Bought back my old bike - Urge to kill...

A couple of months ago, I bought back my old bike that I sold to my neighbor in 1997. It was flawless when I sold it with 22K miles on the clock - except for a leaking bevel drive seal which my local dealer supposedly repaired under warranty - another story for another time.

Now he's passed away, and his wife asked me if I wanted to buy it. Nostalgia can be a fun thing. But it can also be not-so-fun and expensive - which you usually find out after it's too late. Kinda like re-marrying your ex wife sight unseen after 20 years. Anyhow, I bought it back. He had it for 23 years and rode it about 4K miles. What could he have possibly messed up? The bike's appearance was a bad omen. No brake fluid other than some very dark brown sludge in the reservoir. Brake rotors ruined. Rear wheel covered with gear oil. Bottom of engine oily. Tires flat. And the entire bike was coated with so much dust and filth that brown water ran down my driveway when I hosed it off.



So I was hoping (hope is not a plan) that it just needed some major TLC, and it would be just like when I sold it! Not so much. Sitting unused all those years does some bad things.
After removing the rear wheel and cleaning, I confirmed the source of the gear oil - and the ruined brake shoes. Oil soaked front and rear brakes, and he just rode it that way.



This is after cleaning off the gear oil.


Installed a new seal and brakes, tuned the bike and cleaned it up, then took the wife for a 200 mile breakfast run. Next morning, oil puddles on the floor signaled trouble. Leaking neutral switch and shift shaft seal meant an upcoming project, but what the hell. Just ride it for now. Next morning, more oil puddles. Leaking push rod tube seals were the cause of the oily engine and meant cylinder removal. Now I'm thinking maybe I should have passed on the bike. The ex-wife might have been more fun. But wait - there's more carnage yet to come! I decided to replace the pushrod tube seals before going after the transmission leaks, and this is where the urge to kill my already-dead neighbor came from. He apparently was running some "as seen on TV" magic crap in the fuel, and it left a hard, thick, plastic-like residue on everything inside the combustion chamber including the valves and piston. Sorry, I forgot to take a pic of the head, but the entire squish area was filled with this stuff, and you could barely make out the valve heads buried in the residue. Yikes!




Two days soaking in oven cleaner and careful scraping finally got it all clean. Now for the other cylinder...





Stu O

You're making progress! Hope things go well on the rest of the things

Looks like a fun project....

Joe

I’d add the tank, carbs, and fuel lines to the clean-out-or-replace-before-running plan. Even without any apparent history of a snake oil lovin’ PO, I had to get my new-to-me ‘91 R100 Classic’s tank relined this winter. The OE red liner peeled off in chunks after I pulled the petcocks to rinse it out, and hosed it with Dawn dishwashing liquid. Whatever was in your combustion chambers went through the carbs first. I’m glad it didn’t leave you and spouse thumbing home from breakfast.

At least these are easy to work on.
Some other models not so much.

khittner said:

I’d add the tank, carbs, and fuel lines to the clean-out-or-replace-before-running plan. Even without any apparent history of a snake oil lovin’ PO, I had to get my new-to-me ‘91 R100 Classic’s tank relined this winter. The OE red liner peeled off in chunks after I pulled the petcocks to rinse it out, and hosed it with Dawn dishwashing liquid. Whatever was in your combustion chambers went through the carbs first. I’m glad it didn’t leave you and spouse thumbing home from breakfast.

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I suppose I should append a signature line to my posts. Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate it.

Stu O

Hang in there. You'll getter done sooner or later; and riding it will put a smile on your face.

Gunk and rust

Looking at the pictures you have posted I must comment on the pistons and cross hatch, In reality, they do not look bad at all. I have pulled pistons out of low mile well cared for bikes that look like that. Gas burns, and produces carbon. It does build up a bit on the piston domes and such. Cross hatching is normal.

Aside from that, I would very much inspect the inside of the gas tank. As suggested in another post to this chain, the red liner can degrade and rust can happen. The worst case is a bike sitting with old gas. Just a little water in the gas can cause major rust.

The rust and goo from the tank ends up in the carbs and if they had gas in them when the bike was sitting I am sure they are full now of goo.

The other thing to look for is water in the gearbox. If there was any signs of milky in the gear oil in the transmission, that may not be a good sign. My local shop just rebuilt a unit that had water in the gear oil. It destroyed the bearings and more than a few of the gears were pitted beyond repair.

You have repaired the final drive, I won't say anything there.

Forks will need to be cleaned out and refilled.

Other than all the above and what you have already done, the bike does not look as bad as some I have seen. You should have a great time riding it. St.

The blessings are there was only one other owner, and you know the bike, and it's hardly broken in! That bike is a keeper. Each task completed pays forward. They're not building airheads these days. Nice.

Gunk and Rust

STEVENRANKIN said:

Looking at the pictures you have posted I must comment on the pistons and cross hatch, In reality, they do not look bad at all. I have pulled pistons out of low mile well cared for bikes that look like that. Gas burns, and produces carbon. It does build up a bit on the piston domes and such. Cross hatching is normal.

Aside from that, I would very much inspect the inside of the gas tank. As suggested in another post to this chain, the red liner can degrade and rust can happen. The worst case is a bike sitting with old gas. Just a little water in the gas can cause major rust.

The rust and goo from the tank ends up in the carbs and if they had gas in them when the bike was sitting I am sure they are full now of goo.

The other thing to look for is water in the gearbox. If there was any signs of milky in the gear oil in the transmission, that may not be a good sign. My local shop just rebuilt a unit that had water in the gear oil. It destroyed the bearings and more than a few of the gears were pitted beyond repair.

You have repaired the final drive, I won't say anything there.

Forks will need to be cleaned out and refilled.

Other than all the above and what you have already done, the bike does not look as bad as some I have seen. You should have a great time riding it. St.

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I'd be happy to discover cylinders like this

Working at a brisk pace!

You're the perfect owner for this thing. And you can be happy you liberated it from a neglectful owner.

Really looks good.