| Author | Message | ||
     Woodbutcher |
hey guys. so here's the situation. i just bought my 2nd buell, a 1998 S1W with 15k on it. A family member had 1 too many bikes and i bought it from him. it would maybe get 250 miles a year on it for the last few years. so i cleaned the carb, put on a quieter pipe, and im good to go. i love the thing... its just plain rude. i also have a honda VTR1000F (90deg twin) so you know what riding style im coming from. the bike makes me feel like im on a dangerous roller coaster. smiles ear to ear... after a 30 min ride i noticed there was a fresh drip of oil coming down the side of the shock...it came from above.. i noticed a few drizzles between the starter and the rear cylinder head. i thought made it was the rear base gasket since it seemed it was only when i rode the bike hard. I NEVER redlined it (redline is 6,750rpm). i would punch it hard when turning on a road to get it to 60mph... then coast; like im sure everyone does on a torque monster S1W  . So i decided to perform a test: i cleaned up the oil drips, and took the bike up to town about 5 miles away. i drove it nice n friendly...i kept the rpms under 4,500. i got off the bike. not a drip to be found! i then drove it nicely a few miles away to a gas station... still clean! Then i ripped the thing hard to 5,500-6,000 rpms for a spirited 5 mile ride coming home from town, and i got the oil drips again. SEE PICS BELOW. they were taken right after the ride. -my oil level is fine -primary oil is level and just changed. -new exhaust gaskets -rocker gaskets up top are clean. you can see there is a dark oil spot on the black bottom part of the cylinder fins, right by the gold starter bolt. thoughts on where its coming from? i was hoping it wasnt a rear base gasket.. and maybe coming from the rocker gasket but its bone dry above the exhaust port. btw the front cylinder area is bone dry. let me know your thoughts. thanks!       (Message edited by woodbutcher on October 02, 2015) | ||
| Tmbabb |
Real hard to say without looking at it in person. Check your oil hoses and connections. And look the oil tank over as well. Take the body parts off and do a really good inspection. I would really like to see more close up pics of the bike. The tank and body work especially. I love the S1W, take good care. | ||
| Alfau |
is it throwing up off the drive belt. could be seal on front drive sprocket. these things have a habit of pushing the seal cover off | ||
| Woodbutcher |
i actually was going to mention that it might be the front sprocket area seeing how i saw that raw teardrop drip of oil on the shock body dripping down. it would make sense since maybe it didnt have the RPMs to throw that drip due to coming to a slower pace heading in the driveway before inspection. that would be good news since its much easier of a fix than a base gasket im sure. | ||
| Alfau |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/712589.html#POST2325897 pictures | ||
| Woodbutcher |
found this link too. ill pull the carbon fiber cover off and inspect. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/174248.html | ||
| Reepicheep |
Hard to tell from the pics, but the tubers are pretty predictable. The rocker box gaskets both go, probably at around 3k-6k miles for the rear one, and 9k to 12k miles for the front one. Get the new metal ones in place of the original paper and it will stay fixed. The cylinder base gaskets generally weep enough to discolor the jugs. They don't generally ever get worse though. The starter gasket leaks and will pool up over time on the cylinder deck on the outside. You can fix it, but it is a hassle, and the leak generally doesn't get worse. The original shock can leak. There was a recall on it. Pushrod tubes can leak, less common unless somebody had the head off, in which case it is REALLY common. | ||
| Hootowl |
If it only happens when you're at high RPM, check your breather system. You could have oil puking out of your air cleaner. | ||
| Buellistic |
OLD SCHOOL: OIL dripping out of air cleaner usually means the one or both of the OEM VALVE, umbrella PN 26856-89 are bad due to death by heat "OR" too much oil has been put in the engine ... These breathers should be individually run to a catch container ... OIL SYSTEM Class 101, just PM me for a copy ... | ||
| Woodbutcher |
you guys might be onto something here. i just posted a topic here a few weeks ago ( http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/769213.html ) it goes over that there were drips of blackish gas coming out of my carb throat area. i took off my Bartels air cleaner and went with a force winder and that solved that problem (no more black oil/gas leaking on subframe). was i just puting a band aid on a bigger issue? i can tell you the crank case breather bolts are routed to end by the oil drain plug way back by the swingarm... so i know its not the crankcase breather system. taking for a mild ride to the welding shop to pick up a couple pieces of aluminum for a project... ill take pics after. check out that post i did.. its has a video too. (Message edited by woodbutcher on October 02, 2015) | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Woodbutcher ,can you post a picture of your whole s1 visible on it? Thanks! | ||
