Specifically how and where are these Baggers always leaking from?

Thank you, I didn't know that the engine packages were that "advanced" in the flat track stuff. That's pretty cool.

Anyway, tell them to stop leaking oil. Or maybe big puke tanks like race cars?

At this point I'd rather watch some sort of outlaw run-what-you-brung full prototype electric only class.

fight me.

 

So evidently not a blown engine. Knowing this, I can better understand Kyles frustration about being DQd. So possibly those 131R twin cooled engines are more reliable than some seem to think.

 

Go with GP rules and you have 3-5 engines for a season. Blow them up, you're SOL.

 

Interesting, do the bagger engines have the clutch arm actuated inside the engine cases rather than externally like most(all that I know of other than hydraulic clutches).
Trying to consider how that might happen mechanistically. I believe HDs have a separate transmission and engine oil sumps. Wonder if the oil is being whipped too fast and it is frothing up the clutch cable or there is insufficient ventilation to allow for pressure changes.

 

If you told me I had to make an engine leak oil in a different way each time, I'd never be able to make a bike leak as much as these things do. It would be one thing if they just kept throwing rods through the cases and had catastrophic failures, but these things just run laps and spray the whole time. Even when they don't cause an issue to officials they're often just "misting" behind according to folks from trackdays who get behind them.

I guess I'm just baffled that there seem to be zero lessons learned after a year and a half of this. Are these teams dumb, lazy, or am I missing about a dozen good answers for these incidents?

Like, pumping oil up the clutch line, that is batshit crazy I can forgive someone for not seeing that coming. Is that what all of these incidents are?

 

No idea on the M8 but on the twin cams the clutch rod / plate is in the inside primary which has its own separate oil. The hydraulic clutch line itself is attached on the opposite side of primary with bleed screw and lower res right between trans and exhaust. If I had to guess the heat for the exhaust was the cause of it boiling the hydraulic oil. None of the engine, primary or transmission oil should have a direct effect or intermingle/transfer with the clutch hydraulic oil.

 

Definitely none of these.. The teams are tasked with what the Moto Co has designed, developed and produced. Racing is challenging and can be difficult to execute cleanly. Racing at a high level even more so.

I wouldn’t say oil was being pumped up the clutch line. More likely the hydraulic oil was being over heated and started boiling at the lower actuator area and boiled out the top as most gasses behave under high temp and relation to liquid.

 

Fuck make them more reliable I'd settle for making them retain their own fluids. Little steps...no need to make them climb the impossible hill all at once.

I don't know...I never got DQ for the 400 puking on the track. Probably because the only time it ever broke not a drop of fluid ever came out of it.

 

Yeah, and I wiggle things on my bike and have a quick check that everything's safety wired, too. But if an oil filter was installed without an o-ring on my bike, or a jet fan blade is loose on the fighter, neither of us pilots are going to, or should be reasonably expected to, find that problem.

 

Are they still using the hydraulic clutch or did they do a cable clutch conversion?

 

I have only seen a few pictures of certain internals in the Bagger racers but the oil transfer issue causing a somewhat similar, but not as drastic issue was a problem on the first couple of years of the production M8 baggers. There were all kinds of fixes that fixed some and not others and from what I saw/heard they were sucking the fluid from the transmission into the primary causing an overfill puke situation. It was drastic enough that transmission failures occurred from lack of oil and this was occurring in a short riding distance.

They have gone away from hydraulic clutches in the majority of the production baggers, not sure what they are using on the racers but the hydraulic clutch actuator did not like increased clutch spring pressure so I doubt they are using it.

 

Oiling the track has MotoAmerica's attention, which is good IMO. Jr Cup race 2 was stopped because Gus's bike was smoking when he picked it up and rode back to hot pit. It wasn't leaking, the hot exhaust midpipe was bent into the bodywork.

Not complaining about the red flag, it gave the opportunity to repair the bike and restart for some points.

 

Yeah, those things used to break primary chains and drop gear oil on a fairly regular basis...I wouldn't look to those bikes as a guide.

 

Oh I agree 100% - I was mainly trying to bring attention to the fact, it wasn’t the engine.

 

It seemed it took four hours of working on them to obtain 30 min of usable track time, LOL

 

Just like snowmobiles of the 60's and 70's.

 

Or helicopters or C-5's...

 

Oil was being forced out, thru the path's of least resistance..