I just got my 686 back together with a stage II hotcam, 11:1 JE piston, carillo rod, bigger valves, port, polish etc. I have gone on two rides since getting it back together and I have found the bike gets hot every once and a while. After the first ride, I retorqued the head bolts and found one bolt to be loose. I also replaced the coolant with engine ice. I don't know what else to do. My bike is a 2003 model. Before my second ride, I also had to add about 1/2 quart of oil to the resevoir. I just checked the reservoir again and the oil is again low. What is going on? I have hotwired the fan direct to the battery and that has helped some, but I don't think it should get that hot. I am running straight 100 octane view with 27.5 pilots, 175/180 mains at sea level. Do I need to reduce my octane? Could that be it? What about the oil consumption? Any help would greatly be appreciated.

 

Is it smoking? When?
Have you cleaned the oil screen in the tank recently?
Are you sure its using oil? Did you warm it up before you checked it?

You might be just a tad lean, just guessing. What kind of air filter set up do you have?
By saying its getting hot, do you mean the light comes on, or that it just feels more hot than normal?

 

My buddy just informed me that it would spit out a puff of white smoke every now and again when I got on it. I cleaned the oil screen in the reservoir tank just before I put everything back together. I did not warm it up before I checked the oil, but instead, checked it cold. I thought that that was the time to check it, when the motor cooled off and the oil came back up out of the crankcase?

I have the K&N pro flow kit with the lid off, outerwears on the filter as well as an outerwears lid screen. I don't think I am running lean b/c I initially had 180/185 mains with the 27.5 pilots and my bike was choking at mid rpms. The light does come on when it gets hot and the overflow coolant reservoir gets sucked completely into the radiator.

 

a puff of white smoke ussually means it is lean. check the plug to see what color it is. what octaine are you running?

 

Do a compression or leak down and get some pictures of the plugs on the net. Does the oil smell like it has fuel in it?
This picture is not looking too good though.

 

Sounds to me like you have a head gasket leak. White smoke can easily be mistaken for steam. And if its really when you get down on it there would be more presure in the cumbustion chamber at that time. You are also using water.

Did you retorque, or at least check, the head bolts after the first few heat cycles or runs?
What kind of head gasket do you have in it?

You check the oil after the bike warms up.

You might be right with your jetting, but it still sounds like it could be lean...but then again maybe not.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] With the port and bigger valves at your elevation I would keep a close eye on it for sure. The OW lid might make it right, I'm not sure. Jetting is something only the person riding it, or with it, can REALLY know.

 

I think you might have a blown head gasket. When my Raptor was rebuilt, I started overheating, spitting coolant out the overspill tube from the reservoir and the hot light came on for the first time. Replaced the head head gasket, that was the problem. I would try running straight premium gas, although I dont think its related to your overheating, oil issues.

If you are really loosing oil, do a compression check.

Check the oil per the manual. If I recall off the top of my head, warm the engine up for several minutes, let it sit a couple minutes, then check the oil level.

Let us know what you find out.

 

Just out of curiosity, what octane fuel are you using? And what piston?

 

I know that with a YFZ, if you check the oil after it sat all night it will read low. Run it, shut down, then check. The Raptor may be the same way I don't know.