Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

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cfairweather
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#46

Post by cfairweather »

Dr. Frankenstein, your patient, let's call him Rusty, has a grim prognosis for a long healthy life :). I am interested in seeing this laboratory experiment come to life and I hope he beats the odds.
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Dr. Frankenstein
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#47

Post by Dr. Frankenstein »

Well, I've been playing the odds for the last year or so...(so, we're taking bets now...?? :lol: )
Honestly, there aren't giant chunks of rust in the oil - giant meaning anything over 1mm, and which I haven't seen; from what I can feel, what particles there are in the oil pan feel much smaller than a grain of sand, just gritty. I understand that 'gritty' isn't good, but I dragged a magnet through it and even separated it with a gauze/cup setup, and there wasn't anything I'd call 'alarming' in there...give the old boy a chance and see what happens. ('Rusty' - I like it! :lol: )

And what could happen...? And btw, what does a 'filter' do, anyway (I'm being rhetorical here)...it goes from the sump through the oil pump, out to the filter and out to the rest of the bike, yes...?
ImageOIL LUBRICATION SYSTEM POSTER GL1000 (59X84CM) | partno. 81371010 | https://www.cmsnl.com/products/oil-lubrication-system-poster_81371010/CMS - Parts For A Better Ridecmsnl.com by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr

Crank it up, get good and lubed up, frequent oil changes...who knows. Might run like a champ.
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pidjones
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#48

Post by pidjones »

Make darn sure the filter spring is there and pushing toward the engine. I've had two bikes with that backwards.
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Dr. Frankenstein
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#49

Post by Dr. Frankenstein »

Oh, sure - but just to clarify the operation as per the diagram, when you insert the filter into the housing, the correct order of install is the spring goes over the filter bolt, THEN the washer, then the filter fits on, yes?
GL1000 Filter Assembly.jpg
GL1000 Filter Assembly.jpg (51.76 KiB) Viewed 427 times
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gltriker
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#50

Post by gltriker »

Yes.
Cliff (74yrs ;) )

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Dr. Frankenstein
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#51

Post by Dr. Frankenstein »

Morning Cliff! How's the Great White North...? Snow yet??
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Dirty Dave
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#52

Post by Dirty Dave »

Going up to 74 f today here in the Great White North.

A record breaker fer sure....
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NotSoLilCrippseys
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#53

Post by NotSoLilCrippseys »

Dr. Frankenstein. I've been following this rust-and-sludgy-oil drama with real interest.

I really admire your willingness to dig in and give it a go - even with several suggesting that motor is toast. (It very well might be, but we don't yet know.) I'm reminded of one of my old high school friend and his '72 Lincoln Continental Mark IV with a small hole in the engine block. He sold that car, which he absolutely loved, to get out from under a motor problem. The purchaser patched the block, flushed the motor with a few rounds of oil, and drove it for years and years. My buddy hated that he gave up on that car.

Also, seeing your (and others') struggles through the project has really, truly helped me not get (or not stay) frustrated when I'm staring at a setback or conundrum. Thanks.
Avatar is a summer '21 photo of the Blue Phoenix, our 1983 GL1100I rescue gone naked.

In the Stable and Ridable
1992 ST1100 - my longer haul tourer
1992 XJ600S - son's streetfighter
1987 VFR700 - son's latest, in blue/silver
1983 - GL1100I - naked Blue Phoenix (son's, really)
1982 GL1100I - naked bagger Cabernet
1979 GL1000 - Ginger Lynn, but not that Ginger Lynn (Wing and a Prayer)
1978 CB550K - son's cafe (carb issues still vex)

Active Project(s)
1979 GL1000 - Confirmed one owner, with original paperwork. Vetter fairing and bags, off the road in dry, heated storage for 35 years.

Sold
Not lookin' back to avoid regrets
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Dr. Frankenstein
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#54

Post by Dr. Frankenstein »

Thanks NSLC, I appreciate that (I hope you don't mind I abbreviated your name ;) ) - it's always been that way for me. When I find a bike that I really like and want to try to get running, I'm usually able to get it for a good price because they're usually in (apparently) bad condition and the PO just doesn't want to mess with it anymore. I find a lot of times people buy a bike because it's the 'flavor of the moment', and when it breaks down or needs maintenance, they nine times out of ten have gotten their 'fix' and just want to get rid of it because they don't understand it.

