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skydoc_17

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Everything posted by skydoc_17

  1. skydoc_17
    Hey Jim, Unfortunately, that 4.7L Dodge engine has had more that it's share of problems. If you have 126.5 thousand miles on it, you have done better than most. The big problem with this engine is that the intake manifold leaks allowing water into the oil. Now I am not saying that you have this problem but things that you should check are, Do you have to "top off" the over flow bottle with antifreeze regularly? Do you see steam coming from the exhaust pipes after start up? When you drain the oil, is it milky at all? The fact that you are seeing a collection of sludge in the valve cover, filler cap area is nothing more than a reflection of the mileage on the engine AS LONG AS you are not mixing coolant with the oil! The reason the other forum talked about the low mileage seizure of these engines is directly related to the intake manifold leakage. I have had really good luck changing the intake manifold gaskets on these motors BEFORE the leakage becomes so bad that it contaminates the engine oil to the extent it causes an engine seizure. As far as the Seafoam goes, you are Supposed to put the Seafoam in the engine, run it for a short period of time, then change the oil. You are NOT supposed to add the Seafoam, and leave it in the engine for the life of the oil change. I personally have NEVER had good luck changing from Dino oil to synthetic oil in a high mileage vehicle of ANY type! The problem I have seen is that weepage of the gaskets takes place and an engine that would otherwise be dry, becomes a "leaker". Some people have had NO problems, but alas, I am not one of them. Modern day Dino oil formulas do an excellent job of lubricating your engine and with regards to the sludge build up in the valve cover area of your engine goes, If you do not have the aforementioned intake manifold leak, then this is just a sign of a need for a valve job in the future. The "blow by" from the valve guides and valve seals is churning the oil that is pumped to the top of the engine to lubricate the valves and rockers. Not an ideal situation, but pretty normal for an engine with the miles on it that you have. Earl
  2. skydoc_17
    I can remember a time before the Interstate System was expanded that the major 2 and 4 lane roads used to have signs posted that stated "All Inoperative Vehicles Must Be Towed" , and actually saw a car towed in Philly with a flat tire. This was back in the late 60's and early 30's. As Craig mentioned. there have been a few times when the water level has dropped down so low in the area lakes that you could not wash your car in the larger cities, (like Philly) but in the area of PA. where I live, we fix our flats, wash our cars and even burn leaves and trash in a burn barrel! My brother lives in a small town 20 minutes away and EVERY automobile in that town is "Smog Exempt" because of the population. (lack of people) I would think that it has more to do with population and the condition of the Hi-way System as apposed to a blanket law for an entire state. I can remember living in North Carolina as a young lad (father's side of the family) and my uncle would pull all of his cars and tractor into the same part of a field and "pop" the drain plug on the oil pan for an oil change. You would be hard pressed to get away with that now a days, what with the EPA and all. Things have changed, that's for sure. Earl
  3. skydoc_17
    Hey Tom, Welcome to the VR.ORG site! Here is some general background information about your 07'RSTD clutch system so you can decide what parts need to be replaced. Unlike the earlier MKI Ventures, which use a "pac" of 6 compression springs, your RSTD (as well as EVERY other Second Gen. RSV and RSTD) uses a SINGLE Clutch Diaphragm Spring to activate the clutch. (see attached pic) Because of exposure to extreme heat and constant use, the "temper" (spring action) of the Clutch Diaphragm Spring starts to decrease (spring failure) LONG before the Clutch Friction Discs and the Steel Clutch Plates do. This is why it is very important to replace the Clutch Diaphragm Spring before the rest of the "perishable" clutch parts are damaged, and need to be replaced as well. PCW sells a Clutch Spring Kit, and I sell one myself. Here is a link to the Clutch Spring Upgrade Kit I offer in the Classifieds: http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=2905&title=second-genheavy-duty-clutch-spring26amp-3b-full-disc-upgrade-kit-21&cat=22 Weather you choose to use the PCW kit or the Kit I offer is not as important as replacing the defective Clutch Diaphragm Spring BEFORE it takes out the other clutch components! What would be an $80.00 repair will very shortly turn into a $300.00 repair with the replacement of the Clutch Friction Discs and the possible replacement of the Steel Clutch Plates as well as the Clutch Diaphragm Spring. The other issue I wanted to address is the replacement of the Clutch Basket in your RSTD. (see attached pic) In my opinion, there are only three reasons to replace the Clutch Basket in your bike, #1 would