Leaking oil: big deal, or small deal?

[piit]

Drive the bike hot and put on side stand. I would bet it will start to leak.
-piit-

[Syscrush]

Drive the bike hot and put on side stand. I would bet it will start to leak.
-piit-

Good idea. Although, it was leaking before and I always use the c-stand. Definitely an experiment worth running, though!

Mini-update: I've put about 400k on it since giving the engine that thorough clean and it's still dry as a bone, and the oil level doesn't look to have dropped off significantly. I'll do another 400-500 next week doing a cottage round-trip.

Question for the people who are adding a quart every thousand miles: do you even bother with oil changes, then?

[tevan]

Yes, you for sure still want to change oil!!!!

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

...and filter.

[Syscrush]

A little update...

Today after a bit of time on the sidestand, I noticed a drop of oil - on the exhaust on the right hand side. Getting on hands & knees, I found a bit of a film of oil on the case on the right, and on the right side of the swingarm pivot, but it's very hard to tell where it's coming from. There's an oil cooler line nearby, I'll give it a harder look soon.

I'm doing ~500k over the next 2 days, I'll update when I'm back. Thanks again to all who offered advice & pointers.

[daves79x]

It seems that after much searching and not much finding, your post could be retitled 'Using Oil'. All the more leaks you've found wouldn't amount to a thimble full in many miles. I'd really focus on just how much oil the engine is USING, not leaking, and decide if it's within acceptable levels.

Dave

[EMS]

I agree with Dave. Coming back to the original question, my answer would be: "small deal"! We all want our bikes to be perfect, but with a mchine over 30 years old, I am willing to accept shortcomings.

[Larry Zimmer]

My '82 does about 700miles to a quart. It's much quicker to pour that into the hole than pulling a head! It's all in what it's worth to each.

[EMS]

Some hundred years ago, back in Germany, I used to own a BMW 2002tii. The darn thing burned one liter (! 1.05 quarts) every 1,000 km (620 miles) from new! That was considered perfectly normal by BMW and the service dealers.

[Syscrush]

Well, it looks like it's going through ~1L/1000km. It's not leaking a significant amount that I can see, and there's no oil-burning smell when running, or . For now, my plan is to:

1. Switch to less expensive non-synth oil.
2. Top up every 500km or so from a stock of oil at home.
3. Watch the level closely when doing longer trips.
4. Extend the oil change interval a bit since the mean lifetime of the oil will be quite a bit lower. My rough estimate is that the mean age of the oil at 6000 km would be barely over 3000km, so I'll probably change oil & filter every 6000km.
5. Enjoy riding for the rest of the year.
6. Do a leakdown test and probably some inspection of the valve seals in the winter and decide from there.

Thanks to all for the advice/insight.

[NobleHops]

Phil,

My bike has had a history of smoking on startup pretty much since I got it back on the road, which would then seem to mostly clear up as it warmed up, but it never went away 100%. However the actual oil use was pretty minor. It does not leak anywhere. More recently, my bike had a layoff of several months while I worked up the mojo to swap and repair the rear brakes. When I did finally start it, it made a frankly hellacious racket from the top of the engine for a bit, ran like shit, and totally smoked out my garage. I was frankly fearful I had hydrolocked it or something. But it did clear up after a bit, then I took it out on the road and I've been riding it more than ever recently.

By now the oil smoke is pretty much gone - I do not see it on startup lately, and the bike is running like a scalded dog. So who knows what this could be attributable to, but in my case, it seems the more I run this thing, the better it runs. Pretty sure old valve guide seals are the culprit on mine - I am tempted to use some of that old car oil that contains some or other seal sweller. Anyone ever experiment with that stuff?

N.

[Syscrush]

I'm not a mechanic, but I can tell you that in about 25 years of messing around with cars and bikes, I've never once seen a chemical solution to a mechanical problem.

[Larry Zimmer]

First , let me respond to Nils 'thought' of using some oil with seal sweller. I would suggest NOT. Seal sweller may stop a leak -- temporarily. (If it should work 'forever', great!) What the stuff does is absorb into the seal material causing it to both swell AND soften. The softening part will cause increased wear with attendant failure. Yes, temporarily, it will stop the leak because it causes the softer seal grips the shaft better. All the better to increase wear. Eventually, you'll be splitting cases to install new crank seals, etc. Where it can work effectively is for static seals such as carburetor o-rings, etc.

For syscrush, regarding the oil on the right side showing on the centerstand, etc. check the little storage container that catches the fume condensate from the air cleaner. Has it been emptied lately? Is it cracked? Drain hose come loose?

As for replacing valve stem seals, I suggest that, if anyone goes to that point, pull the carbs apart, too; and, replace all the 0-rings with Viton o-rings. Pay whatever price. I think Randaak carries them. Same goes for any other 'rubber' seals you may replace -- use Viton if you can find it. Viton is good for higher temps AND ethanol compatibility.

[Syscrush]

Thanks Larry.

[NobleHops]

Thanks Larry.

+1, I won't try it.