Exxon Valdez moment

Merrily riding along this afternoon, and I feel something warm spraying on my right foot. Pulled off and look down and oil is pumping out of the right front small plate that goes on the end of the rocker spindle. Apparently it had been doing it for several miles as the right side of the bike was oiled down pretty good. Shut it off immediately and called for my wife to bring the trailer. I was really suprised at the amount of oil that was coming out. I didn't think that much went to the rockers. Do I have a plug in the system somewhere or did the gasket on the spindle plate just decide to go? Return from rocker boxes not working? There have been some leaks around the rocker covers lately that hadn't been there before. I used no silicon sealer in the build anywhere. Could bike have been wet sumping and sump was full? My BSA wet sumped really bad last fall and I discovered oil all over it at just about the same distance from home. Cleaned the oil pickup pipe on it and no more problems. When I go home maybe a pint or somewhat more drained out the sump right away. There was still some oil left in the tank with the pickup screen was just barely covered. No stange noises before I shut it off. Any similar situations or thoughts would be appreciated.
Mitch

Not the first time a Commando puked lots of oil on itself and pilot and ground. Sounds like normal used up loose and worn and leaking conditon that causes C'dos to get set up for decades or some years going through by new owner. Its hard to keep the weeps sealed by factory spindle cover stack and there's a number of after market upgrade covers, some with an oil pressure tap but another place Racer Blue Hylomar or what ya got on hand to apply. There is full oil pressure supplied to the spindle area and over oiling head is only prevented by assembling spindles so the oil feed holes and shaft flats are opposite to mostly block each other. Best wishes on next memorable event.

htown16 said:

I feel something warm spraying on my right foot.

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You are lucky. It's generally quite hot.

htown16 said:

I didn't think that much went to the rockers.

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It really doesn't, but it is high pressure so if you get a leak, it will dump.

htown16 said:

Do I have a plug in the system somewhere or did the gasket on the spindle plate just decide to go?

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Maybe both, but you should check your PRV to see that plunger is working smooth and not catching. Also see if it is shimmed. Maybe it doesn't need to be if it is.

htown16 said:

Could bike have been wet sumping and sump was full?

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I don't think so. This situation show you had a good supply in the tank and more than likely returning just fine.


Check the PRV, check all the spindle covers for flatness and get a fresh set of gaskets. I give the gaskets a light coat of Permatex copper coat for good measure. I love that stuff.

Well, I think I found the culprit, a failed gasket.

Not sure what caused it to give up. Bike only has about 1500 miles from a complete rebuild. OPRV was cleaned and checked out at that time. Gasket was from an Andover set and installed dry. Used a thin smear of Hondabond this time. May be a week or two before I get it back on the road to test.

I can see that the other one is "buldging" out also... Factory gaskets are not usually that oversize... I'd check all the supply line gaskets and also the oil pressure to ensure it not too high... That gasket we see has been under tremendous force to split the way it has.. Not normal :shock: :shock:

I think I may have sussed the problem. The factory manual shows a torque value of 100 inch/lbs for the rocker spindle cover bolts which I'm pretty sure I used when I did the rebuild. When I put the new gaskets on and started to torque them down to that it seemed like they were really compressing but the wrench would never click. I could actually see a bulge start to form and then a crack start to form in the outer edge of the gasket. When I pulled it off it had cracks exactly like the one in the picture. So torque wrench back into the tool box, plenty of blue loctite on the bolts and then tightened by feel to just a little past snug. These are aftermarket stainless spindle covers. Looks like they may be flexing a little when tightening.

So torque wrench back into the tool box

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Ah so grasshopper, growing wisdom showing in a budding seasoned Norton-neer.