be if you can get the dealer to replace the basket under warranty! Any new, free part is a good part! The #2 reason would be if the bushing in the center of the clutch basket is excessively worn, and the Clutch Basket is "wobbling" on the Clutch Shaft. Usually this condition manifests itself as a rotational "knocking" or "clunking" sound down by the clutch cover, water pump area on the right side of the bike, usually at idle. The #3 reason would be if you have the dreaded "Clutch Basket Whine" that a lot of Second Gen. owners complain about. An example of this condition would be a "Hum", or "Whine" in the transmission when holding a constant speed. This noise is so pronounced that many owners have stated that they can not hear the radio, or the noise "drives them crazy", and takes the fun out of riding their Second Gen. bikes. So in conclusion, If the dealer is not going to replace the Clutch Basket for free, you don't hear the knocking of a wobbly clutch basket on the right side of the bike at Idle, and you can still hear your radio at highway speeds while cruising, then it is pretty safe to say that a replacement of the failing Clutch Diaphragm Spring with a new, heavy duty spring will pretty much take care of ALL of your Clutch related problems. If the Clutch Basket "ain't broke", then there isn't any reason to replace it, unless of course, they are "givin' them away" for free at your local Yamaha dealer. If you have questions about the Clutch Spring Kit or the install, please feel free to PM me. Earl
  4. skydoc_17
    Hey Tim, Far be it for me to suggest that a brand new 4 brush VMAX starter for $220.00 plus shipping would last a LONG time and give you a bunch of sure starts, BUT, if you brought your bike to the "little shop by the creek" I would suggest that you verify the condition of the brushes in your present two brush starter, (and replace them if they were close to gone) and do the "Dingy" starter brush plate Ground Mod instead. You would be spending less than half the money, and the results would be nearly the same. Sure starts for pretty much the rest of the life of your bike. Like I said, if you wanted to throw $220.00 plus at a new VMAX starter, by all means, be my guest, BUT for the cost of a good brush set from Yamaha, (don't even bother with the "junk" brushes from EBAY) and a few inches of copper wire, you can make your present starter just as dependable as the "fancy" four brush unit for a fraction of the cost. The other thing I wanted to mention is that not ALL of the VMAXes came with the four brush starter, so you would need to "shop wisely" when purchasing a used VMAX starter. Here is the link to the Starter Ground Upgrade Mod from Dingy: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46890 I hope you find this information useful, and good luck with this project which ever way you decide to go. Earl
  5. skydoc_17
    Hey Randy, Because of the type of material the shims are made of, the preferred method to reduce the thickness of one of the 25MM bucket shims would be to Surface Grind them. The shims would be attached to a grinding machine with a magnetic chuck, and the grinding wheel would pass over the shims removing very small amounts off of the shim at a time. Because of the precision nature of a grinding machine, the shop time runs in the neighborhood of a buck a minute! ($60.00 per hour) Anything less than $60.00 per hour would be a "deal". Normally, I would have access to surface grinding equipment at work, but because of my injury, I don't have access to that equipment. I have ground shims in the past for my own bike with success, but to give you a perspective on how close the tolerance is on the 25MM bucket shims offered by Yamaha, they already come in increments of 1/2 the thickness of a human hair. (.05MM) To "kiss" a shim with a surface grinding machine and reduce the thickness say .025MM, would be reducing the thickness by 1/4 the thickness of a human hair, which would be "precision machining" to say the least. Micarl's offer of shims for $7.34 a piece is more than reasonable, unless you just happen to have a multi-thousand dollar surface grinding machine setting around and a extremely steady hand. As always Randy, I like the way you think "outside the box", but in this case, the equipment needed and the skill level needed to operate this equipment makes the end result a bit "pricey". I posted this information as an FYI, and not to discourage you from following through with this project. Earl
  6. skydoc_17
    Hey Scott, because of the suggestions posted above, ECK rides ALONE a lot these days. And if you happen to have the pleasure to met ECK, a nicer person will be hard to find, BUT you will more than likely think that his father was a pickle because of all of the knots all about his head, delivered, I'm sure by the passenger of his trusty steed. A member on the site here, Rick Butler, does an excellent job of adding "memory foam" to the stock seats of the RSV and RSTD. You can find his ad in the Classifieds under "Member Vendor"s" Now I must admit that this mod is not nearly as exciting as an exhaust driven blow dryer, or a plug in for your wife's electric toothbrush, but the seat mod might keep you from starting your OWN collection of those nasty little knots all over your head like ECK. After all, we wouldn't want people to think that you and ECK share the same pickle for a father! The floorboard idea has merit as well. Earl
