Went to take my 99 600 Monster to work a week or so ago, and noticed the oil was very low which was odd as i'd only recently done an oil change maybe 3 months ago. Topped it up and as soon as i pulled out of the drive it just didn't want to go at all. Turned it round after a mile and took my other bike instead. Got the Monster back in the garage, change the spark plugs incase maybe a cylinder wasn't firing or something like that and its a cheap fix which needed doing anyway. Ran it out again today to test it and still no joy! I've also noticed since I toped it up last week and rode it out twice (both times I did about a mile), its oil is looking a little low again but there are no leaks on my garage floor. It also has some white smoke coming out of the right pipe when I shut it off (I assume this is oil burning off?). I've checked the air filer and can't see anything out of the norm in there so now i'm stumped on how to attack this. Any suggestion would be most appreciated!
If the oil has changed level noticeably in two miles you have a problem, what condition were the plugs in when you changed them, were they both the same?
I wonder if you could have overfilled it? Are you checking the level with the bike on the side stand or held vertical??
The left plug looks worse than the right. The brown / black ring on the white head where the plug part number is doesn't rub off left one but it rubs off on the right. The left plug comes from the side of the engine, the right one came from the front.
Yea there's a real blowy sounding noice coming from what i think is the engine block. Its hard to pinpoint but its def not the exhaust. That's what lead me to taking off the air filter to have a look but everything looked ok in there. It more noticeable when you rev it. Idle it sounds kinda OK. Only think i noticed about idle was that even after I took it a mile down the road, it wouldn't stay ticking over with the choke all the way down. Not sure if thats related.
I made that mistake a few years ago. I check it on the paddock stand by putting a little bit in at a time and waiting for it to filter down into the engine. I only fill it to half way betwee the min/max markers at the moment to make sure I don't over fill it.
Both look pretty ropey and old. The left one looks to me as though there could have been some blow-by, ie not having been torqued down properly.
I have the old forks pivot style. Followed the cable back and the little piston that goes in and out of the engine block seems to move in and out OK. Yea and I had a full service done by a local garage in April and they clearly didn't do what I paid for. They were both only finger tight. but this problem has only started in the last few weeks and these plugs must have been like that for best part of a few years.
These plugs look close to perfect. The one on the right suggests it could be running a touch lean. Where in the country are you? I wonder if a fellow forum member local to you may be able to come and take a look/listen. Does the bike start up easily? If so then that would suggest compression is ok and it's getting fuel and sparks. a "blowy" sounding noise could be something like a loose exhaust that's causing a leak, or perhaps a leak in the inlet somewhere. Chances are it'll be something reasonable straightforward.
Looks like both plugs have been suffering from blow-by. Seems very possible the garage left them like this The worse one looks though it may only have been finger-tightened as far as the slightly jammed washer, Could explain the lack of power but not (I think) the oil problem.
not as bad as I thought they would be considering - R/H plug better of the two "on the nose" but same plug most likely to be injesting most oil of the two, going by the soot lower down.
Mixture-wise, yes but do you not you agree that the washers look as though they haven't been sealing, which the OP's assertion that the plugs were only finger-tight would support? Happy to bow to your superior knowledge, Chris.
Yes, that makes total sense to me. Oil is an odd one, but the plugs being loose would explain the weird sound and lack of power. Good call!
didn't comment Jeremy only because not enough info to say either way, you can get that oil residue there for several reasons (only my opinion of course). You could be right but I think O.P. would have discovered this upon removing and told us!
Fair enough but I'm looking at those washers on a big PC monitor and I can't see any sign of contact between those washers and their seats. Imho, there should be some at least light scoring evident from when they were unscrewed. All I can see on them is lumps of carbon and oil.
Currently just off Jct 19 of M6. Moving the bikes to Freckleton, just north of Preston in about 10 days time for winter storage. (Moving house and the inlaws have more room). I've just torqued up the new plugs so i'll give it ride out this evening and report back.]
