No oil!

Technically not KZ related, this was on a Zephyr 750, but I know that I will get some sound advice here.

Earlier today I picked up a 93 Zephyr with gear box problems. It's going to be a quick fix-up and then be sold to pay for a '77 Z1000 - so I guess I'm still allowed to post this here

When I got the bike the battery was flat. I wasn't too worried as it was cheap enough that I could easily recover my money selling the parts if it was beyond repair. Got it home and noticed an oil leak behind the transmission cover: I then dropped the oil so I didn't have to worry about it leaking everywhere. Fast forward a few hours of doing all sorts of other stuff and I found an old battery and decided I should see if it runs (PO said it ran fine but only went in to first). I think you can all see where this is going...
So started it up, had to mess around with the choke etc. got it running for 2-3 seconds a couple of times before it died when I knocked the choke back a bit. Then I got it running well for maybe 20-30 seconds before my brain kicked back in and I realised what I had done. The headers were hot I could pat them but not hold them) but the outside of the cylinders and head were still cold. The bike hadn't been started for a week or two so the oil passages would have drained out by now.

I'm hoping I won't have done any major damage in that time, probably just added 5000km to it in a few seconds. I'm thinking I'll take a good look at the oil pump and check the compression just to make sure. I'll be checking the valve clearance at some stage so I'll have the valve cover off, but I'm not planning on removing the head or the cylinders. Is there anything else I can/should check?

I figure this is sort of an idiots rite of passage, but if I ever do this again someone better come and take my tools off me!

It should be fine. Main concern I think would be the crank and rod bearings. You were running it without any load though so even that should be fine.

I knew an old and experienced engineer that always used to start the engine of his cars and bikes after dumping the oil in order to clear the oil passages. He had a couple of old V8 Oldsmobile's with 150k+ miles on them, and this was back in the day when 100k was doing good.

Didn´t you notice the oil pressure light??

Nessism wrote: It should be fine. Main concern I think would be the crank and rod bearings. You were running it without any load though so even that should be fine.

I knew an old and experienced engineer that always used to start the engine of his cars and bikes after dumping the oil in order to clear the oil passages. He had a couple of old V8 Oldsmobile's with 150k+ miles on them, and this was back in the day when 100k was doing good.

OK, thanks. That puts my mind at ease a bit. I'll be splitting the cases so I can check those bearings while I'm there.

Scirocco wrote: Didn´t you notice the oil pressure light??

Like I said, my brain was switched off. I was just trying to get the choke adjusted as it revved way too high with it on (idle around 3-4000 rpm), that basically took my attention away from the dash lights and I was just staring at the tacho. As soon as I got the bike to the stage where I could keep a steady idle by nursing the throttle, I realised my mistake and shut it off. It was probably more like 10-20 seconds - time is a funny thing.

Some decades ago, there was a motor oil ad on TV that demonstrated (claimed) no damage from running a car motor for some (much) longer time. Don't remember the brand nor the amount of time. Seriously doubt any damage was done, except to your confidence in your own memory. We've all done OOPS-type stuff...

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

You might find this interesting
The test starts about half way in if you want to skip the talking.

I don't think you have to worry at all. There was no load and only a few minutes.

One time, a buddy of mine asked me to look at his bike because it was running strange for a few days. It had no power, seemed really hot, and didn't want to idle. It had been running perfectly before that. We decided to drain the oil and not a single drop came out of the drain. The bike was a pristine Honda CB550-four and it showed no oil leaks anywhere. So I asked, when was the last time he checked the oil? He said the dealer he took it to do the last oil change should have checked it. It seems they drained it but must have forgotten to fill with new oil. So yeah, he was riding on no oil for over a month. I think he got screwed by the dealer.

Thanks guys! I'll be avoiding the old "I've got a couple of minutes, I could just check that quickly..." in the future

@loudhvx: I'm assuming he never went back to that dealer!

Well, he probably went back there, but not to give them anymore business.

Oh I’m sure he gave them the business!!! :evil: