5twins is right. Whatever weeping oil is already coming out is about all you'll get. Leave the drain pan on the shelf and grab a rag. 
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Adopting another problem child
- Thread starter Wingedwheel
- Start date
Ordered 2 of the three things to finish, correct battery and chain. I still need side cover latches but like I stated before, I haven’t found any with a proper fit. The pins have all been too large for the frame slot. On Patience I was able to use old pins and drill new holes but I’d like to not have to modify a new item to make it work.
I replaced the copper sealing washers but after looking into the leaks a little more they appear to be coming from the starter gear cover and the clutch cover which is perplexing because I have literally never had a new cover gasket leak on me much less two. I have spares so that’s not an issue but maybe I’ll cut some new ones out of some Felpro gasket material I have. I also am cleaning up a little bit and finishing tearing down a couple engines to scrap. Getting into the TX500 engine really makes me appreciate the simplicity of the 650 mill. Just look at the starter set-up. I think overall there are about 6 different chain guides in this engine.
The two P’s in a pod. Patience and Problem Child
Do you prefer one to the other?
Haven’t had PC on the road yet due to riding season winding down quickly and me just not feeling it about pulling those covers and fixing the oil leaks. Between leaves falling, pre-winter chores and just needing a break. The bike starts incredibly easy but so does the other. I’ll thinking I might sell the ‘75 in the spring to redo my ‘72 and resto-mod the ‘77. Still pondering that one.
True but I’ve never had a gasket leak like this from the start. I know the bolt that was loose in the starter idler gears appeared to have rubbed against the cover and I’m not sure if that may have caused an issue. When I get the gumption to get back at it I have a large piece of granite that I use for a flat surface. I’ll use a little sandpaper to see if I need to work on surfacing the edge of either cover.
For some reason I woke up feeling like today was the day! I pulled out my spare green gasket set and a Fellpro sheet. Traced the two gaskets and cut them out. I thought about using a scanner and my laser but since I was only cutting one each I chose the scissors and knife. Pulled the right side down first, removed exhaust and anything that could possibly get in my way. I drained the oil and seriously, it was not going back in even though it had probably less than ten minutes use. I was very surprised at how dirty it got. Left side I decided to pull exhaust as well so nothing in my way there either. I cleaned everything up and after putting the bolts in I looked down and noticed a small thrust washer from off the end of the gear shaft. Crap! Pulled the cover back off and installed the washer. Then while tightening down the bolts one of the 30 mm bolts felt funny like something stripped. I was amazed the both halves came out together. Seems the bolt broke but not completely so amazingly I was just able to install another.
While I had the clutch cover off I went ahead and installed my chain. Everything back together and kicked her to life. I let the engine warm a minute, squeezed the clutch, dropped her in gear and off I went around the neighborhood. When I returned I shut her down and slid a piece of cardboard underneath to see if any leaks were still there. So far so good! Now I need to do a good carb tune and sync.
I’m headed back down to the Texas shop this week so my plan is to take the tank and side tins and clean them up. I want to do a really good wet sand on the tank and I picked up a can of Spray Max 2K to lay a couple coats of clear over the original Patina.
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While I had the clutch cover off I went ahead and installed my chain. Everything back together and kicked her to life. I let the engine warm a minute, squeezed the clutch, dropped her in gear and off I went around the neighborhood. When I returned I shut her down and slid a piece of cardboard underneath to see if any leaks were still there. So far so good! Now I need to do a good carb tune and sync.
I’m headed back down to the Texas shop this week so my plan is to take the tank and side tins and clean them up. I want to do a really good wet sand on the tank and I picked up a can of Spray Max 2K to lay a couple coats of clear over the original Patina.
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One thing I didn’t mention is that while I had the clutch cover off I decided to try and tension that starter gear spring again because I was still getting some slipping but no matter what I did it seemed to only give me about 5.5 lbs in my scale. We’ll see how that works out. I also lost the starter button and gained it back from pulling a couple cables under the tank so I have a faulty connection which is probably the source of my voltage drop that’s killing the ignition when using the starter.
Left to drive down early Sat morning and perhaps I should have waited a day! Freakin snow in Indiana was bad! I ended up carrying an extra 100 lbs of ice or so all the way to MS until it warmed enough to melt off. I’m just glad I have an enclosed trailer. Everything got covered with salt also.
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AH YES, YOU GOT TO ENJOY THAT 3" SNOWFALL WE HAD SATURDAY HERE IN LOVELY INDIANA. I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT EITHER....
I replaced it with the newer heavier spring and gear from Mikes. It works but still has a little slip occasionally. Like I said in a previous post, who knows what those penny’s I found inside there may have done to the other gears.
I’m glad to hear that’s normal because I don’t know if the clip on my 76 has ever been changed and it works flawlessly. That was my comparison so the bar was set pretty high…
Burn-out period over and got back after it today. I actually read through the last few pages of the post to see where I left off.Lol Pulled the carbs off and checked for garbage. Bowls and passages appear to be clean so no problems there. Brakes were soft and I appear to have a small leak out of the front caliper so that has to come off for a check. Going to look into that voltage drop in the ignition circuit As well. I won’t be getting into any kind of hurry as I’m still waiting for a little warmer temps to spray the tank. One thing that happened was this fell off the bike from somewhere. 
I lost it last summer during the assembly. I had spares but it’s nice that showed up.
I lost it last summer during the assembly. I had spares but it’s nice that showed up.
You know, keeping a blog like this is not only entertaining for the rest of us, it really is great for future reference material. It’s a great way to keep track of the work you do over the years.
This is true. Really good folks give seasoned advice. I have found that rereading cover most of info I need first time through. I am certain a veteran of the forum is not guilty but I have missed a ton of good info until I reread my threads. Guilty as charged.
I totally agree, especially for me. I can’t remember what was for lunch two days ago much less what I was doing 4 months ago…..
