The new motor -oil test final stage (2018)

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APRRSV said:
Jim,
You used Bel-Ray EXP 20W50 for break-in and you were going to use the same after break-in or a different Bel-Ray?

Ed
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The plan was to use Bel Ray EXP 20W50 for this weeks trip and then change to Klotz 25W60 next spring before the hot weather, but since my order of Bel Ray got delayed I went ahead and changed to the Klotz for this weeks trip.
 
I got back in town on Monday evening. Right at 2100 miles on the new motor. It runs very strong.

I found one problem after I got home. I had installed a fitting on a valve cover and ran a hose to the area left of the battery. The vacuum from the reed breather pulled in fresh air through an orifice with a small filter. We rode about 800 miles in the rain and obviously water was pulled in through this hose as there was water in the bottom of my oil tank.

The water in the oil had caused serious oil oxidation and it had gained 30% in viscosity and a oil test showed a significant loss in pressure capacity.

It did not seem to cause any harm as the magnets in the sump and oil tank are clean and the filter shows very few particles. The valve clearances did not change and the compression feels good. I will follow up with a compression and leakdown tests this weekend.

Of course the extra viscosity made the motor tough to kick through on the cool mornings and I had to replace the kickstart pawl at the rally after it gave me a good kickback. I carry a pawl in my luggage so it was not a big problem.

Now after all the rain and snow the bike needs lots of cleaning....inside and out...but it was a good trip.

I will be refilling with Bel Ray v-twin synthetic at least for the winter.

And when I get the TTI installed that should eliminate any future kicker pawl problems.
 
Jim,
Thanks for the follow up. Happy to hear everything looks good and went well.
Pete
 
I found it hard to believe that I picked up so much oil riding in the rain. The hose from my valve cover was pretty well tucked in behind the side cover and pointed down and I ended up draining about 1/2 cup of clear water from the oil tank.

After cleaning out my engine and oil system I pressure checked the cases and found the real culprit.
The cases had been patched, likely because of a machining error. The tube had been installed with some type of green locktite to repair the problem. It did not seal so water was being drawn in from the front of the engine. I removed the tube and installed a plug in the case to cure the problem.
Now I just hope all the water does not lead to engine problems in the future.

The new motor -oil test final stage (2018)
 
Good spot Jim. Most of us would never have gotten to the route cause of that me thinks!
Not what one expects from ‘top drawer’ parts either really...
 
The motor sounds intact and the compression is normal but the leakdown is higher than I would like. I will put some more miles on it -without water -and check it again.
 
Damn that stinks. I sure those cases weren’t cheap, and the crazy part is you didn’t even need that opening for you ignition wires. Hope there is no long term effects.
Pete
 
Looks/sounds like the idle is set near 12-1300. Is that where you like it?
 
Mr. Rick said:
Looks/sounds like the idle is set near 12-1300. Is that where you like it?
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The idle is controlled by the ECM. The minimum idle is 1100 rpm when everything is hot.
I do not like to let a Norton motor run below 1100 at idle because the cam can get scuffed easily if the idle is too slow.
 
comnoz said:
The idle is controlled by the ECM. The minimum idle is 1100 rpm when everything is hot.
I do not like to let a Norton motor run below 1100 at idle because the cam can get scuffed easily if the idle is too slow.
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sounds like bad news, or very risky running otherwise
 
Motor sounds nice Jim, been awhile since I have spent much time on the forum. Just saw this tonight, what a great build. Do ya have any shots of the cam bearings? One for end float? Awesome work, Chuck.
 
I love your engine, Jim. I have always thought a low idle was cool but I can change my mind now. I'm running zero gap 2nd rings in my motor and it makes your reed valve breather hardly make a noise when I shut it off. It used to whistle each time but now it barely makes a noise. I also have to stand pretty hard on the kick starter to get it to move before I kick it over. I really like those zero gap 2nd rings.
 
The fashion in the old bike world here where I live is to show off your mechanical set up skills by running the slowest, steam engine style, tick over you can get.

The guys like to start them up, then leaving them plodding on minimal idles for ages while they kit up and show off their idles!

It’s a nonesense IMHO and they are probably giving cams etc a really hard time, and unnecessarily short life!
 
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If it idles really nice and slow on first start up odds are it is too rich. So not only is cam at risk but gas washing cylinder walls.
 
Fast Eddie said:
The fashion in the old bike world here where I live is to show off your mechanical set up skills by running the slowest, steam engine style, tick over you can get.

The guys like to start them up, then leaving them plodding on minimal idles for ages while they kit up and show off their idles!

It’s a nonesense IMHO and they are probably giving cams etc a really hard time, and unnecessarily short life!
Click to expand...
Yep I've seen a fair bit of that "idle" talk aswell
It's really not good for our type of engine to idle like that
 
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