Last Sunday I took the Dnepr rig in the annual Vancouver Christmas
Toy Run. A beautiful fall day, not a cloud in sight. There must have
been at least 2000 motorcycles. Bikers riding back and forth, revving
their motors and listening to each other's Harleys. My SO rode in
the sidecar, bemused by the whole affair. Obviously a Guy Thing.
She had fun once we were under way though, waving to the spectators
lining the streets like she was the Queen of England.

I took only a few pix because my camera's batteries expired
(sometimes I just can't think of everything).
See alt.binaries.pictures.motorcycles.

Afterwards we went to the Trev Dealey HD Dealership's Toy Run party.
I showed her a Boss Hoss trike, gleaming with chrome and shiny paint.
"How much does that cost?" "Oh, about $50,000." She shook her head
in disbelief. Women can be so practical; at times they just don't
get it.

Here's the problem, I tried to starting the bike at 9 in the morning.
Temperature was around 5 degrees C (41F) and kick as I might, it just
wouldn't fire up. I finally got it going by bump starting it downhill
(we live near the summit of a small (100 meter) urban mountain).

Well it's going to get colder than that this winter which is
the weather I bought this rig for. If I can't start it at 5C how
do I get it going at 0 or below? It's kick start only, and I won't
be able to bump it if the roads are slippery with ice or snow.

I wonder how the Red Army got their bikes going in the Russian winter.
It was 40 below at Stalingrad, and the cold might have froze the German
equipment but not the Soviets'.

What should I do, spray it with ether?

Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
On Oct 8, 5:26 pm, "Stephen Cowell" <stephenleeNOSPAMcow... at (no spam) gmail.com
wrote:
I've got a buddy
that *had* to have Mobil1 installed before he took delivery...
his bike puffs white smoke when he gets on it, still, after
three years.

Good point. I suppose "new Dnepr" isn't really an
oxymoron after all. I don't particularly believe synthetic
damages seals though.

Not so much damages as they don't respond the same way.  

one of the objectives in formulating different motor oils
is to produce the same degree of swelling in common seal materials.  If an
oddball material is used then going to a synthetic lubricant might swell it
more or less than it is supposed to resulting in either a too tight or too
loose seal.

As for rings not seating right, depends on the oil and the design of the
engine--some exotic cars come with synthetic these days.

If the guy's bike puffs _white_ smoke when he starts it, that's coolant, not
oil, and he should find out why it's happening rather than assuming that
it's because synthetic oil prevented the rings from seating.

Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
On Oct 8, 7:01 pm, "J. Clarke" <jclarke.use... at (no spam) cox.net> wrote:
Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
On Oct 8, 5:26 pm, "Stephen Cowell"
stephenleeNOSPAMcow... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:
                                          I've got a buddy
that *had* to have Mobil1 installed before he took delivery...
his bike puffs white smoke when he gets on it, still, after
three years.

Good point. I suppose "new Dnepr" isn't really an
oxymoron after all. I don't particularly believe synthetic
damages seals though.

Not so much damages as they don't respond the same way.

                       one of the objectives in formulating
different motor oils is to produce the same degree of swelling in
common seal materials. If an oddball material is used then going to
a synthetic lubricant might swell it more or less than it is
supposed to resulting in either a too tight or too loose seal.

Common explanation seems to be early synthetics may have
had problems but current generation don't.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/how_to/4213451.html

Look, my point was not that synthetics cause seal problems, my point was
that this is a Dnepr, a Russian bike that uses Russian seals which may be
made of materials that the people who make oil never thought to test.   I'm
not saying that they ARE made of such materials, just that one should be
aware of the VERY REMOTE possibility that they are.





As for rings not seating right, depends on the oil and the design of
the engine--some exotic cars come with synthetic these days.

I recall going through at least one grade of lighter oil
followed by one oil change of dino before going to synthetic.
On an air cooled engine though, I wouldn't run anything else
and yeah right from the factory on some not so exotic newer
engines too I think.

If the guy's bike puffs _white_ smoke when he starts it, that's
coolant, not oil, and he should find out why it's happening rather
than assuming that
it's because synthetic oil prevented the rings from seating.

Common advice I've heard for new rings is "ride it like you
stole it".

I'd probably try synthetic on a Dnepr myself. Works fine on my
fairly similar '80s era BMW airhead.

Personally I would and if started to leak then I'd go back to dinosaur blood
and see if it stopped leaking.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

See if that works... you must navigate a Captcha as well. The other
two manuals on the site are in German, or one in multiple languages.
The above should take you to a really crappy copy of the owner's
manual, in Italian.