Copper filings on oil filter base.

I changed the oil in my 76 A4 today in preparation for a 3000 mile trip I plan on doing in a week's time. When I dropped the oil filter I saw a significant amount of material like copper filings on the filter base. Is this likely bearing material?

I've been riding quite a bit. Haven't noticed any untoward noises ie. big end knock under load. She runs and sounds really good.

Should I be thinking of scrapping my trip? I've been planning it for over a year.

Maybe it was there before and I didn't notice it. The oil was changed last spring at the Kaw dealer ( the first one since at least 1988), and I did one change last fall.

I thought I would go for a good ride this weekend, then drain the oil and check for residue. The thinking being that any damage is already done and I would just be confirming a problem.

Any thoughts guys?

Ross

put a few miles on it and dump the oil again

The bearings are the only thing I know of that are bronze. Have you tried plugging in a gauge and checking the oil pressure? If you have good pressure at hot idle, it's probably OK.

There is nothing that I can think of in the entire system that is made out of copper/brass/bronze. These bikes have very low oil pressure systems. Only around 3psi or so The Oil light would be red if the oil pressure fell even a little bit. I would check the clutch to see maybe it is grinding and those are discolored steel shavings.

Pretty easy to pull the pan and inspect, you may find that there is much more lurking there, or maybe not, but worth looking. Are the pieces magnetic? Have you tried to cut them with a razor blade to see the material from an different angle? Maybe a bearing is starting to wear, most main and rod bearings are copper base with a babbit coating. Once the coating wears it is time for the copper. The other style is a aluminum construction, not sure which # hardness, this is popular with Import car motors these days but an older Kaw?

This engine has needle bearings. This is why the oil pressure is so low. On plain bearings the oil pressure is much higher. I do agree however with the removal and inspection of the oil pan. As I stated before, there is nothing copper in this engine with the exception of the alternator stator.

what about cam bearings?

How about the clutch basket, where it goes onto the shaft, does it have the Copper/ Bronze bushing?

Cam bearings are babbitt / white metal and the clutch basket is supported by a very large ball bearing. The shavings from the cam bearings would be silver. The other bearing in the clutch is a needle bearing. If that was bad, he would know it. There would be extreme vibration and the clutch would rattle. But once again, all steel.
I think that pulling the oil pan for a better inspection would be a very good idea.

What about the cam chain Idler/ guide rollers? What type there?

There is a little bit of bronze in those, but if there was that much in the oil he would know it. The cam chain would be rattling like mad and he would also have a large amount of black rubber particles to accompany the shavings because the roller would be wobbling and grinding itself away.

Those should be roller/needle bearings also. They are on my KZ1000A2.