My New Superhawk Just Died - loss power / oil leak
My New Superhawk Just Died - loss power / oil leaki was riding around 40 miles. It was riding fine and nice and all. When i first started it, it couldn't idle and when i would set it to idle she would just die out and i had to kick start it because my battery was being ran down. I ran her around 20 miles, and after she warmed up she could idle all day. The next day i started her in the morning. Same thing on the idling. I had to really give it gas when i was going to start it up. when she warmed up she was fine. i was around 16 miles on the road today and she started to just have no power. I was in 4th gear, and it felt as if it was running only on one piston. So i down shifted and still no power. i popped the clutch in and the moment the PRM would idle she just shot dead right there. I got off and inspected the bike and noticed the oil all over the side of the motor.
That's unfortunate. As I understand it, the bike is new to you and that implies that maybe you are not sure how well it was assembled and set up. There appear to be two issues to deal with.
A bike that won't idle but will run OK at more throttle sounds like partially blocked pilot jets or low fuel level, but it could also be something more serious, or just poor timing, weak battery etc. That oil leak is item #2 and I hope it turns out not to be the source of problem #1. You need to determine where it was coming from and that's often hard on a motor that was running up the street because oil blows and drips all over the place. Does the engine turn over as easily as before without any strange or disturbing noises and does it still have compression? If not that is the first thing to address. If it "seems" OK I'd check all the usual things as set out in LM's notes. Check battery voltage and plugs and points and timing and valve clearances and I'd clean out the carbs and fuel tap and spend extra time looking at the slow jets. Depending on what you find during that process, the next step I'd take is to see if the bike now runs and if so, where is the oil leaking from. It may be something as simple as a bolt that came loose. Obviously if you see that the oil came from something serious like a "leg out of bed", that will dictate the sequence. I would start with checking the spark plugs, and take the points cover off, if your lucky the little seal has blown out, that would be a logic and simple way to have trouble and loss of power, and oil leak.
Hopefully the spark plugs are still clean and, if they are oily you may have worn piston rings. Worn piston rings mostly mean a hard start, and when it's warm, they run fine, but after a while you get power loss. And possibly a blowby, wich in turn causses to much pressure in the engine block, and causses seals to fail. Wich in turn explain's the oil leaks. But I would start at the top, hoping that it's just the little seal behind the breaker points... Other wise you have probably work to do... 'Of course I've already taken a very modest position on the monetary system, I do take the position that we should just end the Fed.' - Ron Paul
Thanks guys. seriously.
Last edited by marlin4622 on Sun Oct 31, 2010 3:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
so i've been incredibly busy, and haven't made myself available to be on the forum/mess around with the bike.
Today was a productive day. I realized that my oil is a bit cloudy, and it smells like gasoline. I've concluded that i need to figure out how to clean my petcock. I also bet that my carbs are all screwed up. I performed a compression test. my left side carb tested at 8.8 kg and right was 8.5. so I have compression above standard spec. This is great! So i am assuming that this whole ordeal is because of carburetor issues. So, i need to figure out what the heck is wrong with my carbs. Is there a rebuild kit available for these guys? I also read up on changing the carbs over to Amals but i couldn't figure out the reason for people doing this/where to get them. I took off my scrambler headers and the right pipe header had a bit of oil leaking from it.... I wasn't too happy about that. Partially, because i didn't know what it meant. I want to get the original pipes/mufflers but i don't know where to buy them other than eBay. I think I might go that route. I could not find the major oil leak. The bottom of my gasket seal from my top end to the block is still wet. But when oil gets that hot, you can almost never find where it originates... just where it ends up. So knowing that it's a carb issue, where would you look? Or maybe its just from the large amounts of oil/gas level in my crankcase. Overflow maybe? I'm not too worried about it as of yet. So, where can i get gasket sets, carbs, air filters (my left carb air filter is gone), and general parts. Also where can I get a parts diagram? I cant seem to find one anywhere!! I want to perform the FAQ carb adjustment but i have no idea where the parts are on the bike. An exploded diagram would be helpful. Thanks guys. seriously.
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