Quote:
Originally Posted by Seeker
were you using the bike regularly? My H1 will probably be a summer/dry roads bike only.
When I owned a Yamaha YR5 back in the 70s I never thought about leaking crank seals, I'm not sure I was even aware of them  When I joined the RAF the Yam was left idle for months but I would always expect it to start and run without a problem (which it did).
How long does it take for a (crank) seal to dry out and stop sealing? Would kicking over the bike help? |
I only ever rode the bike in dry weather, so during winter it could be 6 to 8 weeks between rides. At these times the only 'storage' preparation I did was disconnect the main fuel feed from the vacuum fuel tap (in case it leaked) and put clingfilm over the tailpipes to stop the damp getting in. I'm a firm believer in only running the engine when it's going to get a proper ride, so I never, ever used to start the engine in the garage "just to turn it over" as it just puts loads of condensation in the engine.
It takes AGES for seals to dry out - literally years. The outer seal on my bike had been weeping slightly since I got the bike in '98, it was still running the original crank.
I know that the cases had never been apart, although it had either had a piston crack or a small-end failure at some point before I got it, because when I lifted the head to fix a weeping head gasket, the left-hand cylinder head was heavily pockmarked with shrapnel, so some debris had been dancing on top of the pistons for a bit. Also the left piston was 1mm OS while the other two were 0.5mm ...
So the engine had had a hard life before I bought the bike. I treated it to a good used top-end from a Suzi owner's club member, and it ran great, even with the weeping seal.
Just use a good 2-stroke oil (I ran mine on Mobil full synth, largely because I bought a job lot of 10 litres for £30) but any semi-synth is ideal.