old 1988 bike, using lots of oil
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:24 am
Hi,
I own a 1988 KLR which has done about 111 000km (little under 69
000miles) and it smokes quite a lot and leaks a fair bit of oil.
Currently I am on uni holidays so had planned to take it apart to fix
things and mostly learn. However it is pretty worn (and wasn't much
better when I bought it that way as it was cheap and I was desperate
for a bike after my prior one was stolen).
The rear suspension needle bearings were stuffed so ordered them and
it was relatively expensive for just the bearings so am worried that
fixing the bike up properly will be an expensive exercise (which being
a student isn't a good thing).
It was/is using a lot of oil so I had been doing much filling but have
finally removed the counter shaft seal and will also replace that
(which I knew was leaking but too lazy/busy to get around to fixing).
I do know it burns its fair share though anyway so doubt that the
seal will fix all. Had a look through the exhaust port (not sure
exactly what called but where header meets engine) and it is very very
black in there. I haven't removed the sparkplug as I am yet to
properly clean around the hold.
It burns oil both on hard acceleration (leaving a very impressive
smokescreen from the lights sometimes) and also sometimes when
starting which I think means both valve seals could be bad and
piston/cylinder leaking but I am not sure. It does start very easily
though.
I am guessing it is slightly more likely that the piston/cylinder is
the main leaking and if this requires fixing is is often possible to
get away with just rings and a piston without having to machine the
cylinder and using fairly standard tools? Also, can all of that be
done without removing the engine from the frame as there is also a
problem removing the engine.
The problem is that the bolt through the swingarm/engine (not the one
through engine and linkage which I managed to free) is very much stuck
fast (Have been WD40ing it fairly frequently and it has been soaking
for a few days). The swingarm still seems to swing freely and I can
rotate the bolt with a bit of force but even using a hammer to remove
doesn't seem to work. I do have a spare bolt from a spare 1/2 bike so
would somehow cutting the bolt be a viable option?
Sorry for the massive bunch of questions but the bike is fairly ratty
and I am too cheap/poor to take to a mechanic.
Basically is it worth trying to fix everything in it or just do enough
touch ups/oil fills to keep it going until I can afford a newer bike
or this one dies?