| Woodbutcher |
took her for a quick ride up to town, kept it under 6k rpms.. not a drop of oil... except some leftovers on the bottom of the casing by the pulley. im thinking the seal for the front small pulley if i had to guess. it makes too much sense, since i have been getting a few black spots on my nice white rear rim when i do run her hard as well. i just took these pics today. nice fall weather.     | ||
| Woodbutcher |
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| Lakes |
You need to give that bike to me! very nice. i think problem is when bikes are left standing around a lot oil runs from oil tank into motor so motor has a lot of oil in cases. then you ride it and rev it to 6k the oil pump can not scavenge fast enough and too much oil in cases pressure builds up normally it goes out crank breather but, bikes that stand around the gaskets and seals go hard & leak. i ride my bike all year round it has a lot of miles up but no leaks stock M2 2000 thunderstorm rocker box's no problems. i have always had barleys since the 70's. good luck with it | ||
| Ocbueller |
Where does the hose on the primary vent tube end? | ||
| Zac4mac |
All I can say is I'm drooling. Beautiful Pushrod tubes. | ||
| Sportyeric |
I've been dealing with my new S2 with 18k miles over 21 years, mostly sitting for the last five or so. Seals are hard as rock. Had to replace the fork seals and the crankseal just to start. Will be replacing every other one this winter before I'll consider it fit for any long ride. Yours looks like pushrod tubes. | ||
| Charlies_s1 |
+1 0n the pushrod tube, Your plastic heat shield is on backwards, Not that it really matters though. Ride safe, Chuck. | ||
| Woodbutcher |
the primary vent hose goes from the back of the starter area and swoops down a bit and then swings up and around the battery and just points to the right side of the bike, and ends about 1" from the + battery terminal i tried to draw it here. the green arrows are pointing to the actual hose im talking about. i will look into how to replace the pushrod tube gaskets  | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
That's one lovely looking S1  | ||
| Ocbueller |
Thanks for the diagram. Several things will cause the primary vent tube to spew oil. Too much oil in the primary due to overfilling or a bad crank seal allowing engine oil into the primary side. Primary calls for 28 oz. not a full quart. Also have seen overpressure due to improper crankcase venting. If a stock crankcase vent tube is pinched or has been modified improperly. | ||
| Woodbutcher |
Ocbueller. well thats good to know. there isnt a drop coming out of the primary vent tube in the diagram... i would be all over the battery. another way to verify its not the crank seal would be to recheck my primary oil since i just changed it 2 weeks ago. i put in the proper amount of 15-50 mobile 1 synthetic.. same oil in crankcase. | ||
| Woodbutcher |
seems like the case is closed for now. might as well replace the o rings regardless since the bike wasnt ridden much. the GOOD thing is it looks like the S1 frame allows me to remove the rocker box from above without turning the motor sideways in the frame!  anyone have the part #s needed to replace the o rings and other parts? may as well replace the rocker box gasket. i know there was an aftermarket gasket that people liked more than stock. just let me know what i need and ill get it. i was thinking: - rocker box gasket. - oil pump gear drive too? - all pushrod o rings. this will be a winter project. thanks. | ||
| Jolly |
My S3 was doing the exact same thing, I was convinced a base gasket but it turns out it was the pushrod tube o-ring, how it managed to flow up hill like it did on mine is beyond me...well ok, air forces at play etc...but it was baffling! I installed the collapsible pushrod tube assemblies with billet bases (stock pushrods)from Zipers, sold reliably through NRHS (thank Dan for keeping them in stock!) and was so happy with them I have done the job to all my other tubers. YES, this is a rabbit hole for sure! rocker box gaskets, rocker box cover upgrade to XB push rod tube assemblies oil pump drive gear undercut cam cover (if you are so inclined) might as well: replace starter gasket black RTV the stator plug do you have new upgraded rotor??? this is an easy afternoon job, if you have any questions at all please PM me, I put together a nice job guide to help solve some of the areas in the service manual in the "how to" phase of execution... |
