My Bike Stinks

....literally.

The exhaust smells like a beat up old car's. It lingers on me after I ride. It sticks to my cloths and bag. It lingers in my nasal cavities. Worst of all, I am anticipating that someone at a red light, probably an attractive female, will tell me that my bike stinks, to which I will reply, "try riding it!".

It was stinky when I got it and it was running on three cylinders. It is still stinky running on four. I have tried different oil, no change. I am running lean if anything based on my grey/tan sparkplugs.

Any suggestions, besides buying a newer bike?

 

Two-stroke......mmmmmmm. I could smell that all day and did in my younger MX days. I went to a track last week and there was only one two-stroke. It just aint the same...

Yes, it is an aftermarket can. I do not believe that it has been cleaned. It is an odd can that the PO attached to the tail section of a Hindle 4-1. I suspect that the Hindle can was wrecked. How would you suggest I clean it? Do I drill out the rivits, pull it all apart and clean away carbon. Is there batting in these cans that you replace like old mx'ers?

I don't believe that the smell is organic in the sense of burning carcasses, lol. It really is like the exhaust of a 1970's car that has been around too long.

 

Are you sure it is not the battery boiling over? That can put off a nasty smell.

 

New battery.

The smell is definitely the exhaust. Depending on how the wind is blowing at a stoplight I smell it or don't. Again, it isn't an unusual old vehicle exhaust smell, it is just strong.

 

Excessive carbon build-up maybe?

I know when I Seafoamed my bike last fall it spat out some stinky exhaust fumes.

 

Is burned oil smell excluded? Do you have other oil issue indications such as blueish smoke or drop of oil level?

PS I've heard that attractive females do search for stinky bikes to pick on the innocent bikers. Do not enter their game! it's all about the stinky bike! :tongue:

 

Guess you could try changing types of gas, with all the additives in the gas now most cars stink too. Find a pilot at your local airport and get 5 gallons of 100LL, no additives, see if that changes the smell.

 

I'd open that can up. probably needs repacked anyway...

 

OK, I think I know what it might be and I am not at all happy about it. What would oil contaminated by coolant do when burned in combustion? Smell bad?

I have been trying to troubleshoot my hot running as readers here would know. Although I only have about 600k on the bike since I got it up and running, I decided to do an oil change to see if new oil might make a difference. I noticed immediately that the oil was quite watery. Colour was normal, not milky, although we thought there was a slight green look to it. First thought - I have a head gasket leak and coolant is getting into the oil. Coolant in the oil would impact lubrication causing hotter than normal temps....argggg. I checked the overflow tank and it was very low. I had not really noticed any coolant loss, but I have had that rad off and/or coolant drained several times for various reasons.

I was relieved when I measured that the oil taken out roughly matched the volume put back in. I topped everything up and hoped for the best. I drove it to and from work today and the coolant level in the overflow did drop a few inches. I checked the oil dipstick and the oil level was about 1/8 inch higher. I am going to ride it again tomorrow and check the levels again before making any decisions.

So here I sit and my hands still have the smell of coolant on it and I recognize that the dreaded exhaust smell has a bit of a coolant smell to it.

Questions - Is the head gasket the only place where coolant crossover makes sense? Can it occur at the pump shaft? Suggestions before I order new gaskets, pull the bike off the road, pull the motor and pull the heads again?

 

Bummer to hear about the coolant leak.

To refresh my memory, you are using a set of custom copper gaskets from Copper Gaskets Unlimited on a set of '85 front and rear heads installed on your 1984 engine, correct?

As noted in a previous thread - the front gasket pattern (based on the OEM part number) fits all years...If I could ask, are you using the '85/'86 rear gasket pattern (not the '84 pattern) on this install?

 

Of Course you can ask and yes I am. I have two motors: 84 on the bike, 85 parts. When I redid the heads, lapped the valves, etc. I had the best parts taken from the two sets of heads to make the best possible heads (since parts are not really available. Before doing so I carefully inspected both sets of heads as did the mechanic that did the lapping for me and they really appear identical. The only apparent difference was a different stamp near the exhaust. I believe one was F-1 and the other F-2, but I can't be sure.

When I bought the bike it had the newer design gaskets so I stuck with those, assuming that, as we keep surmizing, the change in coolant porting in the gasket was to force some kind of change in coolant flow through the heads to improve cooling.

Back to stinky - I think I was being a paranoid 1st gener last night. When I rode in this morning I really paid attention to the smell and I believe that it is just exhaust smell and not burning coolant. I look forward to checking the coolant and oil levels once things have cooled down.

 

Good deal! Thanks for the post and I'm glad that it may not be a coolant leak after all.

 

Well, it's official. I have a coolant leak. The title of this thread now has a whole new meaning!

The bike has cooled and the coolant in the resevoir has dropped again and the crankcase oil level has risen.

Is it feasible that coolant under pressure could have entered anwhere other than the head gaskets? I want to rule out other possibilities before I go to the extreme of ripping this thing apart again. What else would you check?

 

It looks like you have a gremlin...



The Factory Service Manual notes - under 'Coolant Leaks':

1. Faulty pump mechanical seal
2. Deteriorated O-rings

 

Is it morespecific about the mechanical seal?

Looking at the fiche I see the o-ring on the pump shaft.

 

From the F.S.M.