  7. skydoc_17
    Hey Sarge, Welcome to the VR.ORG site! Now, Lets talk about that battery. If you remove the false tank cover and put a volt meter on the battery, you are wanting to see 13.5 volts. If you don't then lets try to figure out what's going on. Is the battery a "wet cell" battery? (little yellow or red plugs across the top of the battery, with a "water line" on the side of the battery) Is this bike, "new to you"? Do you know how old the battery is? If you start the bike, then rev it above 2500 RPMs, does the amp gage needle move upward towards the high end of the scale? If it is a wet cell battery, when you look at the side of it, is the water level low? If it is, then use distilled water only, fill the cells by removing the yellow plugs and adding water to each cell, ONLY to the fill line on the side of the battery. DO NOT over fill. Right after you do that, charge the battery with a REAL (10 amp) battery charger, NOT a battery tender, for a day and do the voltage test again. If you would take the time to answer these questions, and try a few of the checks, we sould be able to tell if the battery is bad, or the stator is malfunctioning, or both. Great to have you with us, Earl
  8. skydoc_17
    Hey Pete, I had a good friend of mine come down from the great white north a few years ago, and no sooner did he get here than his fuel pump died on him! Of course, at the time, we had NO Idea what was wrong with his bike so we took it to the local dealer. Wouldn't you know it, they didn't have any Idea what was wrong with it as well, so we hauled that RSV to the "next big town over" and after about an hour, my good friend was riding away with a brand new fuel pump, and of all things, it was covered under warranty! You might know this VR.ORG member Pete, he lives up your way, he's a cute "Teddy Bear" looking gent, he loved my Barka-Lounger, and could eat his weight in Ribs. Sound like someone you know?!?! Anyway, I'm glad you got your buddy's bike fixed! Jean says. "Hey to the teddy bear man", Earl and Jean
  9. skydoc_17
    Hey Don, Those two sets of wires run down the inner side of the right handle bar. Feed them down towards the headlight. Now remove the Chrome windshield trim, the headlight bezel, then the headlight itself. Disconnect the wire plug to the Headlight and set the headlight in a safe place. When you get to this point, I have attached a pic, and the yellow arrow is pointing to a connector that will match up to the connector on the one set of wires. The red arrow is pointing to the area where the two bullet connectors should be. You may have to remove the two "half moon" clips that hold the wires bundled together. To do this, squeeze the half moon and the tangs will come out of the bulkhead. Be sure to run the wires thru the hole in the center of the bulkhead as shown in the pic. The bullet connectors will have a matching stripe on the one wire and a solid wire on the other. After, reinstall the clips, the headlight, and the body pieces and you are done! I hope this gets you in the right direction, Earl
  10. skydoc_17
    Hey Chris, If you are in the mood to tinker with your bike, a fresh set of plugs and a Carb. Sync. would be time and money better spent. Clean the air filters or replace the fuel filter. These are "Quality" projects that will be of more benifit than disconnecting something your bike should have OR hanging a bunch of tubing on ports that don't affect anything. If you are REALLY dieing to hang some tubing on that Carb. Set of yours, search in the Second Gen. Tech. Section for the write-up that V7GOOSE did on the setting of the Carb. Floats in the RSV/RSTD Carbs. That should pretty much wear you out and your bike will run better to boot. Earl
  11. skydoc_17
    Hey Ron, Obviously, without inspecting the car in person, this is a "guess" but it sounds like the wheel hub bearing is starting to go bad. (sing) If I am not mistaken, if you return it to Chevy, it will be covered under the 5 year "power Train" warranty. If not then the hub must be removed from the bottom of the strut and replaced. Most cars now a days, come with the hub and bearing as a unit. Should be in the $200.00 range for the hub assembly at an auto parts store. (NOT the dealer) You need to know if you have ABS or not. Hope this helps, Earl
  12. skydoc_17
    Hey Dan, I think Dingy and I are going to have to do an Intervention here, because we belong to that group: Friends Don't Let Friends Pull Start Their VR! (you ain't snorting that egg nog again....are ya'!?!?) Earl
  13. skydoc_17
    Hey Ray, I have attached an exploded view of one of the Carbs. from your bike. I know it is not an actual pic, but this should get you close. The yellow arrows mark the drain plug and drain tube. Sorry for the confusion, Earl
  14. skydoc_17
