[foo_dog]

Finally back in the garage tinkering after a long hiatus. Really aiming to get this bike on the road now that spring is almost upon us...

To recap - bike sat in a garage for years mostly unused, I think. I picked it up late last year and trailered it home. Previous owner was a very occasional rider. Overall in good shape for a 2002 model, 11K miles.

Just changed out the oil and coolant. I'm not good at seeing colors so wanted to get your guys' opinions on this. (And apologies in advance for the picture quality, my old motorcycle damaged the autofocus on my camera with all the shaking.)

Do you see any green in the oil? Before draining the old oil I tossed a shot of SeaFoam in the crankcase and ran the motor for a few minutes. Oil was a little frothy when immediately drained but settled down into a mostly solid color, can't really tell if mocha or green. Coolant was slightly dark but looked okay, didn't see any specs or bubbles of oil or rust or anything.

Worst case scenario if there is indeed coolant in the oil - blown head gasket? I'm guessing both cylinders have coolant passages so could be either? Is this something you can live with, just more frequent oil changes? I'm not keen to drop the motor for a bike that I haven't yet even gotten to ride.

Also a big thank you to CFG - all of this was made possible following along to your great videos.

Old Oil:

Old Coolant:

 

[Spockster]

Finally back in the garage tinkering after a long hiatus. Really aiming to get this bike on the road now that spring is almost upon us...

To recap - bike sat in a garage for years mostly unused, I think. I picked it up late last year and trailered it home. Previous owner was a very occasional rider. Overall in good shape for a 2002 model, 11K miles.

Just changed out the oil and coolant. I'm not good at seeing colors so wanted to get your guys' opinions on this. (And apologies in advance for the picture quality, my old motorcycle damaged the autofocus on my camera with all the shaking.)

Do you see any green in the oil? Before draining the old oil I tossed a shot of SeaFoam in the crankcase and ran the motor for a few minutes. Oil was a little frothy when immediately drained but settled down into a mostly solid color, can't really tell if mocha or green. Coolant was slightly dark but looked okay, didn't see any specs or bubbles of oil or rust or anything.

Worst case scenario if there is indeed coolant in the oil - blown head gasket? I'm guessing both cylinders have coolant passages so could be either? Is this something you can live with, just more frequent oil changes? I'm not keen to drop the motor for a bike that I haven't yet even gotten to ride.

Also a big thank you to CFG - all of this was made possible following along to your great videos.

Old Oil:
View attachment 55926

Old Coolant:
View attachment 55927

I don't think either looks bad, but the oil pic isn't very clear.

The froth is most likely normal because of "air entrainment" that happens in this engine. After just a couple minutes running the oil will look like there's a blown head gasket with coolant in the oil. Pretty much looking like a chocolate milk shake, but it's just air. It goes away after the engine gets up to normal temperature.

The froth could also be from the Seafoam. I like to run 200 miles with Seafoam before changing oil. It needs time to work.

At this point I think it looks ok.

You'll see the oil entrainment if you check for it, it's just a phenomenon that happens with this particular engine. Only one I've noticed doing it.

 

[dirtrack650]

Looks ok, especially for a bike that's been sitting.

This is bad oil: Came outta my 83 gold wing project today. Thick, milky, glistening with metal 😞

 

[O' Darkness]

Looks ok, especially for a bike that's been sitting.

This is bad oil: Came outta my 83 gold wing project today. Thick, milky, glistening with metal 😞
View attachment 55934

A car mechanic once told me to put big speaker magnets (or any other powerful magnets) on my car's oil filter. He said it would capture metal particles. I've been doing it ever since (20+ years) because he was absolutely right.

Have you ever tried this on a motorcycle, or know someone who has? I meant to ask about this a long time ago and forgot all about it until this post of yours.

 

[dirtrack650]

I've used magnetic oil drain plugs, never magnets. You could at one time buy magnets that wrapped around the oil filter.

 

[O' Darkness]

I've used magnetic oil drain plugs, never magnets. You could at one time buy magnets that wrapped around the oil filter.

Okay, but what do you think of actually doing that with our bikes? No harm in it, is there?

 

[foo_dog]

Spockster - thank you as always for your prompt and informative reply. Its reassuring to hear. I can go back into the garage today with a clear conscience.

And thank you DirtTrack for the picture of that old oil. As I recall mine looked about the same, I wish now I had used a better camera to document everything. I've also had my eye on some Craigslist Goldwings. There always seems to be one around $1000 in fairly good shape. And the VW carb conversion looks like it'd be a fun project.

O'Darkness - I used one of these goldplugs in my truck: Gold Plug LLC - Magnetic Drain Plugs They seem to work well enough. Also used one on an old 125CC motorcycle I had, it really did build up little shavings especially on the break-in period. So I think the $20 or so for the plug is well worth it for the piece of mind.

These goldplugs though are regular bolts with a magnet on them. For the VN750 its an odd drain plug on the left side of the bike, with a spring and a mesh behind it. I think we'd need to DIY something. Maybe superglue a strong magnet somehow inside the drain plug? Would it be safe to just have it jammed/floating in the filter instead?

 

[Spockster]

You're welcome foo dog.

They used to sell a sort of strap with magnets that wrapped around the filter, probably saw them in JC Whitney.

Most shavings in this engine tend to be aluminum, copper, brass, rubber, and clutch material.

 

[dirtrack650]

Our oil filters are magnetic right? HF sells some really strong magnets for .99¢. Stick one to the filter.

 

[Spockster]

Our oil filters are magnetic right? HF sells some really strong magnets for .99¢. Stick one to the filter.

Yep, I stripped a bunch out of some old hard drives, using them to hold tools on my toolbox... Air chuck, tire gauge, whatever.

Temu has tons of all shapes, cheap cheep.

 

[OleDirtyDoc]

A magnet only picks up magnetic metal, and as Spockster said, there really isn't anything magnetic in these engines