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[BUPKISS100]

Hi All

Bit of advice required please.

Bought my SERK about a month ago, just a week prior to doing 16 days round Europe. Certainly a learning curve from my Fatboy.

Anyhoo ...... on getting back and going to rally, got to hear about oil leaks/head gaskets .... primarily cos I'd got one ...... coming out of the back on to the chrome gear housing and out of the air filter.

I've got it booked into my local stealership to get it fixed under warranty .... my questions are:

Should I be getting them to check anything else?

Would oil out of air filter be down to a leaky head gasket?

It pops & farts on deceleration (which I don't mind) but is it supposed to?

It sometimes coughs, sputters and cuts out (usually at bloody junctions so I look a complete arse) like its got all choked up - is this something else, or again down to the head gaskets? Would really like to know whats causing this 

Can I expect any further damage if I use it prior to getting the head gaskets fixed (assuming I make sure there is plenty of oil in it) ? 

Crikey - is turned into an interrogation. Sorry folk ... but any help would be much appreciated! 

Cheers
Ruth

[DCFIREMANN]

It sounds like you purchased a problem child! All I can say is good luck!

How many miles are on the bike? It should not be puking oil from the air cleaner, a little oil OK but not a lot. You may have a ring seating problem, along with the head/base gasket issue. One last question. Have you been running the dawgs@#t out of her? Also do a pipe change and a sert while the bike is in getting fixed. It will help it run cooler and feel a lot better. It will also stop the popping on decel!

Be Safe

THE DAWG

[BIGDOG]

While my bike was getting new base and head gaskets I got to visit with the mechanic and he showed me a bike that was torn down. This was a bike with only a couple thousand miles on it but was passing oil around rings and was all carboned up. He told me one of the hardest things on the 110 is lugging them down. He said to keep the rpm's up and run it more to the aggressive side , they build cash pressure and nothing good comes from that if you lug them down. My bike has another 1000 miles since being repaired and so far all's well. I agree with the earleyer post have a SERT and dyno run done to eliminate the popping and coughing. just my 2cents worth.

[Gone Fishin']

Should I be getting them to check anything else?
-> The dealer should by now know what to check on the SERK. If you are not sure, inquire with the service manager.

Would oil out of air filter be down to a leaky head gasket?
-> No.

It pops & farts on deceleration (which I don't mind) but is it supposed to?
-> No. What gasoline are you using? Higher octane stuff usually works better with these bikes.

It sometimes coughs, sputters and cuts out (usually at bloody junctions so I look a complete arse) like its got all choked up - is this something else, or again down to the head gaskets? Would really like to know whats causing this 
-> Are you in too low revs and in a too high gear when this happens? These bikes, out of the box, do not run well under 2000 rpm. You need to make changes to your air filter, exhaust and use a Power Commander or SERT with professional tuning.

Can I expect any further damage if I use it prior to getting the head gaskets fixed (assuming I make sure there is plenty of oil in it) ? 
-> I do not think so. Some people on this forum have ridden the bikes for thousands of miles without issues, although the engine was leaking. It sounds you have already an appointment in the near future, so I think you need not worry.

Ride safely, it is a great bike, just needs some nurturing at the beginning.

Louis

[Dan_Lockwood]

While my bike was getting new base and head gaskets I got to visit with the mechanic and he showed me a bike that was torn down. This was a bike with only a couple thousand miles on it but was passing oil around rings and was all carboned up. He told me one of the hardest things on the 110 is lugging them down. He said to keep the rpm's up and run it more to the aggressive side , they build case pressure and nothing good comes from that if you lug them down. My bike has another 1000 miles since being repaired and so far all's well. I agree with the earleyer post have a SERT and dyno run done to eliminate the popping and coughing. just my 2cents worth.

(I'm assuming the word cash was supposed to be case, so I changed that in the quote.)

I'm a little confused on the comment that the mechanic made about case pressure. 

Case pressure should be the results of rpms and the internal breather configuration of that type of motor.  Unless the rings are completely shot and there tons of blow by, the way the motor is being asked to perform should have no affect on internal case pressure.

If I'm wrong on this point, I'd like to be corrected and understand why so I can learn and possibly prevent any down the road issues.  Like I've said in the past I tend to ride slower and on lots of secondary roads west, south west of the St. Louis area and there are lots of nice turns and some nice rolling hills.  In those cases I let the revs down just a bit and do not lug, but just run slower. 

I truly believe there is a difference between lugging and running low rpms.

Anyway, back to the case pressure.

So if anyone can shine the big light on this question, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

[BIGDOG]

I by no means am a mechanic but I took him to mean that when lugging the motor down it was causing oil to be forced past the rings and causing allot of problems.His recommendation was to keep RPM's up not ride the new bikes like we used to ride the old models where we would lope along . That sounds good but on the new engines it hard on them. He was also talking about the lack of skirt length on the 110 pistones and that may of had something to do with needing higher RPM's to stop piston slap. Just my take on what he was saying.

[Dan_Lockwood]

I by no means am a mechanic but I took him to mean that when lugging the motor down it was causing oil to be forced past the rings and causing allot of problems.His recommendation was to keep RPM's up not ride the new bikes like we used to ride the old models where we would lope along . That sounds good but on the new engines it hard on them. He was also talking about the lack of skirt length on the 110 pistones and that may of had something to do with needing higher RPM's to stop piston slap. Just my take on what he was saying.

This is a very good discussion. 

I saw the short piston skirt and from past experience I've only seen pistons like that used in racing applications.  I know the stroke has gone up and short of making the cylinder length go up an inch or so to allow more skirt length, we're probably stuck with what we have.

As far as blow by or crank case pressure, which would raise the cylinder pressure more?  It's the cylinder pressure that is the culprit.  So would full on throttle like getting onto the freeway when the bike can actually move and gain rpms, or giving a motor throttle without the ability to increase in rpms, lugging? 

Just thought I'd throw that out for discussion.

[BIGDOG]

This is a very good discussion. 

I saw the short piston skirt and from past experience I've only seen pistons like that used in racing applications.  I know the stroke has gone up and short of making the cylinder length go up an inch or so to allow more skirt length, we're probably stuck with what we have.

As far as blow by or crank case pressure, which would raise the cylinder pressure more?  It's the cylinder pressure that is the culprit.  So would full on throttle like getting onto the freeway when the bike can actually move and gain rpms, or giving a motor throttle without the ability to increase in rpms, lugging? 

Just thought I'd throw that out for discussion.

We are getting a little over my comfort zone but my thought would be that cylinder pressure always stays the same that is your compression numbers.They do not change regardless of RPM's you are compressing the same amount of air when valves are closed. I really do not understand the idea of case pressures and sure would like someone knowledgeable to jump right in . I am just trying to relay what I was shown and told.