Road grime or leak?

Tech section strictly for the FJR. Everything from oil changes & suspension setup's to removing sheep hair from hard to reach places on the bike so that your wife never finds out.
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fencer
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Road grime or leak?

Post by fencer »

I let a friend take my bike on a 2k + tour.

First off, never again.... every day was a call with drama and a problem with the bike when there was no issues when he got the keys...

Talking to him sounded more like the bike was on a track session rather than a borrowed friends tour... :evil:

It varied from gears jumping to brake fade, to no tread on tires to rear drive leak (which is this post)

My 2nd gear jumps if you are wacking the hell out of the throttle. It has for over 30k now, a bent dong bone I'm guessing. If you are riding sane, there is no issue.

Brake fade... I did that once at SFO around 2008 or so with not so sane street riding and cooked the front to the point of boiling... Ha said he had fade on the REAR "backing it in" REALLY?!! :evil:

Tires, had 1750 miles on them...., but I guess when you tell me you are doing 120 in 95 degree heat and stil getting passed, the rubber goes quick.

So now to the point of the post...
I think it is road grime, my oil level is good and so is my pumpkin, but there is a grease type coating along the pumpkin sidefrom the kick stand back and the inside of the rear wheel.

Is there any place that could have a leak other than the pumkin of oil?
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by raYzerman »

If the pumpkin is right full, hot as hell, or perhaps slightly overfilled (never rotate the wheel while filling), there will be a little mist blow out the breather at the top and it will coat the pumpkin ever so lightly. Dirt/dust will accumulate. Nothing to worry about unless you see a drip, but you already checked the level.

Have to check again, but I believe there is a weep hole where the pumpkin bolts to the swingarm. A little weepage past the seal will drip out there, dirt may accumulate, again, no drip, fuggedaboudit, level was good.

Sounds like buddy was riding fast in the heat..... prolly warmed the beatch up enough to get the misting.
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by PhilJet09 »

"From the kickstand back" is the part that bugs me. Sounds like your output seal is weeping. It doesn't take much oil, mixed with road grime, to make a mess. I would clean everything up and ride it normally for a week, then reassess. If it's slow or stopped with the way you ride, leave it alone. As you know, your friend was being pretty hard on your bike.
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by Powerman »

"bent dong bone" sounds painful?
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by fencer »

Powerman wrote: Sun Jul 16, 2017 9:21 pm "bent dong bone" sounds painful?
The dog was not happy :D
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by fencer »

what about a shock leak? Aftermarket penske way overdue for an overhaul.

Any easy way to check?
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by Abercrombie FJR »

I'm with philjet09. I hope it isn't your output shaft leaking but I'm sure it hard to tell with dirty oily mess everywhere.
Looks like your friend needs a new friend to friend to borrow a bike from. It sort of sounds like your bike is poorly maintained. :-)
Have you done anything to improve your rider skills or knowledge lately?

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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by raYzerman »

A leaky output shaft seal will leave a lot of splooge...
Your second gear issues are worn dogs... replacement of 2 gears required, huge job, engine cases have to be split.
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by 0face »

Stop being nice to people and these kind of problems don't come up.
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by fencer »

raYzerman wrote: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:25 am A leaky output shaft seal will leave a lot of splooge...
Your second gear issues are worn dogs... replacement of 2 gears required, huge job, engine cases have to be split.
Yep, which is why it has not been done.

If I am going to split and do a rebuild. I need more of an issue than this.
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by ionbeam »

I let a friend take my bike on a 2k + tour.

First off, never again.... every day was a call with drama and a problem with the bike when there was no issues when he got the keys...

Talking to him sounded more like the bike was on a track session rather than a borrowed friends tour... :evil:

It varied from gears jumping to brake fade, to no tread on tires to rear drive leak (which is this post)

My 2nd gear jumps if you are wacking the hell out of the throttle. It has for over 30k now, a bent dong bone I'm guessing. If you are riding sane, there is no issue.

Brake fade... I did that once at SFO around 2008 or so with not so sane street riding and cooked the front to the point of boiling... Ha said he had fade on the REAR "backing it in" REALLY?!! :evil:

Tires, had 1750 miles on them...., but I guess when you tell me you are doing 120 in 95 degree heat and still getting passed, the rubber goes quick.

...there is a grease type coating along the pumpkin side from the kick stand back and the inside of the rear wheel.

Is there any place that could have a leak other than the pumkin of oil?

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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by wheatonFJR »

0face wrote: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:50 am Stop being nice to people and these kind of problems don't come up.
Fencer didn't lend his bike to Tom Cale, did he? I always thought that guy was a mad man.
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by Red »

I do not recommend lending out a bike, except maybe when I am riding the lendee's bike right behind them. For some riders, the answer will be Never.

Once you get the oil cleaned up, you can use an aerosol can of body powder to apply a light coat of powder, around anywhere that you expect to see a leak. The dry white powder will show a leak soonest, before the oil goes everywhere.
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Re: RE: Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by silverback »

Red wrote:I do not recommend lending out a bike, except maybe when I am riding the lendee's bike right behind them. For some riders, the answer will be Never.

Once you get the oil cleaned up, you can use an aerosol can of body powder to apply a light coat of powder, around anywhere that you expect to see a leak. The dry white powder will show a leak soonest, before the oil goes everywhere.
+1.

Foot powder is better because it fights fungus as well.

But yeah. That trick works really well. Make sure it's clean, clean,clean first for best results.

The output shaft seal is a PITA, but can be done. I had to unbolt the engine from the frame and use a longish prybar to move it around enough to get the yoke out and seal replaced. FWIW, the right side has a plug centered on the crank shaft which can be removed to hold the crank while torquing the nut to spec. Not sure if it's the right way or not, but I put it in first gear and held the crank and it worked.

Three months later someone ran me over on that bike. Coincidence???

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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by fencer »

I finally had time to get into the bike and check it out.

It looks like there is excessive grease (not oil) coming off the pumpkin gears where it splines with the wheel.

The pumpkin is full of oil, I only lightly lube the axle shaft . wheel bearings still feel good with no hint of a rough spot like it was out of grease or grinding itself.

Suggestions?

I have it all cleaned up and will try to make time to ride it in the next few days just to see if it spooges any more out. I am thinking his tripple digit runs in tripple digit heat may have created a seeping..
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Re: Road grime or leak?

Post by raYzerman »

Makes sense to me it might be grease that can't stand high temperatures, or too much. If you use a light coating of Moly Paste instead it should withstand the heat better. A light coating is enough, there is such a thing as too much.
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