H
hmdalton
Guest
On the way to get my new Heidenaus mounted for gripping the Alaskan gravel, I stopped for traffic, the oil light came on, so I stayed put, revved the bike gently (to about 2300 - 2400rpm) before the light went out. I decided to turn around and go home (a couple of miles), so I could check the oil pressure with a gauge. I'm very thankful I did -- only about 35 psi @ 4k rpm. NOT GOOD! That's way below spec.
A little background: I've had the bike since last September. PO basically disavowed all knowledge of the bike's history, tho over-all it seemed really clean. It ran fine, but needed a fluid exchange, so I changed oil in engine, tranny and FD; flushed the brakes (nasty, coffee-looking jizum in there instead of brake fluid); rebuilt the front master cyl. Brakes are still a little less than crisp, but serviceable.
My biggest concern was what sounded like chain slap in the front of the engine, so I convinced the seller to take another 500 off his price. I replaced the left side chain tensioner and that noise went away.
I didn't know for sure what the clutch splines were like either (downshifting was a bit sluggish), so, encouraged by all the tech help on this forum, including pictures even, I split my bike in half. That was a learning adventure. I discovered that the splines looked nearly new, the clutch disk itself did indeed look new,but there was reddish grease that was pretty stiff and gummy (must have been the BMW stuff). Cleaned that all off and lubed them with Honda Moly 60. Now shifts are quick, slick, and crisp up or down. Really nice.
Thought I about had my 11r ready to head "way up north," but. . .
Alas, my bucket list adventure to the North Slope and back with lots of in-between fun in the midnight sun gets put on hold yet again. It really is a good thing this happened so close to home. At least I kept telling myself it was as I watched my cousin ride off without me.
. . . Okay, enough whining.
Most people I've talked to say its really rare for oilheads to do this kind of thing -- that the bottom ends are pretty bulletproof. So I think maybe the PO's "lack of knowledge" about the bike may have been precipitated by its being run low on oil at some point, which got it hot enough to start eroding the bearings, the resultant heat waves caused amnesia, and well, you know. I don't know, just a hunch.
It appears that my next step is to pull the jugs and see what the rod bearings look like. I'm thinking I can do that on the bike. My manuals (Haynes and BMW) don't really make it clear what to do when you take both heads and both jugs off at the same time. Things like keeping the timing chains out of the sump when you turn the crank to remove the big end caps, etc.
I've done a bit of searching, but haven't found much about anyone's experience with this situation. Any advice, pointers, pitfalls, previous encounters with this sort of thing?
Thanks, in advance. The collective brain power of this forum always amazes.
A little background: I've had the bike since last September. PO basically disavowed all knowledge of the bike's history, tho over-all it seemed really clean. It ran fine, but needed a fluid exchange, so I changed oil in engine, tranny and FD; flushed the brakes (nasty, coffee-looking jizum in there instead of brake fluid); rebuilt the front master cyl. Brakes are still a little less than crisp, but serviceable.
My biggest concern was what sounded like chain slap in the front of the engine, so I convinced the seller to take another 500 off his price. I replaced the left side chain tensioner and that noise went away.
I didn't know for sure what the clutch splines were like either (downshifting was a bit sluggish), so, encouraged by all the tech help on this forum, including pictures even, I split my bike in half. That was a learning adventure. I discovered that the splines looked nearly new, the clutch disk itself did indeed look new,but there was reddish grease that was pretty stiff and gummy (must have been the BMW stuff). Cleaned that all off and lubed them with Honda Moly 60. Now shifts are quick, slick, and crisp up or down. Really nice.
Thought I about had my 11r ready to head "way up north," but. . .
Alas, my bucket list adventure to the North Slope and back with lots of in-between fun in the midnight sun gets put on hold yet again. It really is a good thing this happened so close to home. At least I kept telling myself it was as I watched my cousin ride off without me.
. . . Okay, enough whining. Most people I've talked to say its really rare for oilheads to do this kind of thing -- that the bottom ends are pretty bulletproof. So I think maybe the PO's "lack of knowledge" about the bike may have been precipitated by its being run low on oil at some point, which got it hot enough to start eroding the bearings, the resultant heat waves caused amnesia, and well, you know. I don't know, just a hunch.
It appears that my next step is to pull the jugs and see what the rod bearings look like. I'm thinking I can do that on the bike. My manuals (Haynes and BMW) don't really make it clear what to do when you take both heads and both jugs off at the same time. Things like keeping the timing chains out of the sump when you turn the crank to remove the big end caps, etc.
I've done a bit of searching, but haven't found much about anyone's experience with this situation. Any advice, pointers, pitfalls, previous encounters with this sort of thing?
Thanks, in advance. The collective brain power of this forum always amazes.
