. very exciting times for you ...
Cool.
Buddha.