Sabotage?

Okay well, sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone... Which I'm watching right now... The old one from, in the case of this episode, December 1959....

But here's what happened....

Two weeks ago the starter clutch failed to turn over and start the bike. It had always worked except once since I got the bike 3 months ago...when once it spun without engaging but just once....

When it got colder it started failing to engage but would after a few tries... This was also the case for my other bike so I figured it was typical...

But two weeks ago it refused to engage.... And it happened in sub 18 degree temps so again I figured it was just too cold for the starter clutch to operate given whatever condition it was in.... So I had the oil changed but they said the starter clutch was shot... So one was ordered....

After finally getting the part they installed the new clutch... But, AFAIK the housing was not cracked, but the springs were shot "compressed" and the bearing on the gear was bad I think and the rods may have been bad as well.. In any case, after they installed the part they brought me in and said that "something was in the oil"... That, "Someone must have put something in there who doesn't like you..."

They called it mud or dirt, and the oil they removed looked like sewage...brownish black and gritty.... So, they said they should flush the engine, which they did, with kerosene and a second oil change... A first oil change was done days ago, but the mechanic said he thought that whatever it was had been removed with that change... He stated however upon removing the old starter clutch that this "mud" had gotten into the starter clutch and possibly that is why it failed...

So, I'm blown away..and it doesn't feel right... I do park the bike most of the time on the street in front of the house and it's not a great neighborhood, but not the worst either...

So, I am to believe that, out of nowhere someone, for some reason unknown to me, when to the trouble of gathering dirt or similar, removing the tight oil cap in the wee hours of the morning...and poured this evil mix into the crankcase.....

It just seems outer space to me.... The alternative is that someone else put something in there....

I'm unsure what to do but I started looking to see if they make locking oil caps and I think they do...perhaps there is one that would fit my Max... But the whole thing just seems really odd to me and I am unsure who may have done what...

So, I figured I'd share this here and see what anyone else might think about this...

Whilst it isn't lockable you could put something like this on.

You would need a spanner to remove it and you could lockwire it as well.

Any way of putting a trailcam over looking bike ? I think I'd rather catch the fucker then make him mess with something else on the bike .

How about a drilling a hole in the oil fill cap and padlocking a slotted flat bar to it....use a bar long enough to restrict the travel of the cap to a partial turn only.

Remove it when you ride.

Kinda ghetto-ish but it'd work

That just sucks! +1's to the mentioned solutions. But the real issue is, someone is screwing with you. Finding them, then assisting them to come around to a better way of thinking is a priority.

sdt354 said:

That just sucks! +1's to the mentioned solutions. But the real issue is, someone is screwing with you. Finding them, then assisting them to come around to a better way of thinking is a priority.

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Any particular make of baseball bat you would recommend, Steve? :blink000:

MaxMidnight said:

Any particular make of baseball bat you would recommend, Steve? :blink000:

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Who said anything about a bat?

Everyone has a Louisville slugger, don't they? And a glove.

I have a scorpio two way alarm system, it sends one alert if someone or something (Twilight Zone) gets close to the bike and a different alert for any physical contact back to the remote fob. Its one layer of protection , I know your doing what you can to protect your bike. Good luck.

I'd be partial to a wiffle ball bat. Doesn't do any permanent damage but if you've ever been hit by one or hit someone hard....not something you'd forget. Depending on your parking situation and how much activity is going on, a trail cam would point you in the right direction. The whole situation is strange. I can see a random piece of gutter trash stranger scratching a car or bike or something similar fast and you move on. But taking the time to remove the filler cap and pour something in then replace the cap. I'd be looking a little closer to home for the culprit.

I would be more inclined to think that moisture and combustion by products don't have a chance to evaporate or boil off when riding in 18 degree weather unless your trips are fairly long.

You might also want to make sure that the breather tube from the oil separator to the airbox is not kinked or clogged. Had this happen and the oil got shitty even in warm weather.

VMAXXIMUM said:

But taking the time to remove the filler cap and pour something in then replace the cap. I'd be looking a little closer to home for the culprit.

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So would i. This is someone that knows you.

Thanks for all the thoughts....

I am still not sure what to think... I agree it seems off... and honestly I don't fully trust the place that "discovered" the condition....there are a few things that are off....such as the fact that the oil was changed first but the "condition" wasn't seen as serious or reported to me until the clutch was replaced...

This was also the first time an oil change was done since the purchase, when the PO had the oil changed the day before I bought the bike... Having seen the work order but not having seen the oil condition for myself I really don't know what happened when.... The cap is not easy to get off and I just can't imagine someone sneaking over the bike sitting in full view of a dozen windows and doors and pouring something in there...

I made sure the cap is very tight via pliers and I asked some people to keep a lookout...

I just hope there is no damage and I hope that the mechanics aren't playing some bizarre game.... The oil was very strange looking, brown/black/gritty and the mechanic said there was crap all inside the starter clutch....

I took the bike for a long ride today and it ran okay but since the return from the shop the performance is down ever so slightly, and gas mileage is also down compared to my last months riding.... The mechanic mentioned that I should have them tune the bike from top to bottom several times...and the customer service was off a bit.....they were certain that "someone did something, who doesn't like you"...that in itself seems off to me....maybe *they* don't like me.... One of the guys there had a major attitude the second time I was there but he didn't the last time....and as I said, without going into too much detail the CS was off....

When performance drops after a visit to a shop I get concerned... She was running better last month... Unfortunately there isn't a whole boatload of reliable mechanics around here...and it's hard to know who to trust...but knowing who I can't trust has been well established...

1FK00 said:

I would be more inclined to think that moisture and combustion by products don't have a chance to evaporate or boil off when riding in 18 degree weather unless your trips are fairly long.

You might also want to make sure that the breather tube from the oil separator to the airbox is not kinked or clogged. Had this happen and the oil got shitty even in warm weather.

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I take her about once a month (now that it's colder) and twice a month in warmer months on 150 mile rides...

Can you explain what this "breather tube from the oil separator" is all about... I've never heard of an "oil separator"...

Again, the mechanics were all very sure of their rather odd statement....

And why this would have any bearing on carburetor performance is beyond me, but what they said seemed to imply overall performance could be affected but I don't see the connection... The whole things feels "off"...

I don't like people f-ing with my Max, I really don't.... :damn angry:

The oil separator is at the bottom of the vee. There is a breather tube that goes from the oil separator up between the carbs and is attached to the bottom of the airbox. The tube is about a half inch in diameter and is number 55 in the pic.