Next: Oil Pressure woes...

No, the dowel was floating around in the oil pan and got in between the crank and the engine case, at the oil pump, causing it to break the case. I'll try to get pics later.

 

Got it. That is a bummer! What are you planning to do?

 

Yes....yes.....join us!


In all seriousness I feel for you. Sorry to hear about all the hard work you have to put into this thing.

I hope everything works out and does so quickly.

 

Well, I have the bike running again. I used a slightly "less than orthodox" method of repair. I stuck the broken piece back in there with J-B weld. It's holding good oil pressure, and fully warmed up it takes the RPM's dropping to about 5-600 for the light to start flickering. Over the winter, I plan to tear it down and swap everything over into the other engine case Ihave, but for now I just wanted it to run!

 

WOW JP , sorry to hear about that...get her fixed up real good this winter....

 

Actually, this is forward progress. You know why you had an oil pressure issue and now you can fix it.

I am much better at dealing with "knowns" than "unknowns".

 

I work on cars for a living, so I almost always find out the "why" of something not working. It's also why I didn't like the idea of using the J-B, but it did get the bike back ont he road.

 

I hear you man. I used some J-B on my CBR954. I busted through the crankcase with a dowel pin that holds a transmission bearing in place because I didn't have the pin in the hole of the outer bearing race. That sucked. Had to split the case again and the main bolts are torque-to-yield. As you probably know they can only be used once. Hello Mr. Dealership for new bolts!

I J-B welded the outside of the crankcase to prevent the dowel from moving (after I staked it) and to prevent oil leaks. Seems to have worked well, actually. :biggrin:

 

JB weld to the rescue!

 

I don't feel so hillbilly-ish now!

 

It's a step up from Duct Tape

 

There's a reason that J-B Weld has been in business for so many years; it works! I always have some on hand, along with a various assortment of epoxies. Personally, I always go for practical repairs versus purist repairs. I don't think I would try to fix a cracked crankshaft with it, but it does amazingly well on stationary structural objects.

Glad you got it fixed!

 

That's a good fix. We used to fix our race bikes with epoxies like JB Weld. Done right it lasted as long as the cases/covers. You shouldn't have any problems.

 

Where it is broken isn't under any stress, other than MAYBE oil pressure, but the oil pressure goes through the dowel , so I think i'll be ok for the duration.

The bike's running well. I've only put about 50 miles on it (my daily commute is less than 5 miles, closer to 10 if I run home for lunch) and it runs like it has been sitting, that's for sure! I put some fresh fuel in it, dropped the idle down (since the oil pressure is fine now) and I'm just going to rider it. I need to redo the valve adjustment, one or 2 are ticking a wee bit, and I have to tighten the rear exhaust tubes, where they meet the head. I'm debating taking it on a group ride Saturday. I doubt I do, since it will be a spirited ride, and I'm just not that confident in the bike yet.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement!

Does anybody want to buy the bike now? :lol:

 

LOL :lol: :tongue:

 

Will you include the rest of the unused J-B Weld? :biggrin:

 

Oh, I dunno about that! That's stuff's about as good as gold! I'll throw in all the parts I have, which includes a good set of engine cases!

 

Just a quick update:

I put about 200 miles on the bike today, the first group ride I've taken the Interceptor on. Everything went well! I'm learning what gear I need to have it in for the conditions (turns) and finding out how badly worn out the original suspension really is! I did see th oil light flicker a few times, when the idle had dropped to nearly stalling, below 1000. I bumped it back up and went on, and all was well, until I needed to bump it back down. All in all I'm pretty happy with ho wit runs, except for the "flat" spot from about 6000 - 7700-ish. Working around that was the biggest challenge of the day! If only I knew that the bike would be trouble free from here on out, I would commit to keeping it. As it is, I don't know that I want to hassle with it, and may end up going the second gen route, as that's the Interceptor that I really like!

Another cool thing, I got to talk to my cousin that has the 86 VFR750 for sale! He had owned an 84 500 when they were new, and had a huge grin when he saw mine pulling in! We talked bikes for a few, and life in general, so it was really good day so far!

 

It's been a while, time for an update.

I've been riding that crap out of the bike so far this season, I've become a much better rider after a couple group rides with some really good people. I finished burning through a back tire and replaced it.

Now, for the bad news. I think the engine's pretty much done. It's been making some noise, and I'm pretty sure it's in the bottom end. I can hear it most when I'm barely accelerating. It goes away (maybe the exhaust and air intake sounds, coupled with the adrenaline) when I crank on it hard, or decelerate. I was thinking it was just the front cam chain tensioner, but it sounds more like a knock. I'm an auto technician by trade, so I know noises, but the small size of motorcycle engines throws me off a bit, just as all aluminum engines did, the first few times.

At this point, I don't know what I'm going to do. I have some spare parts, and could probably get a running engine out of all that I have, but I really don't have that much time on my hands, with a new baby in the house, and 3 other kids, besides working all I can to make up for mom being off work, recovering. I've been contemplating finding a used engine to get my by for a while, but I'll still have a bike with worn out suspension, that wasn't exactly the greatest when it was new anyway.

For now, I'm just riding the Ninja 250 everywhere, but I miss the power of the VF500!