Oil leak from Tach Cable in 550 maxim?..and other questions.

I just bought this bike on Monday, it is my first motorcycle...just wanted something to play with and get me to and from school. Since I've never ridden a street bike before, I had the guy I bought it from start it and ride it down the street and go through the gears. Besides a very hard start (dead battery, had to use starter spray) everything worked fine, so I bought it. Since it had the dead battery, it didn't start between then and this morning, when I went in (its in my storage unit, which doubles as my garage) and did some random stuff to get her going.
The oil and air filter had recently been changed, but the air filter is some off brand foam filter, so I'll be ordering a stockish one soon. I pulled the plugs and replaced them. They were very much fouled. Chain and tires were okay, brakes worked well. Pulled the seat off to get to the battery, and there is no top to the fuse box, and the main fuse has broken out, so the PO put an inline fuse holder in. I'll need to replace that, as the inline fuse holder shorts at random times.
So while i was doing this, i had a charger on the battery, and after i connected everything, she started up like a dream. It leaves me with a couple questions though....

1. the "choke" of enrichment, makes the idle run at about 3k rpms when warm. This makes sense, right, because the engine needs more gas when cool to vaporize..... when its off, the idle is right between 1300 and 1500 rpms, which should be about right. I think this is alright, I'm just making sure.

2. I was worried about the chain, because on the centerstand I put it into 1st to start running it through the gears, and the chain seemed kind of wobbly. Is this because the sprockets are closer together when on the center stand? When the bike is off the stand there is about an inch of play either way in the chain. Is this about right? While cruising around, everything seems fine.

3. When the clutch is disengaged, it rattles. It works fine, so I'm wondering if this is normal. Its not hard-core, just a little bit of rattle noise.

4. So I got it all checked out and running, and I took her on her maiden voyage. This was my first time ever riding a street bike, but I just wanted to operate it at normal RPMs so I could check out the plugs.....so I rode it around and got used to the controls for about 15 minutes, and came back to my storage "garage". No leaks really... I had failed to completely close the gas cap, so some gas dripped down the side of the tank. After that, i put it up on the centerstand to look around for leaks. It seems like the Tach cable is leaking where it enters the engine. Is this just a worn o-ring? The valve cover gaskets are dry, and all other parts of the engine are dry...just this spot. There was even a driplet of oil on the cable..... Is this s normal spot for a leak. Its a pretty inconsequential amount of oil....but I would like to fix it.


this is turning into a novel...i'll finish up soon...

5. When I turn the ignition key, the neutral light comes on if its in neutral...the blinker light turns on if the blinkers are engaged, and the high beam light comes on if that is engaged....but no oil light. If the engine cranks without starting, the light will flash (i flooded the carbs at one point) but it doesn't come on, then turn off once the engine starts....it is just off until it activates.... is this normal for this bike? If not, what could cause this. from the turning over it seems like its doing its job, but isn't it supposed to come on when I turn the key.....?

besides that, someone had used a battery drainage tube for the petcock vacuum port, which after the short ride was early caved in....i'll have to fix that before a longer ride.....


Sorry, i'm kinda a newb at this... i'm pretty comfortable around small engines, but not motorcycles. She runs like a dream though, and after reading a bunch of posts i was concerned about the carbs, but they seem to be in fine shape. The bike revs quick, and has a really wide powerband.

thanks in advance for any help


kellen

 

Re: Oil leak from Tach Cable in 550 maxim?..and other questi

one more question....

where is the oil view port thingy? I looked all over for it. Its a YICS engine if that helps.

thanks

 

The Idle is a little high. Closer to 1,000 would be better.

A wobbly chain needs to be dealt with ASAP!
First you need to look at the Tension marks on the Rear Axle. If they are beyond the 1/2 Way mark you will need to start thinking about a new chain at sometime in the future.

In the mean time ... you need to check-in with the 550 Crowd and find-out how much slack the chain is supposes to get. A flapping around chain is no good and you risk damaging your bike and hurting yourself if it gets thrown.

There was a Thread ... not too long ago ... on dealing with the Tack Cable Drip. Maybe one of the 550 Guy's will remember it and guide you to the "Fix" to permanently stop that leak.

If you can pull-out the Drive and remove the ring ... you can find a replacement for that one in a well-stocked Hardware Store with an O-ring assortment.

O-rings are cheap at the Hardware Store. You can match the size or try one slightly larger to make a better seal.

Deal with the Chain, first.
Determine if its the Chain or you have worn-down sprockets.
Whatever it is, you need to get to the bottom of that issue before you deal with drips and tuning.

We'll get you straightened-out.
In the mean time ... if you can ... report back with where the Marker is on the Rear Axle and take a picture of the Sprocket teeth so we can see what the story really is.

Good luck with your first bike.
I can't imagine how excited you must be!

That bike has Mikuni Carbs. They are a pleasure to tune. You may want to do some "Fine Tuning" to get the Idle and Mixture's right and get the Plugs to where they aren't so dark.

