Oil On The Plugs

[xgs550x]

Hi,
A few months ago I decided to jump into a winter project. I found a 77 GS550 that was pretty beat up, but I thought could be brought back to life. I figured the only was to really learn about a bike was to take it all on myself. Previously with my 70's Hondas I've tinkered a bit, but never really dove in. The other day I pulled the carbs off and gave them a good cleaning. They're in really decent working order. However before I took the carbs off I neglected to check the plugs. When I went and looked at the plugs they were coated at the tips in black oily residue. The manual is pretty vauge about where the leak could be. Any ideas??? How far back and how much teardown should I prepare myself for.

Prior to taking anything off the bike, it would start like a dream, but die once you hit the throttle. I went through the whole fuel sending process so it's not that.....

thanks

[rideOn]

oil on the plugs could be one of a few things; valves, rings or simply too much oil in the tank. as far as starting and dying, my thumper gets this symptom often and i usually piddle with the carb to make sure there are no air leaks (it is very susceptable to air leaks because singles vibrate their booty off). it usually works fine afterwards.

it sounds to me like your carbs and air intake need a good going over. check out basscliff's site for links that address these items. i'm in the middle of a similar project: sealing airbox leaks, clean/oil air filter and intake boot o-rings. carb re-build/o-ring during christmas vacation.

little things definitely make a difference. after servicing the air filter/box alone, the bike idled differently, with a smoother, more solid tone.

[DimitriT]

Wet plugs? Are you sure its oil and not gas?

Greasy plugs is likely oil leaking into the combustion chamber
and not burning off sufficiently. Could be worn valve seals
or stuck piston ring.

If the compression on the bike is good, I would guess the
valve seals could be replaced.

Or... maybe put in a hotter spark plug and just ride it.

On my 550, I have a slight intake valve seal leak on my #1 cylinder. The
plug gets a little gummed up and I just check it every 3k miles,
clean it off a little and put it back in.

This winter I will take the cam out and try to replace the seal
without removing the head (supposedly, its doable this way but
we'll find out

[rustybronco]

Please post detailed pictures of each spark plug.

[Steve]

Or... maybe put in a hotter spark plug and just ride it.

That might get you going for the short term, but it won't fix the problem.

Could have been overly-rich carb settings.
Depending on how well you cleaned and adjusted the plugs, it might be "fixed" now.
In this case, hotter plugs will end up hurting the engine.

Could have been leaking valve seals. To change them, you will need to pull the head.
Lots of work, but also gives you the opportunity to change ALL the gaskets above the crankcase.

Could have been stuck piston rings. Might free up with use, might need to be cleaned or replaced.
Good time to do that is when you are replacing all the gaskets.
After all, the pistons will just be hanging there when you pull the cylinder block to change the base gasket, so why not?

Your best bet is to get new plugs, STOCK HEAT RANGE and run them.
Inspect them to see if the problem still exists, then act accordingly.

Hotter (or colder) spark plugs are Band-Aids, not cures.

.