    First off, let me say, "Happy Thanksgiving" to all the VR.ORG members from Jean and I. Now, on with the story. Jean and I had the pleasure to go to my brother's house for Thanksgiving Dinner this year. We live in the "Valley" (400 ft. above sea level) and my brother, even though he lives only 20 minutes away, lives at 2800 feet. As we started up the mountain, the entire landscape turned into a winter wonder land, with Ice covering EVERYTHING as if this part of the world had been dipped in glass. Tree branches hung close to the ground loaded with ice and the scene was akin to "Venturing" to another planet. I have seen this "Ice Effect" many times over the years, but it never sises to amaze me. With the snow tires crunching away, and the wipers going full blast, we made it to my brother's house safe, and sound. We ate more food than I care to think about, and a good time was had by all. Now, the time came where my brother's wife had cut the ham bone from the remainder of the ham that was left and stepped to the back door, to throw it out side for my brother's dog, COOPER. Well, as that ham bone flew through the air, my brother, and myself, and Cooper shot towards the back door like we were shot from a cannon! I remember being mear inches from that tasty morsel before it had bounced off the ground, I looked back, and to my surprise, my brother had me by the belt, and Cooper, his trusty dog had my brother by the pant leg! Needless to say, the house erupted into a roar of laughter, and I stood there as the ham bone fell to earth, bounced off the icy landscape, and skidded to a stop a few feet from Cooper's dog house. I lost all interest in the ham bone once it had slid into the icy mess of the back yard, at which time, good old Cooper, trotted past my brother and myself, picked up the ham bone, and proceeded into his dog house, Proud that he had foiled this "snack" from two old men that had already eaten, "Way too much". After the laughter had died down back in the house, my brother and I "slunk" back into the house, with our heads hangin' low, mumbling something about, "That darn dog would have never beat US to that bone when we were in our prime, ea brother"! Well the loss was soon forgotten, with more helpings of pie and cake and coffee and laughter. So I share this story with you today my friends, to remind you that the love of friends and family is a blessing, you can NEVER have too much Pie, and lastly, "Every dog has his day", but as Arnie used to say, "I'll Be Back!" and that pesky dog will be tied up the next time that ham bone goes a flying! I hope you had as much fun as we did on this Day of Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving from Earl and Jean, and "The Little Shop By The Creek"!
  15. skydoc_17
    Hey Ray, I have attached a pic of a First Gen. Carb. to give you a general idea at what you are looking for. The Phillips Head Screw is the "drain Screw", the black tube is where the gas is going to come from when you turn the drain screw counter clock wise. There is no need to remove the drain screw, just unscrew a turn or two to get the gas to flow out. If you have the tank petcock on there will be an endless flow of fuel (until the tank is empty) With the petcock in the off position, you will only drain the Carb. Bowl. I would do all 4 Carbs. Because your bike sits on the side stand all the time, the two left Carbs. are usually the gunked up ones. This is not an unusual problem and indicates you are not riding the bike enough. (or so, that's what I tell Jean, "going for a Maint. ride honey") There is no need to overdue it with the Seafoam, a few ounces in a tank of gas for a few tanks of gas is better than a can of Seafoam in one tank of gas. Hope this helps, Earl
  16. skydoc_17
    Hey Gary, Jean, (wife) was looking over my shoulder this morning, and likes the lines and colors of your paint job. Being Color Blind myself, I have always enjoyed Gray as a color because much of what I see is in Gray-Scale. Jean did mention that some form of "Pin Stripping", on the front fairing would break up the endless pallet of Gray. I thought perhaps a few "ghost flames" on the front fairing might give the eyes something to focus on besides the endless pool of Gray. Overall, I think this paint job is very cutting edge, but to take it to the "next level" a few, well placed "brush strokes", would stay with the minimalist theme and transfer a bit of YOUR personality into the graphics design of this project. But as it is, JEAN would be happy to ride on this bike! Earl and Jean
  17. skydoc_17