Get a NEW Battery.
Put some real vacuum line on the Petcock Pick-up.

 

Re: Oil leak from Tach Cable in 550 maxim?..and other questi

already installed new battery, vacuum line next time i'm near a parts store. as far as the tach cable goes, it comes out, so i guess i'll just measure and go to the hardware store. i'm going out to my storage space in about an hour, so i'll take a picture of the sprocket.

 

Re: Oil leak from Tach Cable in 550 maxim?..and other questi

ok.... I'm not sure what this stuff means, so please help....





i don't know if that adjuster is backed all the way off, or all the way in. i have a sinking feeling that it might be all the way in... thanks for the help..


kellen

 

The Sprocket looks like it has had a good deal of the fun used up.

The Chain looks too dry. You need to get some Chain Lube on it.

You have room to go on the Chain Tensioner. I'd get a Manual and read how and what to do to move the Axle back a bit to tighten the Chain. There is a Specification for how much Slack you leave by measuring the "Lift" in the Chain.

The other photo is your Rear Brake Pad Thickness Indicator. When you apply the Brake ... the Pointer will show you the condition of the wear on your Rear Brakes.

As the Pointer moves to the Left ... it indicates the Brake Shoes thickness and when to Reline the Brakes.

 

Re: Oil leak from Tach Cable in 550 maxim?..and other questi

sweet thanks for the info. my clymer manual should be here tomorrow. Yeah, the sprockets looked a little rounded, but i didn't notice anything hooked. I'm gonna do some major work on the bike once it starts snowing here, which should be a couple months, including changing the chain and sprockets, pulling and cleaning out the carbs, changing tires, fuse box, etc. The brakes are in good condition, and everything is working pleasantly well besides that chain and the absence of an oil light when the bike is first turned on...

one question about the chain. i was reading somewhere that while adjusting the rear axle to tighten the chain, its possible to maladjust so that it makes the tire skewed. I'm thinking this might be a reason for the chain looking a little wobbly. on the two test rides i've taken, i haven't really felt ill effects, but then again, i'm not an experienced rider at all. is there a way to check for maladjustment? i'll probably adjust the chain tomorrow, and see if the problem fixes itself..... then i'll lube and go.

thanks for all the help thus far...hopefully i don't get annoying with stupid questions.

 

Yes. It's possible.

That's why you should rotate the Rear Wheel in the Forward direction and "Sight" down the length of the Chain while you are making the final adjustments to the tension and the Rear Axle.

You can actually see the small variations by the way the sprocket is riding inside the Chain Links as the Wheel is rotated and the Chain plays off the top of the Sprocket.

 

1) The Idle for the 550 should be 1200rpms as per the manual.

2) If I remember correctly, the clymer's manual says something like 1 1/2" of play is acceptable. But double check that. The chain shouldn't be "wobbly"

3) Are you sure it is the clutch rattling? In neutral, there is a little noise in the engine/gearbox on every 550 I have heard run. As long as it isn't something excessive or sounding like metal on metal contact I wouldn't worry about it.

4) I too have been plagued in the past by the tach drive oil leak. It is a very common leak. I have tried many different things, and the most successful has been getting a new o-ring and a new seal from the dealership and putting them in. Remove the drive unit from the bike (beware a small amount of oil will drain out the hole, so have a catch pan ready). replace the o-ring on the housing that seals it to the block. That might be leaking. The most prevalent leak is through the center where the drive gear shaft goes through. If you remove the threaded sleeve (that which the tach cable screws onto), you will see a seal in there. Pull out the drive gear. Now you have just the housing left with the seal in it. Pop out that seal and clean up the housing as well as possible. Then replace the seal and o-ring. Reassemble and reinstall.

5) Normal operation of the lights is as follows. With key in ON position neutral light, high beam light and turn signal light will be ON if they are indeed turned on (i.e. if bike is in neutral, headlight is on high, and turn signal activated). Oil light will not be on. When cranking, the oil light will flicker...this is a normal circuit test. It should immediately turn off once the bike starts.

END of Novel response. Post back if you have any other 550 related questions. I have dealt with a lot of the issues on mine.

 

Re: Oil leak from Tach Cable in 550 maxim?..and other questi

sweet, i'll check out the chain, then I should be golden. thanks for the help..

kellen

 

what does it mean if the neutral light stays on all the time? It gets brighter when i'm in neutral but it always stays on.

 

neutral safety switch could be stuck and may need to be replaced. But check the wire to make sure it isn't grounded somewhere in it's routing.

 

Going to add that it's cheaper to replace the chain and sprockets than it is to replace the engine cases when the chain breaks. Usually when the chain breaks on the 550's they have a bad habit of getting launched into the starter which breaks off from the mounting bolts on the sprocket cover. Which also breaks off the top of the area in which the starter seals into the case. Yup done that too

 

It most likely means that the wire on the neutral switch inside the case cover is grounded.

I had the exact same issue on my bike. Dirt and chain lube coming off the front sprocket were causing the wire to ground. I re-insulated the wire with shrink tubing and the problem is gone.