Pardon my puddle
“Is your Ural leaking oil?”
“Ummm… huh?”
It wasn’t the phone call I expected. Earlier yesterday afternoon, I rode Svetlana over to see my friend Jon Meyers, a local photographer. A couple of hours after I got home that evening, he rang me and asked about Svetlana leaking oil.
“Not as far as I know. I just checked the oil this morning, actually. She hasn’t used a drop.”
“Well, there’s this puddle out here where you were parked, and a trail where your front tire tracked it as you backed out.”
Jon took a couple of photos (like the one above) and emailed them to me. The puddle and track are definitely from where Svetlana was parked, and from where I backed her up.
But here’s the thing…
If there is a leak, I can’t find it. I checked the oil this morning, and it was full. There was no oil on the garage floor. I examined the underside of the bike, from the final drive to the gearbox to the oil filter housing, and couldn’t make out anything that looked like a leak. I checked around the engine for any signs of a crack and seepage, and… nothing.
So what now?
Next steps
- Post on Soviet Steeds… check. Soviet Steeds - Hammerin’ & Wrenchin’ - Mystery Oil Puddle
- Post on Ride Three… erm, check.
- Take Sveta for a quick spin and see how she does… check. I ran a quick errand after work, and Sveta ran fine. Felt and sounded normal.
- Check oil and garage floor again… oh yeah, hang on a sec… check. No oil on garage floor… however, did notice a wee drop on the underside of the gearbox oil drain plug. Could that be it?
- Ponder… check. If the oil did come from Svetlana, could it have come from the gearbox? She was parked on a slight incline, so that could’ve caused more seepage from that plug, as the oil would have been pouring back towards that part of the housing. And if that is the case, what does it mean? Is there a way to check the gearbox oil?
Or, could this have just been some weird coincidence where I just happened to park in someone else’s puddle and just didn’t notice?
Update: Oil Leak Follow-up
What’s in your tool roll?
In a way, it’s a personal question, but one the Uralist is generally all to happy to answer. And keep answering. And defend to the death his answer, whilst being not too derogatory of the misguided yet well-meaning answers that others might provide.
Well, not really. Uralists are always happy to talk about what they carry in their sidecars and trunks, because hey, when you can haul pretty much anything you want, you enjoy bragging about it a wee bit. As for me, well, yeah I like to talk about what I carry too.
Here’s what’s in Svetlana’s toolkit (photos too, and more below the list)…
Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been over a week now since our idling issues on our Highway 126 day trip, and I am glad to say that the Ural has been running fine. I’m not going to do anything to the Ural at this point. Instead, I’m going to keep an eye on how Svetlana rides, and will focus on getting more miles/kilometers on her.
Here are some things I’ve learned:
- The idle might need to be kicked up a hair. If I decide to do this, however, I’ll also need to re-sync my carbs. For my not too mechanically minded self, that will mean a carb syncing tool like a TwinMax — which at this point I’d rather just put on my Christmas list.
- Temperature, not bike condition, could have been the primary issue. Our daytrip was on a hot day: about 97°, in full sun. Urals, being air-cooled beasts, do not always run happily on hot summer days. We have not had any similar issues since this hot-day’s ride, so things may well be okay.
- The ultimate key is break-in. Svetlana is coming up on 1400kms, and I’m pretty confident that by the end of September she’ll be ready for her 2500km maintenance interval. (It’d be sooner, but we’re going to be away a lot.) While still not really out of break-in, every km should see performance improvements.
It’s been an experience, figuring out the different potential causes and nuances that can affect Svetlana’s running. Even better? The causes, the circumstances, are all simple.
And that’s what I love about my Ural — simplicity.
Not idling but stalling
During our Saturday trip up the McKenzie River’s Highway 126, the only problem we had with Svetlana was that she kept dying at stops and would not always want to get started.
But what is the issue… if there is one?
There could be spark plugs and carb fittings to check. However, a tight idle and some stalling are also pretty common issues for new, still-being-broken-in Urals. With only 1300kms (808 miles), Svetlana is still pretty new. From what I’ve seen from others experiences, it’s usually just a matter of the engine breaking in more, and the idle improves.
A mechanical problem, or just growing pains?
Still, I’m trying to suss out the issue to see if I do need to check anything or muck about with the idle settings or some such. Here are some threads and sites that I’ve checking out:
I’ve also posted a question about this to the Hammerin’ and Wrenchin’ - Tech Talk section of Soviet Steeds: Soviet Steeds - 1300km and Stalling at Stoplights
Updates to come.
Oil Check & Wrenching in 30 Minutes
A couple of days ago, my 2007 Ural Patrol crossed the 1,000km mark. This has more of a psychological significance than anything, but to this newbie motorcycle owner it did feel significant. My motorcycle’s mileage – erm, kilometerage? – was now in four figures.
The 1,000km was significant for two more reasons. One was maintenance. The other was a name.
