Topic: Amazing trip on the 350f

[camelman]

I rode up the California coast on highway one with the GF last weekend for a camping trip.  I also bolted on my period correct lockable Shoei hardbags to keep our gear dry.  All told we were tipping the scales at 850 pounds with her, me, the bike, side luggage, tent and whatnot strapped to the rear fender and my tank bag. The 350f was a champ the whole way and never turned less than 51mpg the entire weekend including some long 75mph assaults on the interstate.
The reworked swingarm from hondaman was absolutely amazing and eliminated all wandering on the highway on grooved pavement. It made it obvious that I need new rear shocks though since the bike felt like it was twisting in hard turns over bumps. FYI it is possible to lean over enough to scrape exhaust even when fully loaded.

My only issue the whole trip was my leaky engine. Oil is seeping from the front of the engine. It does not seem to be from the head gasket or valve cover and is coming from above the base gasket. I'm wondering if it is leaking past the cylinder head washers.  Any ideas?

I'll post pics of the "rig" shortly. If you are wondering, it got plenty of comments.

[distorto]

im still trying to figure out the mileage on my 350f. how many miles can you go on a tank?

[brooze72]

850 lbs! Did I read that right? Since the bike weighs about 400, that's a lot of extra.  Maybe a sidecar or trailer is needed, better yet,  get someone to bring your gear in a pickup .  Check the full load sticker on the rear fender, my 500 weighs in 50 lbs heavier & says 300 lbs rider capacity!   Guess I can't take the wife anymore

[camelman]

I was wrong, here's the breakdown:

Bike with a full tank of fuel ~400
Me with full riding gear ~ 185
Saddlebags loaded up ~ 30
Tent strapped to rear fender, tank bag and tools in the tool tray ~20
Additional stuff in the messenger bag the GF was carrying ~20
Girlfriend with gear ~130?

Okay, it looks like I was off on my calculations.  We were more like 785 or so.  Whew, for a second there I thought the GF had gained 65 pounds!  ;-)

Okay, so now I'm down to 785 pounds for the "rig" not too shabby!  I went about 100 miles between fill-ups, but I pushed it to 130 once without turning it to reserve.

So, any thoughts on the leaks?

Camelman

[brooze72]

Still wow on your load, what an amazing machine!  Sounds like your oil leak is near the top of the engine but you say not the head gasket or valve covers, maybe the tach drive output?

[camelman]

The tach drive sprocket was definitely leaking, but I changed it a couple months ago.  It doesn't leak anymore now.  I have a funny feeling that the washers underneath the cylinder head nuts are not sealing anymore.  I ordered some, but am curious about any other leak paths.

By the way, I did a mild port job on my 350f that made a world of difference.  I took out a fair bit of material (over 1 mm in thickness) from the ceiling of the port.  I also port matched my intake rubbers and matched the sync screws to the intake wall.  After I did the work, I finished off with minor trimming to match intake and exhaust pressures between the cylinders using a homebuilt pressure measurement system.  It wasn't the most accurate, but it made an enormous difference.  The biggest difference being that two of my exhaust ports were chocked down to about 75% of the flow area of the other two, and two of my intakes were choked to about 80% of the other two.  I'd probably send my head to Mike Rieck if I had it to do again, but I'm glad I did the exercise to learn it.

Camelman

[Greggo]

Do the 350's have those 'pucks' in between the cylinder head and valve cover?

[camelman]

No pucks on the 350f. Not even the rubber center washers found on the 400f.

[Duanob]

Sounds like a great trip! Did you go to Bodega Bay? I'll be in your area of the country this weekend. Can't wait for some nice weather but I won't have my bike.

Curious how you put your girl on the back with the hard bags. I thought two up was impossible with saddle bags. Post a pic when you can.

[Greggo]

Sounds like a great trip! Did you go to Bodega Bay? I'll be in your area of the country this weekend. Can't wait for some nice weather but I won't have my bike.

Curious how you put your girl on the back with the hard bags. I thought two up was impossible with saddle bags. Post a pic when you can.

How long you around for?  Bodega rocks!  I grew up in Sebastopol, about 10 minutes inland.

[Duanob]

Just for the weekend. I've been to Sebastopol for breakfast. Pretty cool little town. I think we're heading up to Tahoe for hiking and drinking.

[camelman]

Duanob,

I hope you enjoy your trip.  Tahoe just got dumped on with snow.  One of my co-workers claims last weekend was the best powder he's had all season!  Squaw is even considering opening for the Fourth of July weekend!

Greggo, why haven't we gone on a ride yet? 

Camelman

[Greggo]

Greggo, why haven't we gone on a ride yet? 

Camelman

Let's do it.  My schedule is pretty jacked, but I get Saturday afternoons off.  I'm trying to organize some rides/meet ups for San Francisco guys, and I'm getting a few rides going with some of the South Bay guys too.  Check out the Pacific Southwest thread at the bottom of the homepage.

[camelman]

Okay, here's a pic of my loaded touring rig!  That's me cheesing in the yellow jacket.  We put on some 700 miles that weekend without trouble.  However, just last week, I tore up first gear on the interstate at 80MPH!!  I was in fifth at the time, but something just tore loose for first.  I haven't pulled the engine apart to figure out what the problem is yet, but I did switch in my spare engine, and it is an amazing improvement.  Nothing like a fresh bore and new gaskets.

Camelman

[camelman]

By the way, the oil leak was due to worn out rubber dowel seals at the front corners of the engine.