So, I raised the bike- my wife's first -up as high as I could- 18", or so, atop a hastily rigged ramp in the living room -as the flood water rose. In the end, the water stabilized around exhaust-header-height- for over a week.
After the waters receded, we drained the crank case, but found only oil in it- some miracle, that. Disassembled the carb and air box, both of which seemed clean. When we got this 2007 bike in 2017 with 3000 miles on the odometer, it would reliably cut out/loose power in the high 60's; the previous owner had put a Harley exhaust on it, but made no changes to the carb. Since we had it off for cleaning, we rejetted, adjusted the screw, and, hey-presto, it could sustain an indicated 82; faster than that sustained, the bike would loose power, demand to be ran at a crawl for a few minutes, if not stopped, before creeping back up to the max-reliable speed. In the next year, she put 3-4 hundred miles on it before switching to a CB500F.
The Savage became my first bike. The whole cruiser style wasn't my thing, and the heavy front end seemed sluggish- but that single big rumbling cylinder- there was no mistake that you were riding a machine. I dug it. I could live with 82 mph, so put 2300 miles on it in less than 2 months. A couple weeks ago I checked the oil, and- nothing in the little window. Balanced the bike upright while curled low, waiting for it to fall on me. Still nothing in the window. Tilted it toward me a bit. Still nothing.
I had no clue riding the bike hard it would drink oil. There was a fine mist of oil on the battery box that I attributed to road muck. So, I drained the very little oil remaining, filled-and-drained it again to removed any burnt remnants, replaced the filter, topped it off. After the first long ride, I noticed fresh oil on the battery box; after the second, the battery box, speedo cable, and upper right fins were oil covered. Looking into the recess behind the exhaust header port reveled a pool of oil.
So, I freaked out, curled up in a little ball on the sofa with this forum, began sifting through posts, and discovered the infamous bolt-cap leak. It seemed, given the leak localization, like a reasonable place to start.
While dissembling the head cover, I was alarmed to find the spark plug was only finger tight; while there was oil back behind the recess at the top end of the plug, there was no oil on the normally air-exposed head top on the left side. I was surprised to find the bolt cap stuck firmly in place.
So, I've removed remnants of the old gasket from the cover and head, carefully pealing away ribbons of (?)silicon and rubbing the surface clean with a cloth.
A few questions:
1) that loose spark plug was screwy, wasn't it?
2) what's with the stuck bolt cap? I'm the proud owner of a Verslagen plug, so will be replacing it, but whatyathink- could that stuck plug still be responsible for the leak? How should I dislodge it, anyway? Is it advisable to grab its top rim with pliers and tug?
3) is wiping the surface in prep for the gasket sufficient, or need I use a de-greaser, such as denature alcohol?
4) the head cover bolts located directly under the frame required the use of a universal adapter to get a wrench on; I can't imagine getting a torque wrench on them directly -are you able to?
5) the head cap clearance over the timing chain is crazy tight getting it off/on- so I'm inclined to only put gasket on the head, not the cap, to avoid smearing on assembly. Is that cool?
6) if I elect to replace the cam shaft cap, can it be removed without disturbing the shaft? Should it receive any gasket? (I'm guessing "no".)
Here are some pictures just to make the post seem interesting. Who knows? -maybe you'll see something. Notice the corrosion on the springs. What's that funky coil of metal mesh in the head cover? -some sort of oil filter? Notice the blue number painted inside the head near the chain- ever seen THAT before?