    Hey Rick, This is a very good question, mainly because you would think a "big name" company like FRAM would sell a quality product! I first discovered the problem with the FRAM filters a number of years ago on my 1990 GMC S15 Jimmy with the 4.3L engine. Because this vehicle is a 4X4, there is no room for the standard oil filter location because of the front axle. General Motors ran a set of oil lines up to the left front fender to an adapter where a spin on filter is attached. I thought it was a great idea because I didn't have to lay on the ground to change the oil filter when doing an oil change! When I heard about the trouble with the FRAM filters, I added a oil pressure gage to the oil filter adapter on the left front fender of my truck to see for myself if the oil filter problem was hype or fact. I ran three FRAM filters in a row, (same thread, different lengths) and the best I could get was at a little over 1000 miles, the filter went to bypass, (which means the check valve ball dropped, blocking the oil from passing thru the filter medium, and returned to the engine unfiltered!) The shortest of the three filters went to bypass after only 450 miles! Since then, I have run the Puralator filters, and NEVER had one of those filters go to bypass in the 10 plus years I have been using them. When I cut the FRAM filters open for inspection, I found that there was such a small amount of filter medium inside of them that after a very short period of time, the filter medium gets clogged up and causes the bypass check valve to engage. You don't even realize it it has gone to bypass because the oil flows thru the filter, just NOT thru the filter medium! That made a believer out of me, to say the least! I wouldn't run a FRAM oil filter on my lawn mower it if used an oil filter much less my cars or trucks. Just an FYI, the STP oil filters are made by FRAM, so I won't use those filters as well. Now, to answer the question about oil use, I run the 20W50 Castrol GTX oil with the red cap because my 87'VR sees very high revs all the time, it is easy to get, (Wal-Mart, Advance Auto) it is a reasonable price, and it has provided excellent service to me over the years. Because I have been pretty deep into quite a few of the Yamaha V4 motors, you can pretty much tell how often oil has been changed and what oil has been used by the amount of "residue" that clings to the valve covers, and rotating parts. The worst engine I ever saw was on a diet of Quaker State oil. I am a Dino guy my self, but I must admit that if you start a motor on Sync. oil early enough, they look better on the inside and the rotating parts move with less friction, from what I have seen. A lot of the VMAX guys that come to the shop run the Sync. oil for obvious reasons, and I'm OK with that. I will install what ever oil you want in your bike, after all, it is YOUR bike I'm working on! The problem I have run into in the past is if you have a motor that has say, 50,000 miles on it and has been on a diet of Dino oil, and you change to Sync. oil, the Sync. oil tends to "weep" out of places that I didn't have leakage at before. I personally have never owned a "Brand New" motorcycle, so the times I tried to switch to the Sync. oil only caused me grief. I would say the key here is, on a newer bike, if you want to run the Sync. oil, put it in the bike right from the start, and keep using it. Some day, maybe I will own a "new" bike, not just a "new to me" bike and get to use the Sync. oil, but for now, I will stick with the Dino oil, change it regularly, and use a decent quality oil filter. My attitude about this subject is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Just my thoughts, Earl
  18. skydoc_17
    Hey Don, When you have a steel bolt in an Aluminum thread, all kinds of bad things can happen. First off, you need to remove the right side saddle bag to get a good shot at this area. I would try a little heat from a small propane torch or Mapp gas torch right on the head of the bolt for a minute or two. Then grab the bolt with vice grips, (keep in mind this bolt is going to be HOT!) and turn counter clock wise to loosen. If that doesn't work, or the old "smoke wrench" (torch) is not your thing, then take a center punch or a big nail and punch a dent in the center of the bolt head and with a hand drill and the biggest drill bit your drill motor will hold, drill the head of the bolt off! Be sure NOT to drill into the aluminum brake caliper! Remove the caliper by wiggling the caliper back and forth to spread the pads and rock it towards you off of the remainder of the caliper bolt. Now use those vice grips to remove the rest of the threaded portion of the bolt from the caliper bracket. Remember, you will be removing the caliper bracket when you pull the rear wheel off for the new tire, so take the caliper bracket and put it in a vice and work the bolt end out with the vice grips. Option #2 would be to remove the rear wheel, put the caliper and the caliper bracket in a box and send it to me where I will put it in my milling machine and extract the bolt, retap the threads in the caliper bracket, supply you with new caliper bolts and send it right back to you. Good luck with this project, and if you need help with that pesky bolt, please feel free to PM me. Earl
  19. skydoc_17
    Hey Gary, Because I move a LOT of bikes here at the shop, and most of them are First Gens., And the front fairing is problematic for attaching tie down straps, here is the method I use. I attach two RATCHETING tie down straps on the front crash bar tube pulling forward on both sides of the front of the bike. I do use the rear luggage crash bar for the rear but I connect the tie down with a nylon handle bar strap on the luggage crash bar where the down tube is welded to the crash bar tube, with the tie down straps heading rearward. I have attached a pic with the attachment points marked in yellow. The trailer I use has a front wheel trough that I can drive the front into, if you have a wooden floor in your trailer, get the wheel strait and nail a 2X4 on each side of it. You will notice that in the second pic, there are no tie downs on the handle bars or front forks. This bike traveled 500 miles with no damage. Works every time. The only time I ever had a First Gen. VR tip in a trailer was when the tie down RIPPED the cleat right out of the metal floor of the rental trailer I was using. Earl
