Hi all, just joined (and put an intro in the newbies section). I bought a 2000 955i Speed Triple yesterday, it was last run in 2014/15 but suffered a blown head gasket, this never got fixed and it's simply been stored since then. I dropped the oil last night, it looked like oil (no white in it) but seemed a bit more water like in it's movement and appeared a strange purple / dark red tint. It smells like oil when it's coated the hands, but petrol fumes are also present. Last owner reported a discolored liquid coming out of the exhaust back in 14/15. My worry is coolant has got into the engine, and that if I repair the head, the engine will just give up due to being sat in a mix of coolant and oil for so long. Would I be better just doing an engine swap, then look at rebuilding this engine over time, or just repairing the gasket and soldering on? I've noticed there's a few different options engine wise too, so choosinģ the right engine (bolt on and go type thing) is a bit of a head ache, so any help here would also be greatly appreciated. Cheers
You are asking a slightly difficult question without knowing the condition of the barrel/head interface but the coolant should have contained its own corrosion inhibitors so would be less worried on that score......especially as the oil would have sat on top with the water at the lowest point. Storage on a centre/side stand would vary the angle/depth of the dirty bath but the clutch basket and plates would be a good telltale of whether you have much to worry about. Me? I would do a careful head gasket replacement and early oil change to flush out any residual contamination. I would not change the engine until it was self evidently required. Ride your luck!
Thanks for the reply. I'm going to be booking her in at the garage for them to do an assessment on it for me, I've found a few other niggles that also need looking at too. I've attached a photo of the oil that come out last night, it did rain and i hadn't covered it but the color hasn't changed. Perhaps me thinking too far ahead, but I'm working on a limited budget so trying to aim for the route with the best outcome but least amount of money. Cheers for the help
Can't help thinking that I've used an oil in my bike, in the dim and distant past, that had a reddish hue to it. Got a sneaky feeling that it may have been a Motul variant. Could well have been in my 900 Benelli Sei as the dealer I used for bits and pieces at that time stocked more Motul oils than anything else. 'Twas a long time ago though. If I think way back to the 1960s though, Duckhams Q20/50 was green!! Just sayin'!
I do remember using motul a few years back which was more dark red than anything else, completely forgot about that. I'll speak to the garage tomorrow and book her in, can only go one of two ways
Update. Garage kept messing around on the price front, so today I put fresh oil in, new battery and hit the red button. Lo and behold, she fired into life - took her up and down the street, temperature stayed low but could hear the coolant bubbling away, also left a trail of brown water from the expansion overflow tube wherever I went. I've ordered a sprint st (99 - 00) engine which should just be plug and play, that's being put on next week. Plan is to repair the existing engine once out of the bike, as it'll keep costs low - once done I'll have a spare engine if it's ever needed. Once engine is in, it'll be a full coolant flush, as it's like a brown sludge currently. Once that's done it's on to a garage for fork seals and fork oil, then mot. Double checked all the electrics tonight too, everything works as it should, and by god those lights are bright! A matter of weeks before she's ready for the road hopefully
Good wrenching with the project. Remember to take out the flush plug and move a lot o' water to clean things out. Hope to see some images of the project.
