the children . . .

[billy rubin]

my number three son has been complaining about the little 2007 ninja not shifting.

it wont shift . . .

so i took it out. it shifts fine.

but it clunks . . .


they all do that.

i dont like it. im taking it aprt. . . .

. . . .dont take it apart unless you have it out of the way, because i have four other machines in line in front of it, and i cannot guarentee help. . .

okay . . .

[billy rubin]

so i said.

youre now going to learn the 93 hp buell.

it goes 132 mph in the mile, and it will burn the rear tire at any speed lower than 40 mph.

so tomorrwor we take the 1972  triumph boneeville and the 1997 buell to breakfast , and he is going to learn how to deal with 93 horsepower.

wish me luck.

this is how they learn.

[Icarus]

The Buell is a heavy' ungainly' beast compared to the little Ninja. Tell him I said to turn the throttle sparingly. I imagine that the Buell might clunk when gear changing also. Could depend on how the clutch is used.

[billy rubin]

ah, didnt have to, icarus.

he was doing great, but then the buell came home on the deck of a rollback.

we went out uneventfully for twenty or thirty miles, and i said, interstate home or back roads?

interstate.

and at 60 mph th ebuell began to smoke and oil mist sprayed onto my visor, i being behind.

then the smoke got serious and i pulled aroud the boy and waved hime over.

there was a stream of oil running out the carb mouth and dripping on the pipes, hence the smoke. oil all over the right side of the bike and puddling on the ground.

got it home on the wrecker and looked through the manual. there is no pressurized oil running anywhere that could possibly intersect with the carb mouth. and the tailpipe was dry and just covered with normal soot, so the rings are intact and theres no hole in the piston tops.

the only place oil could come into the carb is through the vents from the rocker boxes into the PCV line into the air filter. i think that has to be it, but the oil that would have to be coming through that line normally drains down the pushrod tubes. why not now? what would block that? to my knowledge theres no PCV valve that might have some weird effect, and i dont know any reason for the drains out of the rocker boxes to suddenly plug up.

so i dont know.

but having it happen on a sunny afternoon ride is lots better than trying to deal with it at 0530 on the way to work in the dark.

so tomorrow i go to work on the 1972 triumph i bought when old callaghan was PM, a long time ago. that would be jimmy carter as president on this side.

when i get a moment ill fix it. we have two cars in the shop, and four motorcycles in various states of disrepair. only the 1972 bonneville and the 1970 commando are fit to take me to work in the morning.

but the boy learned a number of things.

[Icarus]

The carburetor is a mysterious place to have an oil leak. I will be interested to know what you discover about this curious mechanical failure.

[billy rubin]

im thinking that something pressurized the crankcase and filled the rocker boxes with oil, that then migrated to the carb through the PCV lines. this machine has hysdraulic lifters that run pressurized oil up through the pushrods to the rocker gear, and then it drains down to the sump.

if so, something either pushed too much oil up there, or prevented it from draining back down.

but what could flood the rocker boxes?

and as it has for 47 years, my old triumph bonneville got me where i needed to be without incident. i really appreciate that machine. it was lots more exotic when i was 21 years old, but it has aged more gracefully than me.

[Dark Lightning]

I'd be checking the oil pump bypass system. Could be something lodged and the pump "failed" wide open. If it's all gravity bleed back with no oil filter, that could be a cause. I've seen oil pumps fail that way and blow the oil filter up like a balloon, or completely off the block. There's an interesting dichotomy with racers and oil pressure. I've known guys who wanted lots of pressure, to keep parts under great pressure separated by an oil film. Then again, famous drag racers like Grumpy Jenkins ran low oil pressure, to reduce parasitic loads. I remember reading in Hot Rod Magazine that he ran 7 PSI. Of course, the engine didn't turn that many revolutions from start to finish under load. Got to be a trade off between seized engines and trophy money in there somewhere.

[Icarus]

I have been trying to get all the grease coating off the TR5. A real PITA!  Military issue cosmoline, that nasty grease, comes in convenient spray cans.  That means that it will spray goop where you intended as well as where it was not intended.

That bike is more top heavy than I would like. Long forks, 20 inch front wheel makes it so.  Damned thing is just plain heavy for such a simple bike. I have fallen out of love with it. I might be spoiled by the last bike that I rode a lot.  It was a Honda XR100 a real hoot to play with.

The guys at Brit Cycle will put the Triumph on  their for sale list without charge. They advise me to post a high asking price along with  OBO. They say that is to discourage the tire kickers. 
 

[billy rubin]

dl, i hadnt thought of the oil pump bypass. i will look into that. it does seem that somethibg caused a huge amount of oul to go into tbe top end, more than could easily drain. i dont know where the pump is on this sportster motor.

icarus, brit cycle has a furst rate reputation. i know the owner mark personally, as twice hes pointed out loose nuts and bolts on my race bike.

ask them what sort of price to start with. i also reccommend high, but thsts because its worth it

[billy rubin]

the number one daughter is on a fire crew in the pacific northwest



thank heavens for helicopters. she doesnt have to parachute in.

[Tank]

Wow!!! Fantastic work.

[billy rubin]

not well paid tho. her first gig was $16 an hour and she had to live in her truck.

with the greater fire incidence those skills ought to pay more.

[Tank]

I agree.