Burning Sea Foam Through, Adding Coolant

Granted the bike needs all of it's liquids changed. It seems to have no braking action at all, my guess, no brake fluid at all.

It seems to move very sluggishly. At first I thought it was because the tires were low on air, as was the case with the K100. I put air in the rear tire, the worst of the two. When I rolled it down the ramp off the truck it still moved sluggishly. I'm only guessing but I think the rear drive oil has probably turned to sludge and inhibiting the movement of the wheel.

Adding Coolant

Yesterday evening, I wanted to burn some Sea Foam through the carbs when the bike started warming up I saw the temp gauge heading to the warm area, my mind clicked, "what if there's no coolant in the radiator?". I turned the engine off and came in to search the service manual for how to check the coolant level. OK, remove the faux tank and check the reservoir. Hmmm, how to remove the faux tank? Goldwing Docs.com is good for this. Except, their instructions are for 1980 and newer; this tells you to remove the seat etc. I remember doing this a few years ago when I had an 82 Interstate (I never got it running and sold it for what I paid for it).

For the 1976 and probably the 1975-1979 bikes, you simply open the tool tray/fuel filler cover with the key. On the left and right side their are small thumbwheel screws/bolts. For the coolant overflow tank simply unscrew the thumbwheel in the right side, the right side cover flips down on a hinge and has a little wire stop that keep it from going too far. Viola! The overflow coolant tank is right there! This of course is much easier than later bikes that require the removal of half the bike.

The coolant wasn't showing, or if it was showing I couldn't see it, it was now dark and I was working with outdoor lights and a flashlight. I added some water. I didn't see a problem  since I'll be buying coolant today to do a flush and fill.

I started the bike and started to let it warm. The Sea Foam seemed to work immediately, it was running smoother with less loud popping, it was still popping but very lightly.

OOOOPS! Another wild thought. What about the engine oil level? I went in to check the manual (a PDF version). Yup, same as the older models, check the stupid little window, a bad system. I had looked for the window earlier, I didn't look low enough and in between the pipes.

The window was greasy with road dirt. I wiped it down with a Qtip. I used the little screw wiper, I still couldn't see diddly. The Sea Foam burn through will hold until the oil is changed.

On the boards for today. Change the oil, get another set of plugs, and change the coolant.