Nastiness around spark plug hole.

reinsert old plug. use solvent of Cochise and a "bottle brush" make sure the drain hole is not plugged

Have you still got intact rubber boots on the spark plug caps?
If you are going to reinsert the plug for cleaning-you need to b extra careful that dirt doesnt make its way in that plug hole...tho this (dirt introduction) might even be the case if you removed that valve cover....your call.

Should add its hard to tell if its loose dirt or baked on....from the pic looks like you have some mobile bits....

nolimitz said:

reinsert old plug. use solvent of Cochise and a "bottle brush" make sure the drain hole is not plugged

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Wow, yeah, I didn't realize there is a drain hole and it's definitely plugged by some tiny critter that made a mud nest. I guess that's why this problem happened. my stock rubber boots are fairly decent, but I think this bike was left uncovered for at least a decade before I got it. It ran very well last fall when I got it running Thanks!

The boots at the top of the spark plug wells don't keep water out, just objects so it isn't surprising that the well would fill up if the drain hole was blocked. Do you have dauber wasps in your area? A few have mentioned them blocking the drains on the forum in the past.

BTW, what is solvent of Cochise?

I'm guessing isopropyl with some help from google.

Oxalic acid?

Can't spell choice 🤣

Google never offered that answer.

Are you sure?

That makes more sense.

CXPHREAK said:

Google never offered that answer.

Are you sure?

Click to expand...

Just lazy while on vacation

Citation? 😁

Sidecar Bob said:

The boots at the top of the spark plug wells don't keep water out, just objects so it isn't surprising that the well would fill up if the drain hole was blocked. Do you have dauber wasps in your area? A few have mentioned them blocking the drains on the forum in the past.

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I think that's exactly what happened. At any rate, after reading in the work manual and discovering the cylinders can be removed while the engine is on the bike, I've decided to just play it safe and remove the heads. This way, I can also inspect my valves and get them reseated or lapped, and maybe get my cylinder walls honed, and grease the pushrods and whatever else maintence the book recommends.

What head gaskets are you planning on using? These? CX/GL 500 Head gasket X 2 – Murrays Carbs

If it's running good and compression is acceptable removing heads n cylinders may be opening a can of worms,,? It's been done many times before but not always successfully from what I've read. The good head gaskets are definitely most likely to work, many reports of blown new gaskets using the cheap kit type.

Definitely not trying to dampen your enthusiasm but an awareness of the unique problems faced in engine overhaul on these bikes is advised. Parts are difficult to source, there are special techniques for successful sealing of water pipes and more. Personally I'd concentrate on getting it functional first, then testing electrical systems, water pump and associated parts, running gear, brakes, forks, tires,,,,, when it's a viable machine the heads n cylinders could still be removed if necessary.

I'm just going to say it. There's no need to clean that hole that nobody is ever going to look down and it's surprising you even did. Screw in an old plug and clean it with solvent or an air compressor blow gun with a long thin tube

The main thing is to remove anything loose so it won't fall into the cylinder when you remove the plug (maybe too late but for next time) and that the drain is clear.

Pulling off the heads without a good reason is asking for trouble. Obo515 is right.

obo515 said:

Definitely not trying to dampen your enthusiasm but an awareness of the unique problems faced in engine overhaul on these bikes is advised. Parts are difficult to source, there are special techniques for successful sealing of water pipes and more. Personally I'd concentrate on getting it functional first, then testing electrical systems, water pump and associated parts, running gear, brakes, forks, tires,,,,, when it's a viable machine the heads n cylinders could still be removed if necessary.

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Alright, that is a very fair point. This bike does run and I had it running pretty well last fall, I'll just clean this out as best I can and hope not too much fell into the cylinder. See, this is why I'm a member of this forum because there's so many people with far more exp than myself, and I REALLY appreciate everyone's advice and willingness to help out a novice like myself. So far I have serviced forks, carbs, brakes, new tires, shep method mechanical seal, and I'm working on pinehole leaks in the gas tank and I will be upgrading the electrical system to the NWT Marty. I got the advice when I got the bike to run down the maintenance list on the FSM, so I've been trying to knock all this out, I was at spark plugs when this all came up.