Need some help

[LordNykon]

So the bike would not start unless push started, and the starter sounded like a pissed off RC car when I pressed the start button and I was leaking oil for the top end.

So i took apart the bike, the starter nuts had backed themselves off (previous owner mod I am guessing) so I torqued those back down no big deal, and verified that the grounds were tight (the one on the front 8mm? was super loose). I then pulled the breather hose and bell housing looking thing off the top of the crank case breather (new version reed valve)  I then broke (somewhat intentionally) the reed valve thick retainer and slide the valve out of the way. I was able to wiggle The old crack case breather out with a screw driver mm by mm. The gasket between the reed valve and the bell housing thing is shot. I called BMW and it will be Tuesday before I can get one in and I have a ride planned for this weekend to Petit le Man (~200 miles round trip).

Ideally I plan on putting the bike mostly back together on lunch today and maybe test riding it back to work.

 I also noticed that the internal casting on the BMW is not very pretty the its amazing how far aluminum casting has come lol.


Question:
What can I use for a temporary gasket fix. It seems super common ~ 1 inch diameter parallel holes? Old Part Number 11 51 1 252 733 (anyone have a STL file for the gasket i can laser cut one)

Thanks for the help!

[Barry]

It's hardly a critical gasket in the sense that if it leaks it will just make a mess. The breather valve itself is not always a perfect seal which is no different from the gasket have a slight leak. It never sees more than a little over atmospheric pressure or partial vac so if you can make a temporary gasket and it seals Ok it should be fine.

[georgesgiralt]

I would use a tube cut to size. It will operate as the reed valve but less supple and of course without spring effect... But can keep you feet dry 'til Tuesday ;-)

[LordNykon]

Oh I had the reed value just not the gasket for the stupid housing that sits on top of it.

Good News the start works perfectly. Bad news I cant get the bike to turn over, I am going to start testing for spark again tonight I can see fuel in the line it sounds like the engine is turning over just not firing.

Everything looks put together correctly I have a few washers left over but nothing important.

I made the mistake of leaving the bike on the kick stand instead of the center stand, could i have flooded something? Any input would be great!

[nhmaf]

Pull your sparkplugs and check for accumulated fuel in the cylinders if you think you may have flooded it.

IF you didn't turn OFF your petcock (or if the petcock is broken and doesn't turn off) AND your float needle wasn't able to keep the gas out (or the floats didn't rise up to shutoff the needle as can sometimes happen if the float lever bars have some stiction from sideways pressure)... THEN you may have flooded your engine with gasoline, which can be a Bad Thing.
It can become an EVEN WORSE Thing, if you do try to start the engine and it fires with the piston hydrolocked, or if you run the engine with the oil seriously diluted with gasoline.

Just check the dipstick to see the oil level is where you left it/where it should be - if it is much higher, and/or you have a strong odor of gasoline from the crankcase - rectify that immediately before trying anything else.

[Luca]

It is perfectly fine to leave the bike on the kickstand instead of the center stand.

Checking for spark is a good idea.  If you don't have any, start looking at the connections under the tank since you were fiddling around there with the starter and breather.

There is a small brass standpipe in the carburetor bowl that should let fuel out if the level gets too high.  When people talk about a puddle of gasoline under the bike or a carb leaking on their foot, the fuel is coming from this pipe.  It is a small hole though, so you should make sure it is clear.

I'm wondering if your breather could be part of the problem too?  Kind of a long shot, but if it isn't breathing it could theoretically put more strain on the starter motor.  You could test the idea by trying to turn the bike over with the dipstick out... once you've made sure the engine isn't flooded.

[LordNykon]

So bike, was not flooded, I saw two minute droplets of something on the right plug (when straddling the bike), I am going to buy a spark plug tester in today just a good tool to have.

I would totally buy starter strain I got small wafts of smoke which kinda worried me after a particularly unforgiving desperation press (wont do that again) I hope I can chalk that up to finger prints and dampness (just rained) Ill try it with the dip stick out.  

The bike started to sound like it was getting there to turn in over a few (2-3) one fire grumbles before I gave up due to small wafts off smoke from the starter compartment.

Ill check under the tank at the connections I was messing with the fuses Ill make sure they are all seated. I am fairly certain I am getting fuel I have a secondary inline filter with window from the petcock

[Bob_Roller]

Do you have an igntion coil that is black and grey in color

When you have the fuel tank off, look at the coil to check for cracks in the body of the coil .

If you know how to check the primary and secondary coil circuits for proper resistance, do it now .

Primary should be around 1.5 ohms the secondary around 11-13K ohms .

[nhmaf]

IF you are getting wisp of smoke in the starter area, it is possible that you've got a bad wire connection, or possibly a shorted wire in there.   Other possible starter-issues include a binded-up nose gear (the "nose with the gear assembly that puts the starter power onto the flywheel's ring gear can bind up from lack of lubrication (or old, hardened grease) that will slow down or stall the motor.   Also, though less likely, is you might have a magnet falling out inside the starter, which will bind/lock up the rotor in the starter motor.   This has been known to happen on some of the Valeo starters in the early 80s.

If it is turning over more slowly than normal, or not at all, and emitting smoke from under that starter area - these could be signs.

[Luca]

Do those missing washers belong to electrical connections?  Best to keep all associated parts on their fasteners in the future.

Make sure the connections are clean and tight for the starter.  Another issue you could be facing is that the starter needs lubrication.  Now that it is properly fixed to the engine, it has to do more work.

The bike would pop-start before.  Try popping it again.  If that works, it will help you narrow the problem down to the starter

[LordNykon]

Ok bike is starting fine/better now, I will lubricated the starter as suggested I think that maybe an issue. The "bean can" which had been replaced by an aftermarket unit was not properly aligned and affixed so as soon as I realized that the bike was alot happier!

New issue:
I replaced the valve cover gaskets following a valve adjustment a week prior to looking into the starter issue (as it had not existed at the time) everything was working great prior to the starter issue.

Well I replaced the crank case breather valve and No longer have oil leaks under the center of the bike!

Unfortunately, now an oil leak is sprouting up from the left valve cover gasket. I have removed the gasket and it is intact and clear of debris  but after any highway time or decent revs over 10-15 minutes oil starts to bubble up in the center of the cover and gives me a nice wet boot. I have everything torqued down properly to the best of my knowledge (I don't want to strip anything) and I did all the torque downs cold... any ideas?

I know the emissions crap that is still on the bike is known to damage things...(62K) I want to replace the damage parts if i can, if I cant I will probably end up taking it to Blue Moon Cycles for some internal work I just want to do as much myself as possible.

Thank you guys!

[Luca]

The valve covers can warp.  You can check for warpage by placing them on plate glass or another very flat surface... but if your old ones weren't leaking then I suspect the new ones are fine... unless somebody had previously installed the super-squishy silicone gaskets.

When I replaced my valve cover gaskets I still had a leak.  Gave them a little extra grunt and the leak went away.  I too was paranoid about stripping things, but the studs on the valve covers are steel and there is a washer under the nut to keep the cylinder head from getting chewed up on the backside.  Keep in mind that small wrenches usually (and purposefully) give you less of a torque advantage on the fastener.

P.S.  Removing the emissions stuff shouldn't be troublesome.  You can help yourself by soaking the fasteners at the cylinder head in penetrating oil prior to doing the job.  Doing so on a hot engine will help suck the penetrant into the threads.