Uh-oh. How screwed am I? (XL250)

[Fishchip]

Left the keys in today and ran out the battery. To give it a bit of a charge I decided after work to go for a runaround. Just getting off the highway the bike refused to go above 60, sputtered and died. Pulled off to the side, I looked down and there's oil spilling everywhere! I'd lost the oil drain plug somehow. Probably vibrated out.

Luckily there was a Home Depot across the road and a gas station right there, so I managed to cobble together a plug and fill it with oil. Unfortunately, now, the kickstart is locked up. A few attempts at bump start were futile. So presumably it's locked up due to lack of oil. What can I do to release it? I wasn't running it forever on no oil; in fact, when I put it on the side stand, oil sloshed out, on each occasion I put it on the stand. So it was dry, but not bone dry. I don't think it's horribly damaged, just seized from being dry.

What can I doooo? =P Sucks this is right before a long weekend.

[j]

Depends on how hot the engine got. No doubt the rings have eaten in to the cylinder lining and the con rod bearing has beaten its self flat.
But its a honda. Keep us informed.we have had africa twins running with no oil before and just required a refil, good luck.

[Fishchip]

Well, leaving it overnight didn't help (faint hope for pressure release and piston movement), blasting the spark plug socket with penetrating oil hasn't helped so far so I'm having a burger and gnashing my teeth. I've never dug into an engine before so I'm pretty wary, but I guess it's either that or spend many dollars to have it looked at.

[RickSkye]

Well, another thing not to do on an xl250 is, put it into neutral, roll down a hill, and then kickstart while doing 30mph. The kickstart seizes and locks the back wheel.

Anyhow, from experience, get a workshop manual and get stuck in, its not that difficult. At least you will know if its ok and you won't be worrying about it all the time.
The engine drops out of the frame pretty easily.
It would be good to get the piston moving a bit before you take it to bits though.

Rick

[thetimkirby]

Have you tried kicking it with the clutch pulled in? Is it still jammed in gear? If you don't get the clutch pulled in quickly enough when it seizes, the bike's momentum can jam the gears. As has been said, these engines are pretty tough and take a lot to kill. I have seen plus-gas used to unseize one: cruel but effective. But if the piston really is seized, it's stripdown time.

[Fishchip]

OK, so the penetrating oil worked and the piston is now free and kickable. The bike has been trucked home and is now sitting in my driveway where it won't start. =P One step at a time I guess. Since I removed the sparkplug and my nonmechanical brain doesn't trust anything I do, I suspect that. Or the air intake is possibly gummed up with oil -- I did have oil pissing all over the place at highway speed.

More investigations and more updates to follow. Thanks for everyone's help. =)

[Fishchip]

Have you tried kicking it with the clutch pulled in? Is it still jammed in gear? If you don't get the clutch pulled in quickly enough when it seizes, the bike's momentum can jam the gears. As has been said, these engines are pretty tough and take a lot to kill. I have seen plus-gas used to unseize one: cruel but effective. But if the piston really is seized, it's stripdown time.

I always kick with the clutch pulled in. You mean you can kick without doing that? Must be an ingrained habit from electric starts, this is my first straight kicker. (It was never jammed in gear; I was able to shift all the way up and back down and neutral it.)

Regardless, piston is free, now I just have to will it back to life.

[thetimkirby]

I always kick with the clutch pulled in. You mean you can kick without doing that?

Yes, as long as it's in neutral. Well, you can do it in gear, but it often ends badly (ie. you look a tw*t to your mates)

[Tim W]

Get a manual and go for it - its not that hard!!

- as a kid I had an old cb125 we used on the fields, one day it just died. My Dad jumped in, took me out to by a nice new Haynes manual
got the tools out and we spent an evening out in the shed stripping the bike. We had the engine out, head and barrel off, cases off, you get the idea...
anyway, he explained how it worked, what everything was - it was great!
Next day, asked him when he was going to help me fix it... he said..... " I'm not... I bought you a manual - if you want to ride it you fix it..."
- never looked back after that. Sure you break bits cos you don't quite get it but once you've done it you don't forget...
Best lesson I ever learned!!!!

[Fishchip]

That's what it's going to have to come down to, unfortunately. It's my daily ride to work so looks like I'll have to slum it in with the pedal bikers until I get it fixed!

Question from a mechanically-disinclined nub: so I can kick, but it's not nearly as hard as before, and there isn't the point where it will catch and refuse to kick. (As I understand that's cos it's on the wrong part of the cycle for kick and just jams? Something enginy like that. :P) I can kick through every time even starting halfway down or after a half-assed kick. So I've lost compression somewhere, right?

Now the nub question is, is this because the oil level is way down? I've put two litres into a practically empty reservoir, which if my sources are right is about half capacity. I'm learning as I go here, I work better with the innards of a PC than an engine. =) Should the oil be topped right up for compression to return, or is it even a factor?

I undoubtedly will have to buy a manual and open it up, but might as well keep asking questions before I can get to that point.