  20. skydoc_17
    Hey Mike, Your first pic gives a whole new meaning to the word, "CAGER"! The third pic is just WRONG! Earl
  21. skydoc_17
    Hey Stephen, Unless the "Outer Sheath" of the speedo cable has been damaged, or looks really ugly, or the end of the broken cable is jammed it the speedo housing, you can feed the inner drive cable for the speedo up thru the sheath already attached to the back of the speedo by inserting the speedo drive cable down by the wheel until it reaches the back of the speedo drive. Once it is there, rotate the drive cable between your thumb and forfinger until it drops into the drive dog for the speedo. Insert the other end of the drive cable in the unit down next to the front wheel and attach the sheath. No need to remove anything then. If you do absolutely need to get to the back of the dash, then the dash has got to come out. As far as the relays go, I used Zip Ties to secure everything in the fairing. I got the black ones so they would not be visible, I also use them to hold the wiring harness to the frame in more places than stock. This cleaned up the electrical part of my bike nicely. Hope this helps, Earl
  22. skydoc_17
    Hey Gary, Having the two tone "Elegant/Birch" brown 87'VR myself with a tweak here and an adjustment there, I would have to agree with the WV gent, that the Brown VR's are the fastest. Although I must admit that I am very excited about your current project. There is so much untapped potential power in these V4 motors, it gives me "goosebumps" to see another VR.ORG member "boldly go where no man has gone before". Perhaps we can share some hi way or track time in the up coming year? My hat's off to ya', Gary. Earl
  23. skydoc_17
    Hey Walter, I am sure your Dream was a nice bike, but if you bored your RSV .125 per cylinder you would be thru the water jacket, and basically your engine would be a $16000.00 water pump! Just an FYI, Earl
  24. skydoc_17
    Hey Ryan, You didn't say where the sound is coming from, (general location) So this is just a guess, but if the sound is like a rotating, squeeling, rubbing noise, it could be that in the dash, the bushing for the speedo drive needs to be lubed. To check this, remove the windshield, disconnect the speedo cable from the back of the dash, unbolt the dash unit from the frame, (4 screws, 2 on each side of the dash unit) rock the dash unit towards the rear of the bike, (no need to take the unit entirely from the bike) I then use some 30 wt. motor oil and lube the area where the speedo cable goes into the dash unit. Don't go crazy with the oil, a few drops will do it. If you are old enough to remember 3in1 oil, that would work as well. (WD40 is too thin) While you are at it, disconnect the speedo cable from the front wheel, remove, clean and lube the speedo cable as well with the same oil. If you have questions, feel free to PM me. Earl
  25. skydoc_17
    Hey Rick, Because the rings on a piston have multible layers, even with a broken ring, I would expect to see the compression raise close to 100 PSI with the oil added. I said a valve problem because with a burnt valve or an obstruction keeping the valve from closing all the way (like a piece of a slider stuck in the valve, or a valve shimmed to tight) the valve is always open somewhat and not affected by the oil. An easy check would be to pump some compressed air into that cylinder and see where the air ends up going. Without a few tests, we are just guessing here. If the compressed air comes out the intake, it would be an intake valve stuck open, if it exits the exhaust, then you would have a burnt or stuck exhaust valve. If you hear the air coming from the oil fill port, then the rings are leaking. Without an answer to this question, everything we suggest is speculation. You could very well be right, but as you well know, tearing down one of these motors is VERY costly for ring replacement and is at the upper end of mechanical knowledge. The gasket set alone is in the $300.00 range plus a ring set and valve job. Plus if I was going to replace the rings on one piston, I would be tempted to replace the rings on all 4 cylinders. But that's just me. The point I was trying to make is a used motor is most times a better financial solution with a lot less down time, no matter where he gets the motor from. Out of the 50 or so motors I have gotten into this deep, I have seen broken rings twice. I have seen valve related problems 30 or more times. Because I have not personally inspected this motorcycle and run a series of tests to try to pinpoint the problem, I am only offering up a history of motors I have worked on. Earl
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