A biker/mechanic friend of mine, who actually got me addicted to bikes, told me once a long time ago that a bike only needs three things to run - fuel, spark and compression. Take any one of those things out of the equation and it won't. Of course, as we all know it goes a little deeper than that, but I've never had enough money to pay someone to fix anything that broke down, and besides, I was a big model-builder when was a kid; when I fixed my first real motorcycle, my 1985 Yamaha Virago XV700N, I was pleased as punch and the PO - who had just given me the bike to make room for another one - was flabbergasted that I had figured it out. That's what gave me the 'bug', if you will. That was twenty-some years ago.

Rust (or 'Rusty, in this case! :lol: ) doesn't scare me anymore. A Brillo pad and some elbow grease usually brightens that up real quick; it won't fire?? Fuel or timing (sometimes BOTH fuel and timing!). Sometimes the rings(compression), too, but I've rarely had to replace rings. Engine stuck?? Rusty pistons, or something's jammed.

Case in point, this little CB125S I had a few years ago - I picked it up looking just like this for $100 because "it won't shift"...
ImageHonda CB125S by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr
I got it home, popped the case cover off and a short inspection later found the shifter fork had come off. I put it back where it should be, reset the timing and it fired up! Most people just don't want to do the work, but I love it!
(This pic was taken shortly after June 29th, 2012, when a derecho came through and devastated central Virginia - that big tree came down - along with seven others - and took out my small garage, but luckily just destroyed the corner and punched several holes in the roof; I was in the process of cutting and chopping up all the wood. 80mph winds in the backyard that night; scary stuff. I actually have a little PTSD from that night).

But I figure the more I do, the more I learn, and the more I learn how to do, the better I'll become. And the beautiful thing is, it will never end! Paint, brakes, transmission, rusty gears - you name it! That's why sites like this one are priceless - with all the fantastic knowledge in here from guys and gals who know WAAAY more than me, why pay someone to do it when 9-point-9-9- times you can do it yourself and learn something in the process? And it all started with a screwdriver...

Besides, it's a helluva lot of fun, too! Go into the garage, turn on the radio... Even a bad day in the garage is better than a good day at work. :lol:
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CYBORG
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#55

Post by CYBORG »

I agree with everything you said. Sure we're not brothers from a different mother? :lol: :lol: :lol:
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NotSoLilCrippseys
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#56

Post by NotSoLilCrippseys »

I hear you. I work with people for a living, and they push back against my efforts. I sometimes explain to friends that the mechanics don't fight me. They're just there. If it's not working, it's a problem to be sorted out.

Do I have the energy/interest to do that on a given day? Do I want to keep banging up against that problem? I need to answer those questions for myself, but the mechanical (bike, in this case) isn't actively running around undoing the work. If my head isn't right, I leave it until I get my head right. It'll be just as I left it.

When I was a teen and needed my car to work if I was going to get out of the house - and I really didn't want to be in/at the house, ever - I often found it really frustrating when I couldn't solve the issue and ride away. There was no internet, no forum, no YouTube guru with a walkthrough, and all I had was a manual, some of the necessary tools, and whatever lessons I had learned up to that point. Parts couldn't be searched or ordered online. Everything was based on calls and a ride over to the parts store - which you can't do if the car won't drive and your buddy is out with his girlfriend or working. And then there was the $ side of the parts.

I learned a lot, to be sure, including the apparent fact that car trouble was highly correlated with both precipitation and cold weather. Probably most of you know what I'm talking about.

It's so much more enjoyable to rap my knuckles on a bike motor when I can take the truck to work or dinner and order up parts to be delivered in 3 days. And it really helps now that I make more than $2.89/hour.
Avatar is a summer '21 photo of the Blue Phoenix, our 1983 GL1100I rescue gone naked.

