Left side of engine heat

[supertrooper1983]

Today I took off the leftside cover of my bike to work on the kick start after the spring broke off. Re-installed everything (lost a little oil) and ran the bike for about 10 miles.I experienced some oil spray which seemed to be coming from the top the leftside cover. Also, the leftside cover is red hot. I'm not sure what happened or what I could've done. I am kinda new to all this and learn as I go. I would think that it's a result of oil starvation but I'm just guessing. I checked and it seems like the oil level according to the dipstick is ok. Any ideas as to what's going on and how I need to fix it (in layman's terms)? I had already planned on changing the oil tomorrow regardless.

 

[jamesgs4]

red hot? as in glowing red? and if you mean right side cover(kickstart side) you have just rode 10 miles without oil, thats why it is so hot. when you removed the right side cover for the kickstart spring, all of your oil should have drained out. if only a little spilled out, then that means you only had a little bit of oil in your engine when the cover was pulled.

 

[supertrooper1983]

It was a fair amount that drained out actually but after looking at it the whole engine is hot, not glowing but hot. Seems that there was no oil but the levels are still ok according to the dip stick...still pretty lost

 

[pa23driver]

if it is indeed the right side cover you're referring to then ya, you drained your oil and you probably shouldn't have ran the bike without putting back the 2 quarts these engines take. the oil spray might have been from where your tachometer cable feeds into the cover... i started my bike once with the tach cable out and experienced a little bit of spray

 

[jamesgs4]

maybe you have the wrong dipstick? either way, if you removed the cover on the kickstart side, you lost all of your oil, and then you put 10 miles on a dry engine, that is why it is so hot.

 

[supertrooper1983]

I lost a little but definitely not enough to run dry...like I said dip stick still shows it within the correct levels.

 

[jamesgs4]

like I said, if your right side cover came off, you lost all of your oil.

 

[Punkskalar]

like I said, if your right side cover came off, you lost all of your oil.

This... If "just a little came out" then you were already on the road to disappointment...

 

[supertrooper1983]

Ok, I appreciate the help and I will refill my oil.

 

[supertrooper1983]

So I changed the oil today, started it up and the engine heated up again in about 5 minutes. Any idea?

 

[supertrooper1983]

I'll give a little background about my xs650. Bought it last year and rode it last summer. Wiring was a mess, took it to a shop because I'm a beginner and didn't really want to mess with it. They told me one of my cylinders wasn't firing so it got replaced. I got it back a few days ago and took it on a ride 4 or 5 miles. Bike was much faster, seems to run well but got very hot. On idle for four or five minutes, the bike gets very hot to the touch. Is that normal or running too hot? I changed the oil and filter today. Is this normal or way too hot?

 

[jamesgs4]

So I changed the oil today, started it up and the engine heated up again in about 5 minutes. Any idea?

is your exhaust pipe hot as well?

 

[jamesgs4]

maybe you have the wrong dipstick? either way, if you removed the cover on the kickstart side, you lost all of your oil, and then you put 10 miles on a dry engine, that is why it is so hot.

this.


.

 

[supertrooper1983]

The exhaust pipe was hot, yes.

 

[pa23driver]

if you're letting your bike just sit there and idle... ya its gonna get hot - air cooled engines need to airflow over the engine to cool. 5 minutes is alot without a fan to cool the engine

 

[XSLeo]

Get a non contact theremometer. Needs to go to at least 400 degrees. Shoot the head temps at the spark plug. Should be around 290 or so. cylinders around the same.
Don't let it set an idle more than a couple minutes.
Leo