Oops I did it again! Major overheating - very little oil

[c_dug]

I appear to have once again royal fucked my bike, only this time I am 65 miles from home.

I am at my dads, I was riding a little "spiritedly" on the way here, was sitting at 100mph most of the way, maxed the bike out a few times too. Just for the safty-nazi's, the M25 for the first time ever was actualy pretty damn empty!

Anyway the bike seemed to be taking it in its stride untill i pulled off the slip road and looked at my temp gauge, it was the highest i have ever seen it! I continued to ride towards my dads and as i got into kingston the needle was less than 2mm from the red on the gauge, i pulled over at a corner shop to take a look. I rang to say i was going to be late, and as i hung up i heard a hiss, the radiator bottle had reached a high enough pressure to leak from the cap (this is the plastic screw on cap, not the plug on the actual rad) I left the bike to sit for a while and then rode it the rest of the way to my dads.

The only major things i have noticed, other than the over heating, are that it seems to have changed sound in the low revs, below 4k rpm it seems to sound more like a V twin, also i think it may be vibrating a little bit more than usual, although i am not 100% on that.

There are two things that i know to be wrong with the bike and a few suspect problems. Firstly i have an oil leak, i though it was topped up enough, although i checked when i pulled up and it appears to be very very low (below the sight glass when standing level.) Also my air filter has disintergrated in the last few months, this is to be replaced during the week. there is still a metel mesh there so nothing big could have gotten in.

Suspected things are loose valve clearences and bad carb set up, although i have not checked either of these yet.

I have an idea what the problem might be, and if it is what i am thinking it probably wouldnt be worth repairing, but i would like a BCF diagnosis anyway please.

Thanks

c_dug
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Any signs of water in the oil or oil in the water?

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[c_dug]

Hmmm water was a bit darker than normal, i didnt see any signs in the oil though, i'll have another check in the morning though

c_dug
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[alone]

The water wouldn't be darker. It'd have small pools of oil of the surface, surely? Same effect as oil on the roads when it rains.. I'd think..
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Bikes; '06 Triumph Sprint ST 1050 (for sale) - '95 BMW R1100GS

[c_dug]

Right, just been out and checked it over, the water level in the expansion tank has dropped right back down, it has dropped by at least 2 inches in the tank since last night, going from above the max line to below it

There is no sign of oil in the water or water in the oil, or at least not that i can see through the level glass, so im guessing that rules out the head gasket?

I have topped up the oil with the only thing i had to hand, it is mineral oil, shell's own brand, it will have to do to get me the 60 odd miles home. Should i top up the water or not? I dont want it to expand to the extent that it vents all over me when im riding Probably worrying over nothing there.

Anymore thoughts that i can check when i get home?

c_dug
____________________
I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[Dom]

Bear in mind that the coolant level will vary a lot depending on whether the bike is hot or cold. You're supposed to check it when it's cold, so if the level looks okay now it shouldn't need topping up.
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Photos and that

[c_dug]

Just ridden home again with no issues at all.

Bit of an odd one, ill ride it to work tomorrow and see how it does I guess.

Bit annoying because I'm about to stick a new set of tyres on it, I don't want to waste the money if I'm about to take the bike off of the road.

c_dug
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[Sosha]

Usual "I am a mechanical numpty" disclaimer....

Spirited riding => burns more oil => oil level too low => engine gets hot?

EDIT:

(Though that's pretty useless cause then it would be the "If it's burning oil - why is it burning oil & how much oil?" question - sorry said I was useless )
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Eliminating dynamic range since 1999

[c_dug]

Oil has been leaking for the last few months, i checked a week ago though and it was topped up to the max line, i have burned a serious amount of oil in a week!

Anyway, i will be changing the oil for semi-synth stuff later, ill keep an eye on that because i have some very big miles coming up over the next few weeks. This is really very bad timing for my bike to start playing up.

Luckily i appear to have avoided any major damage through oil starvation, im doing the valves in the next few weeks so i will check the cams for signs of wear then, hopefully the big end of the conrod is fine.

With half the air filter missing it will be running very lean, so hotter, this coupled with the low oil and silly speeds must have been a little bit too much!

To be fair the bike really has suprised me with its resiliance to my cack handed mechanics and lack of mechanical sympathy. Nothing will ever be conan proof, although the GPZ seems to have gotten pretty damn close

c_dug
____________________
I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.