What is this stuff??

[eak0703]

I picked up this 85 Honda Shadow for $100. Just to have a tinkering project.
Bike was in non-running condition.

I drained the oil and this is what I found. [See pictiures]

It physically looks like cream colored paint. It is pretty thick and settles on the bottom. On top of it the oil looked OK.

Does anyone have any idea what this stuff is?

The first pictures are the oil draining from the bike. The other two are pictures of just the gunk. I can see a few droplets of water here and there.

[Sin]

blown head gasket or leaking water pump into the oil

[eak0703]

blown head gasket or leaking water pump into the oil

That was my first though too. I drained the fuel tank, took apart the carbs and thoroughly cleaned them (left all of the metal pieces in carb cleaner for at least a day if not a bit more) and replaced this oil.

The bike started up and ran horribly. On full choke it barely kept idle. A little bit of white smoke eventually came out (water). The clutch was always engaged.

I stopped the bike and added 1 can of seafoam into the oil. Started the bike back up. Within 15 minutes of idling like this the bike came to life. I took it off choke, it ran at 1000RPM with no problem. The clutch was still stuck on, but after 20 minutes that freed up as well and now works quite normally.

The white smoke ceased and nothing appears to be leaking from the bike.

I will drain this oil/seafoam after another few 15 minute trial runs. Then i will fill up with fresh oil and 1/2 a can of seafoam....repeat the trial runs and drain that. Then will try with just oil.

Ps: the bike ran for 20 mins just standing there. There is a temp guage on the bike that appears to be working and it never redlined. The fan would come on periodically and besides that the bike didn't feel that hot.

Still a question as to what the white stuff is and if anyone has see that before. There was only a little bit of water there...I dont think the white stuff is water. It is quite thick and goopy.

[Sin]

its coolant and oil mixed and it turns into whipped cream after a while of running

[eak0703]

its coolant and oil mixed and it turns into whipped cream after a while of running

Hmm.. I can see that the coolent level in the bike appears to be stable. The white smoke cleared up and since then I can see no smoke out of the exhaust of any color (white/blue/black).

The bike also does not appear to overheat (well not yet).

I wonder if some just accidentally poured the coolant into the oil. The guy i bought it from never rode it. It sat for at least 3 years with him. Before that I have no clue who owned it or how knowledgeable they were about "where to pour the green stuff".

I suppse I'll be able to find out more once i drain this new oil. If there's water in there now then the headgasket probably is the culprit. Otherwise I claim that someone just poured the wrong stuff into the wrong place.

[slotzero]

A good price on the bike nonetheless

[Trackerrrr]

I'll bet some of that milky **** is from condensation and oil breakdown from sitting so long without running.

Any running bike you get for $100 is a steal in my book. Good score.

I'd change the oil again after you've ran it awhile to get any remain contamination out too.

[StevieB]

I once bought a Kawi Vulcan 750 for $250- sportbike shop owner didn't want to mess with it, and said it had a blown head gasket. Bought the gaskets, got my buddy who was buying it over, and we started it up. NO white smoke, NO chocolate milkshake in the oil pan, etc. So, we cleaned it up, he brought it home and rode it for 2 years- no blown head gasket problems during the whole time.

May you be as lucky on your bike.

[ctandc]

If you arent' losing coolant, or gaining coolant, then it's more than likely just condensation and residue from the oil sitting for so long.

I bought an old Satellite years ago for a drag car project. Was told the 383 in it was toast. While drinking some beer, we decided to see if we could get it to run.

I took the oil drain plug out and CLUMPS came out. Ended up removing the intake and pouring several GALLONS of kerosene through the engine with drain plug open.

Got the animals nest out of the carb and engine compartment, several cycles of flush w/ kerosene, fill with oil, run, then drain, we actually got the engine to run good. Sold it to a buddy who ran it for several years.


Good luck.

[eak0703]

A good price on the bike nonetheless

Yea, I figured for $100 even if it never ran it would be cool to learn how a clutch actually looks inside or how to take an engine apart completely.

So far I've gotten carbs down OK, but haven't ever taken apart an engine the whole way.

I might not have to w this bike. Unless Sin is correct and it starts leaking coolant into the oil again!

If anyone else is interested here are some other photos and videos of the bike:

http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/eak0703/Shadow/

$100 Price tag
Clean title but get this: Odometer reading on the title: 178,000 miles!
Odometer reading on the bike: 8k (and some change)

that can't be possible right???

I'll bet some of that milky **** is from condensation and oil breakdown from sitting so long without running.

Any running bike you get for $100 is a steal in my book. Good score.

I'd change the oil again after you've ran it awhile to get any remain contamination out too.

I'm going to change the oil and run another 1/2 a can of seafoam through there. Then I'll change it again..I peered into the oil pan and could see it completely coating the oil pump pickup. I bet that stuff is everywhere inside the engine.

If you arent' losing coolant, or gaining coolant, then it's more than likely just condensation and residue from the oil sitting for so long.
Good luck.

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for coolant level changes. otherwise she looks pretty clean

[kevin2502000]

Holy crap thats a nice looking bike!

[eak0703]

Holy crap thats a nice looking bike!

Lol thanks! I don't know if you mean the Shadow or maybe it's the 2003 SV650s right next to it (in the video)

The shadow has almost no rust on it. Spots here and there and little dots on the top part of the forks.

Anyone have any tips on how to get those out? or if they ever come out? I couldnt even really clean them from the top caps on the carburetors

Sadly I have sold my 96 Katana when i got the SV...I think the Katana may have actually been better.

[kevin2502000]

The $100 shadow was what I'm referring to.

[eak0703]

Update!

Wanted to give a brief update on the 85 Shadow.

I've gotten her running! ~ sort of

First the good:
After draining all the milkshake/paint old oil out, I ran 2 quarts of oil 1 full bottle of seafoam. 10 miles then drained...did this 2 times. Then filled up to capacity (3 quarts and change) with standard 10w40.

• No apparent coolant leaks, no smoke of ANY color from the pipes.
• on a 65F day the bike started without any choke! most days can get her running with 0 time choked.
• runs at 1100 RPM idle is fantastic
• put about 70 miles on the bike so far.

The not so good:

• Leak out of the left fork seal ($35 for a pair of seals from stealership)
• spotty rust on the upper parts of the forks. clean the suspension length, just above it gets messy.
• can't get anything above 4000RPM.

I think the issue may be with the float height. I used a caliper and set to factory specified 6.8mm but for some reason it is super all the way up to 4000RPM but just bogs down anything above that.

Here's the other possible problem, I noticed when i took the carbs apart that the slides didn't have super smooth operation. I cleaned very well and oiled em. The slide up pretty well, but if i push them all the way up, they are quite slow to come down. So..this concerns me a bit

Throttle response is awesome though, if i give it gas, it doesn't stay at high RMPs for long..it is pretty snappy.

I've read a bunch of carb-related posts. Sounds like floats is where i should start. right?

Thanks
ps. pegs down. I was so saddened to learn the terrible news. What a good guy.

[paul.miner]

I've got an '85 Shadow VT700C, great bike! Unfortunately, I wrecked it a few weeks ago, bent the handlebars and damaged the shift linkage (ironically, the problem it had when I bought the bike).

I haven't taken the carbs apart on it yet, but float height is a likely candidate. Rig up a hanging fuel supply to get the tank out of the way so you can work on the carbs with the bike apart.