What have I done?

[97tiger885]

The '97 wouldn't start the other day.  I replaced the battery.  No luck.  I even tried jumping the mc off of the truck.  No luck.  I pulled all of the plastic and the tank to get at the plugs to see if they were fouled.  I pulled the right hand plug wire first and there was an inch of the oil in the plug well.  I didn't see any coolant, just oil.  The plug was tight.  I cleaned the well out as best I could and pulled the plug.  The other plug wells were dry.  All of the plugs were fouled.  Being ever so cautious, conservative and right-thinking, I went ahead and put in new plugs, hit the starter and the mc started fairly easily.  Got a bit of smoke but not too bad.  I didn't run the mc very long as I hadn't put back the tank.  No obvious horrible noises; no spurting oil into the well.  

What have I done?  Is this a known feature?  

What should I do next?  Should I put the tank back on without the plastic and let the motor idle to see if the well fills back up?  Are really, really bad things about to happen??  Should I put it back together and run it until it runs no more?

[JetdocX]

First, your oil leak could be loose valve cover screw/s.  Fix that first.  How long has the bike sat?  What is the oil level?  Have you knocked it over while it was running?

The next checks probably require seeing what your cylinder compression is.

Or just fix the leak, put it back together and blissfully ride on.

[Mustang]

John
pull the valve cover and put a new gasket on , the cold weather plus age has probably made it hard and brittle . a new one will be soft and squishy and they  are like 20 or 30 bucks .
Will also be a good time to slide some feeler gauges under the cam lobes and see what your valve clearances are .

[97tiger885]

John
pull the valve cover and put a new gasket on , the cold weather plus age has probably made it hard and brittle . a new one will be soft and squishy and they  are like 20 or 30 bucks .
Will also be a good time to slide some feeler gauges under the cam lobes and see what your valve clearances are .

Excellent.  I was hoping it might be as simple as a valve gasket. I ran the mc for ten minutes yesterday.  Lots of smoke and oil in the well.  I haven't dropped the mc running for several months and it had only been down for a few days due to weather (You NH people think you have it rough.  We had 4 inches of snow in two days-4!) .  I am going to let the local shop deal with it.  Torquing, aluminum, cold weather and I do not play well together.   Thanks for the suggestions, guys.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

[armadillo76]

I haven't dropped the mc running for several months and it had only been down for a few days due to weather (You NH people think you have it rough.  We had 4 inches of snow in two days-4!) .  

Yah, tough. I mean we only had a foot the other day and another few inches overnight. Had to clear both yards out twice! I suspect the town plow is laying in wait to pile up the end of my driveway (so I can get the truck stuck again). At least it wasn't ice this time!
AndyB, NH.
PS Some of us in NH are so tough they ride sidecar rigs all winter!

[97tiger885]

The oil leak was the valve gasket.  That has been replaced.  The fouling of the plugs was unrelated and self-inflicted.  I hadn't changed the air filter for a while and it was a bit dirty causing it to run rich.  That explains the fouled plugs, the 24 mpg on the last tank of gas (I ran out of gas at 143 miles on the trip odometer and had to buy some gas from a car service shop), and the general weirdness of starting in cold weather.   I have no idea how long the gasket had been leaking.  The mechanic tells me the bike will run fine with the oil in the plug well.  Thanks for the help.

[Mustang]

Excellent , dirty air cleaners will bite ya in the ass every time , the one on my 98 was so filthy after this past summer ......I thought the valves were screwed again , it was just a dirty filter , it really showed up when the outside temps dropped below 45 degrees f.

[gosling1]

Excellent , dirty air cleaners will bite ya in the ass every time , the one on my 98 was so filthy after this past summer ......I thought the valves were screwed again , it was just a dirty filter , it really showed up when the outside temps dropped below 45 degrees f.

Is there any "economical" alternative to forking over $65+ for a OEM filter? Thanks!

[JetdocX]

Yes.  Put a Uni prefilter in place of the airbox intake horn.  Cleaning it costs almost nothing and you could replace it about ten times over before replacing your OEM airbox for $80.

[gosling1]

Yes.  Put a Uni prefilter in place of the airbox intake horn.  Cleaning it costs almost nothing and you could replace it about ten times over before replacing your OEM airbox for $80.

Sounds great - any pictures anywhere so I can visualize it better and where would I find a Uni prefilter?

[JetdocX]

Here's mine on the right:



I have one on both sides, but you will probably need to play with the jetting to open up both sides of the airbox like I did.  I'm still playing with the jetting to fix a big midrange hole.

It's an oiled Uni Filter I think 2 1/4 inch but you should measure yours to make sure.  It smashes down under the side fairing easily and does not even burn where it touches the exhaust. :D

[Mustang]

I have one on both sides, but you will probably need to play with the jetting to open up both sides of the airbox like I did.  I'm still playing with the jetting to fix a big midrange hole.

put some little washers/ shims  on the needles to lift them up about .030 of an inch . takes care of that big nasty flat spot at 4500 rpm  

my other 98 has big ass mains in it and had both snorkels open when I bought it , also it had the idle mixture screws set at 2 1/2 turns
It ran ok , but guess what
I left the big ass main jets in it and raised the needles by .030 and set the mixture screws at 2 turns  and capped the right hand side like it comes stock . and it runs even better than it was when I bought it . Starts easier too in the below 30 degree weather .

steamers with Keihin carb's don't like that second snorkel open  I tell's ya .

[gosling1]

Here's mine on the right:



I have one on both sides, but you will probably need to play with the jetting to open up both sides of the airbox like I did.  I'm still playing with the jetting to fix a big midrange hole.

It's an oiled Uni Filter I think 2 1/4 inch but you should measure yours to make sure.  It smashes down under the side fairing easily and does not even burn where it touches the exhaust. :D

Thanks! A picture is worth a 1000 words! Can I get these at a local auto parts store by any chance?