Learned a lesson today about oil level

[dlslick]

I brought home a new project. It is a 1982 Aspencade. The bike had sat for 3 years. I did the normal stuff that you do when starting a bike that has been sitting a while, my mistake was trusting the guy I bought it from that he knew what he was doing when changing the oil. He bought the bike and started to get the bike running again and that is what he had done so far. He got to a point that he figured he was never going to get to it so he put it up for sale and I bought it. This bike has the aftermarket oil dip stick, I have never had one of these. I pulled it our and the oil was at the top line on it so I figured I was good to go. The bike blew more smoke than I have ever seen come out of a bike before when it started. I got to checking and couldnt see the top of the oil in the site gauge so I drained the oil until I could see it. Over a quart of oil too much in the engine. No more smoke.
I guess it must have been pumping it up through the crankcase breather and into the carb plenum.
Sure did foul the plugs good though. :shock:

 

[dan filipi]

Good detail to remember.
Mine will burn the oil down to about 1/2 in the sight glass then never use a drop more.

Good looking bike!

 

[slabghost]

If a little oil is good a LOT of oil is so much better! :smilie_happy:
NOT! :rtfm:

 

[dlslick]

Thanks for the "nice bike" comment. It has great potential for sure but the picture is a bit falttering. The things that I like about it are that it doesnt have a bunch of extra pintripes and artwork. The other thing is that it seems that the radio works so I have big hopes for the intercom and CB

 

[joedrum]

yep nice bike could be gas leaking in the oil causing it to be overfilled keep an eye on it

 

[ekvh]

Plus one on what Joe is suggesting. Mine also are like Dan's. Full, they consume oil, half of the window, and it doesn't move oil change to oil change.

 

[OldWrench]

Thats a really nice looking bike.

Speaking of oil. Just helped a friend change the clutch in his Vulcan, he didn't realize you can't use standard motor oil with wet clutches.

 

[dlslick]

Yea, I have seen the gas in oil situation first hand. This bike though had the fuel valve in the off position and no gas in the float bowls which lead me to believe that I didn't have that problem. I also took the plugs out and spun the motor to make sure the cylinders weren't full of gas or oil. What I'd did was listen to the guy tell me that he had just drained and changed the oil. I ASSumed that he put the correct amount in. :shock:

 

[dlslick]

Got to work on the bike some last night. Took a compression test and it had around 160 in all four, so I will only rebuild the carbs, do the timing belts, and set the valves for now.
It looks like the fan switch must have gone bad because there is a rocker switch that is wired into that circuit and there are some extra running lights on another rocker switch. Other than that and the trailer hitch wiring the electrical looks good. Oh there was also a cigarette lighter that was installed. The wires that were tapped into were done with plastic splices and there were fuses on everything that was added. I am going to take the lights off but keep the lighter for a power port. I will also repair the fan switch. So far this thing looks like it is going to be a nice bike. I think it was well taken care of. I have the owners manual with quite a few notes in it of maintenance that was done over the years. It is nice to work on one that wasnt butchered and abused for a change.

 

[chewy999]

My bike was the same with the aftermarket dipstick. Oil was up to 'the line', and I couldn't see through the sight gauge, which I put down to the fact that the bike was 30 years old and the glass was discoloured! It was only when I drained the oil to start stripping the engine down, I realised the glass was clear enough to see the oil level. I am planning to replace the dipstick and just put in a drain plug, 14mm, but the dipstick is a larger size thread. Does anyone happen to know what size it is as I may have to buy an adaptor or a larger drain plug.

 

[dan filipi]

The dipstick adaptor should unthread from the aluminum then you can thread in the stock drain plug.

 

[chewy999]

Thanks for that, I'll have a look tomorrow.

 

[dlslick]

Got the carbs back on after rebuilding them with Randakks kit. Got it synchronized and it runs like a new one so far. Haven't actually ridden it yet but it idles and revs up great. Still smoked for a while till all the oil got out of the mufflers but now that I have let it run long enough to synch the carbs it has cleared up.
I am real happy with it.