While there is no manufacturer-specified maintenance at 1,000 kilometers, back when I hit the 900km line I told myself that at 1,000km I would give the Patrol a quick checkover. On this Saturday afternoon, in about 30 minutes, I did just that. I checked the oil level as well as ensured that all the bolts and screws were tight. (The only thing I didn’t check was tire pressure, as I’d topped it up recently.) Read the rest of this entry »
Note at the start: not mine. So, so not mine.
But man does this suck. Road salt and paint? No fun. Buddy, I feel for you: one major complaint, shit paint job !!!!! - ADVrider
“New Patrol as of April ‘07 after one year using as my primary transportation and 14,500 klms. I’m not afraid to use it in the mud. I run knobbies from Oct. to April. We use salt on the roads here in Ohio. This is probably the main reason for the rust, but I don’t think salt made the paint fall off. Is the paint falling off your rig? The tub and the tank are holding up fine but all three finders will have to be blasted and painted this summer”
The hard part is, what does he do about it?
I gotta say, I’m glad we live in a land of mild winter. Eugene doesn’t even keep road salts and what-not on hand, because we just don’t get much snow. We got some snow this winter (just before I got the Patrol, I’m sorry to say), and it was the most snow I’ve seen here ever.
The folks on ADV do have some suggestions and insights. Overall it sounds like the problem is less the paint, and more just how highly corrosive the road salts are.
From one Patrol owner to another, good luck, bro — I hope that paint gets sorted out, and you find a way to keep next winter from eating into it so badly.
Follow the whole discussion: one major complaint, shit paint job !!!!! - ADVrider
Want to know how to change a flat tire when you’re on the road with your Ural? Russ and Fester on the Ural Wiki do a quick, photo-rich breakdown of changing a flat tire while on the road. The rear tire got a wee nail in it, so they had to swap it out for the spare tire. This process took them about 10 minutes.
One interesting note that I hadn’t thought of before: If your spare tire hasn’t been used (or at least used as much as the spare), the rear brake may need to be adjusted as the drums may be different sizes.
What you’ll need – good gear and tools to already have in your trunk anyway:
- Spare tire (or patch kit and new tube)
- Tire gauge and pump (in case you forgot to check that spare tire’s air pressure before leaving)
- Pliers
- Cotter pin
- Piece of 2×4 (helps with getting the Ural on its centerstand)
- Wrench
See it for yourself: changing a flat tire while on the road
How often should you rotate tires on a Ural? Should you rotate them at all? Three tires on a Ural Patrol are interchangeable (since the front tire has disc brakes instead of drum brakes, it cannot be swapped with the other tires):
- Sidecar tire
- Spare tire
- Rear tire
The rear tire of a Ural will wear out faster than the others. But you don’t need to do a bunch of rotation to keep wear even. On the IMZ-Ural Discussion Boards, Bill Glaser of myural.com has a solid recommendation — leave the sidecar tire alone, and occasionally swap the spare and rear tires:
I just swap the spare and pusher so that they “fit” the shoes and put a new tire on the “spare”. I leave all the other wheels in place and just change the tires as needed. There is no benefit to rotating any of the wheels to different positions. Whether you leave them or rotate, your wear mileage will be the same. It is less work to just rotate the spare and pusher. You will get 3 times the pusher mileage on the front and the sidecar tire will probably dry rot before it goes bald unless you are hauling a huge amount of weight in the hack.
How often you swap your tires is up to you, how you ride, and what tires you have. Check your Ural’s manual for the manufacturer’s recommendations on checking tire tread and wear, and that should give you a good guideline. (At the least, that’s what I’m planning on doing to gauge when I’ll swap my rear and spare tires.)
When swapping tires, it’ll help to do some braking exercises to re-fit the brakes around the different drum. Again from Bill:
Any time you switch a wheel from one position to another (drum brake) you will lose braking efficiency for a time until the shoes wear into the drum. Generally, it is best to leave the wheel in the same position unless you don’t mind spongy brakes.
See the whole discussion: IMZ-Ural Discussion Boards - Tire Wear
Never thought about this being an issue before. But when it comes to a Ural, now and again you pretty much need to check every visible bolt — right down to the humble bolt on the parking brake, as goes this discussion on Soviet Steeds: Parking Brake Screw
When I went to engage the parking brake I noticed that the screw that is attrached to the parking brake which holds the foot brake down was missing. My question…. Could someone look at the parking brake and describe to me what kind of screw I need to replace it? I remember it had a nut on it as well
By the way, the solution is simple: a M6-1 by 30mm long bolt.
Follow the whole discussion: Parking Brake Screw
When you’re new to something, like being a newbie novice amateur mechanic, fixing even little things like broken turn signals can take some time. I read some message boards, asked some questions and checked with my dealer — which didn’t take nearly as long as it might sound — and had my turn signals working again quickly. Here’s how it all went down:
