On the road again at 40.............the bike that is

[robinc]

Well I was joking about ordering and then not needing.
In my work I always say I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. Saves a trip in the middle of a job.

But I was considering it as a last ditch attempt if required, although I have read of issues with them that you had provided links to me for.
I'll just use these Yamaha seals. Don't need to order new gaskets now, so no need to place an order right now.

Thanks Dude.

 

[Mailman]

You will win because you never give up.
You will succeed because you are persistent.
You are the willow in the wind. You are Myagi! Hai!

And I am learning from you.

 

[robinc]

Bob, that is very kind of you. However, no Myagi here, just a simple student who is thankful for the talented, knowledgeable help that I most humbly receive. The support we receive here continues to amaze me. Those who know go out of their way to help those who don't. What a place!

Please learn from and don't duplicate my mistakes.

Thanks brother.

 

[Mailman]

We all learn from each other, that’s why this forum ROCKS!
Those who never make mistakes, have never stretched themselves, mistakes are part of the process.

 

[MaxPete]

You’ll get there Robin - take heart.

Pete

 

[robinc]

Good boy!
For an apples to apples comparison, you'll want about the same number of miles on this oil to see if there's a change.

I'm trying my darndest to get some miles on Jim..........

Headed north to the other close beach at Grand Bend on Lake Huron.
Riding with buddy today.

Of course the first stop halfway.

Passed through pretty Parkhill.

At 'The Bend'

Three other fellas rolled up, one on a 74 CB750, one on a absolutely gorgeous 70's KZ750 he had restored, and the third on a Speed Triple. Dangit, forgot to get pictures.He said he sold his last XS650 build to help pay for the Triumph. Showed me a pic, nice job.
Says he's got tons of XS650 parts he'd like to start getting rid of. Couple of motors, cranks, re phased crank, etc. etc.Turns out he lives about 20 minutes south of me on the way to 'tother beach, said I should stop by one day.......hmmmm.......

This was fun, 'Rich's Rustoration'.

Probably a bikini or two in here for ya Bob, but I wasn't getting thrown off the beach for trying to get ya some close ups!

Had to call it a day and head home early. When we leaving 'The Bend' to carry on up the road, buddy noticed sumthin had cut his rear tire and he rode 55 miles home on a flat. We finally gave up on stopping at every gas station for air, couldn't keep air in it. Interesting ride home for him through the curves.

Other than that it was a great day, and turns out I'm right at oil change time...........whew.

 

[Mailman]

Nice ride Robin! Sounds like you need to check out that new parts source. Could have some TX goodies in there!
I can’t believe your friend had to ride home on a flat tire, that was weird.
Nice pics too!

 

[robinc]

Thanks Bob. Ya, I'll prolly get by there one day.

It was weird. His rear tire had a real gouge in it. Who knows what did that? He's got some skills so made it to Terry's for a new tire safe and sound.
New skin might be here tomorrow so he'll be rolling again soon.

 

[robinc]

So, you ever been happy you had a flat tire?

Funny story from yesterday's flat out adventure.

We were using all the back roads heading home taking it pretty easy, not going over 80KPH/50MPH, avoiding any traffic. Heading south on a secondary road speed limit 90KPH/55MPH, straight as an arrow for miles, some nice rolling hills, no other vehicles in sight or anywhere around for that matter.

As we came over a hill, unmarked cruiser on the side of the road with radar.
LEO’s gotta be rubbing his hands together as he sees 2 bikes come over the crest in his rear view mirror. Then he’s thinking huh? 80KPH, no way, sumthin’s wrong with me gun.

Then as we pass him, he sees one is a Busa?? HUH?????
Those bikes are cop magnets around here. Now he’s figuring he’s gotta send his radar gun in for re-calibration.

A couple of hills down the road we see he’s pacing us. Must have figured we saw him somehow so he was gonna get us when we opened them up.
He gave up after a few miles. Haha. Road like this around here, 70MPH in a 55 is a guaranteed ticket.

