too much oil in motor?

[Erichill]

I'm not sure if I have too much oil in the motor or what else may be causing this symptom.  48El, sat for two months waiting for funds to fix rear hub. Anyway, when I did get her ready to run again, I checked the oil, and it was low, so I added about 1/2 quart.  At the time it did not occur to me that it may have sumped into the engine. So now that I have been running the bike, the oil level is about an inch down from the top of the tank.  The motor seems to be leaking in a few spots that it didn't before.  Doesn't smoke. Normally she kicks through very easy, but since this the motor sometimes is hard to turn over like it is getting a lot of resistence. She runs fine, and again is not smoking, but definetly leaking like it has too much oil pressure.

So, can it still have too much oil in engine even after running about 30 miles?  If not too much oil, what else would cause the sporadic buildup of pressure?

Thanks for your thoughts.
Eric Hill

[Deye76]

Too much oil. Surprised the extra 1/2 quart is not on the garage floor.

[CraigArizona85248]

Eric,

It does sound like you have just a bit too much oil in the tank if it's only 1" from the top.  But too much oil doesn't lead to higher oil pressure.  The new leaks you are seeing is probably due to the bike sitting for two months.  My experience with these old bikes is that they tend to leak more if they sit for a while.  The gaskets sort of dry up and shrink.  If you are lucky, they will soak up some oil and seal up again.  Where specifically are you seeing leaks?  If the oil in the tank is high enough, when you park it can run back down the vent tube and into the crank case.  This could explain it being harder to kick over.  But as Deye76 said, oil that is in the crank case will get spit out the breather onto the garage floor if there isn't room for it in the tank (or if there is so much that the pump can get it to the tank quick enough).  I'd start by taking a bit of oil out of the tank.

-Craig

[Erichill]

Thanks guys for your input, and I will drain some oil from the tank this week and see if it makes a difference.
Eric