In the Stable and Ridable
1992 ST1100 - my longer haul tourer
1992 XJ600S - son's streetfighter
1987 VFR700 - son's latest, in blue/silver
1983 - GL1100I - naked Blue Phoenix (son's, really)
1982 GL1100I - naked bagger Cabernet
1979 GL1000 - Ginger Lynn, but not that Ginger Lynn (Wing and a Prayer)
1978 CB550K - son's cafe (carb issues still vex)

Active Project(s)
1979 GL1000 - Confirmed one owner, with original paperwork. Vetter fairing and bags, off the road in dry, heated storage for 35 years.

Sold
Not lookin' back to avoid regrets
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#57

Post by Sidecar Bob »

Sometimes it feels like the days of figuring it out on my own and having to get to the place to buy the parts in person weren't that long ago. And it really wasn't that long ago that I had to get the bike running ASAP because I needed it to get to work.
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#58

Post by jimbonaut »

Here's to you my man, run what you brung and all that. Make it happen!
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NotSoLilCrippseys
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#59

Post by NotSoLilCrippseys »

Doc Frankenstein. Thank you again for sharing your experience with this motor.

I just picked up a parts 1100 for next to nothing, hoping that perhaps I might find a salvageable motor, plus the good bits sprinkled around that I knew made the buy worth the price - for me. Likely it's a no-go on the motor, as nearly a gallon of water drained out of the case before the oil started to run out, rear wheel won't budge, shifting is not happening in any meaningful way (maybe first, neutral, second? it's better than it was in the PO's yard), and hand turning with crank bolt gets me movement up to a frozen spot somewhere. The first hand crank effort included blasts of water shooting out of 2 cylinders. Fun.

I'm going to try replacing oil with an ATF/oil mix, let things sit a bit, rock her back/forth, etc. Maybe the water was in there for a minute and not a decade. I'm not so optimistic, but I can let her sit in a corner. Maybe some magic happens.

If I hadn't been reading about your travails with your build, I'd have already quit that motor.
Avatar is a summer '21 photo of the Blue Phoenix, our 1983 GL1100I rescue gone naked.

In the Stable and Ridable
1992 ST1100 - my longer haul tourer
1992 XJ600S - son's streetfighter
1987 VFR700 - son's latest, in blue/silver
1983 - GL1100I - naked Blue Phoenix (son's, really)
1982 GL1100I - naked bagger Cabernet
1979 GL1000 - Ginger Lynn, but not that Ginger Lynn (Wing and a Prayer)
1978 CB550K - son's cafe (carb issues still vex)

Active Project(s)
1979 GL1000 - Confirmed one owner, with original paperwork. Vetter fairing and bags, off the road in dry, heated storage for 35 years.

Sold
Not lookin' back to avoid regrets
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Dr. Frankenstein
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Re: Oil - Not Sure If This is Bad or Not

#60

Post by Dr. Frankenstein »

"The first hand-crank effort included blasts of water shooting out of 2 cylinders. Fun."
Salty or fresh?? Dude, where'd you find that - Casco Bay?? :lol:

Actually, the more I think about it, if you have water shooting out of the cylinders (which cylinders?) it looks (at LEAST) like a head job - no pun intended. If there is (or was) water in the radiator, a very badly leaking head gasket/water jacket is what I would suspect - unless of course you fished it out of the bay (not likely).

"and hand turning with crank bolt gets me movement up to a frozen spot somewhere." That's a bummer; these GL1000 engines are interference type, so I'm thinking if it won't go all the way around, something's 'interfering' with the rotation (I defer to the comments of the forum, of course). If that's the case, I'd try to reset the belt pulleys, make sure they're where they need to be and see (note the timing marks on the pulley wheel) if it spins around fully; and if the mark on the wheel does not match up with the mark on the engine/rear belt cover, that's a big red flag...If not, well - personally I'd drop the engine and take it apart, see if the valves are bent. Yeah, it sux, but then again, I've been keeping my eye out for a spare GL1000 engine to do just that, strip the whole thing down and see how it goes together. I'm anal like that. The upside is, if you refurbish the engine you'll have a whole workable engine - and as it is now, have at it -it's not going to get any 'broker', y'know..?

Motorcycles are a lot like my ex-wife - they won't 'tell' you, you're just expected to Know...(and which is why she's my EX-wife! :lol: :lol: :lol: )

"Never give up - Never Surrender!"

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