Buddy said, “Things happen for a reason” We would have been written up there for sure.

 

[5twins]

I used to have a radar detector on one of my bikes, worked pretty good too. But, it couldn't "see" through hills. I crested one once, radar detector went off but it was too late, I was caught, lol.

 

[robinc]

Doing my next oil change. Oil looks pretty much the same. This is really, really fine whatever it is. Almost looks like it might be Copper Anti-seize. Out of habit I always put anti-seize on every fastener even though the sump plate bolts likely wouldn't need it in that oil rich location.

If I swirl the oil around around this is what I get.

Here's a pic of a thin coating in an old oil bottle. Looks like old oil.

Pulled the side filter cover and these plastic bits were in there? Never seen anything like this before.

Nothing of any significance on any of the magnets or in any of the screens.

I haven't pushed it past 4500 RPM's. Haven't been any faster than 70 MPH, maybe 75 once or twice, briefly.

So, I don't know. It's running fantastic.
This time I won't put any anti-seize on the sump plate bolts and I'll do another oil change at the same interval and see.
Gonna help buddy change the oil on his Busa next week, so will do a comparative check.

No tick issues. Occasionally a tick on start up, but I can't get it to repeat and nothing when it warms up.

Seem to be averaging about 48 US MPG.

 

[Jim]

It's a head scratcher for sure..... On the plus side.... it ain't a gear, bearing or shaft. Those are all ferrous and would be on the magnets instead of in the oil. Only other metals left are aluminum, copper and brass. I'm still bettin' aluminum... but where the hell is it coming from?! Too bad you don't have a SOAP lab nearby.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Strange plastic bits. Unusual color, extraordinarily large. Hard to imagine those making it thru the oil pump.

I got nuttin'.

Except, keep on with the frequent oil changes.

Edit: Waitaminit. Poke/prod/play with those things. See if they're gummy. If so, could be congealed and hardened grease, from the clutch bushing experiment...

 

[robinc]

I got nuttin'.

Ya, I was wondering how one of our chipmunks or squirrels got them in there.

Thanks guys. As Jim once said, it sure doesn't sound like it's ready to blow up. It's really running great, so, I guess I'm forced to keep running her.

Just saw your edit 2M: Na, they're definitely hard plastic. How come I gotta be the guy to come up with all this weird crap?

 

[Mailman]

Robin that is just so weird! I cannot think of anything plastic that resides inside your case.
Missing any tools? I know it’s not funny, but wow, that’s a strange one.

 

[robinc]

Ya, I know Bob. Really weird, I think I may change my sig to 'the weird one.' I'm not taking lightly the potential for damage but at the same time it is kinda funny.

I mean, when I'm doing an oil change I'm not looking for operating room clean, but I wouldn't stuff that in there.

The only thing I can think of is that over the winter some critter snuck something in the bottom end. I had the cylinders stuffed with shop cloths and a garbage bag covering the whole thing but who knows? We've got lots of little critters around here, but that just seems ridiculous.

 

[Jim]

I had the cylinders stuffed with shop cloths

A possibility they were stuck to the rags and fell in?

 

[Jim]

OK.... wait a sec..... the bits were in the side cover? There's no way they went through the sump screen. Therefor, they had to come from "inside" the sump screen. Epoxy bits from manufacture? Don't ask me how they got through the pump..... possible I suppose.

 

[robinc]

Ya, maybe so Jim. Those shop cloths were pretty new and clean, but maybe?

These are both Mikes filters so maybe, but I can't see any other bits in either filter. Maybe when I was cleaning it something got inside the side screen area somehow?

She's really running great and even buddy commented on the acceleration and performance and I'm not beating her all that hard.

I expect this will remain a mystery. Probly shouldn't post up this weird stuff.

In the meantime I will do my best to put some miles on and see what happens.

 

[MaxPete]

What about pieces of clutch friction disk material?

Those disks live in the engine oil and as they wear, the material has to go somewhere....