93 suzuki katana problem?

Question

One day my bike started smoking, so I stopped and noticed that the engine was wet with oil, dripping onto the headers- but I'm not sure where its coming from. After riding for a few days I noticed that once I reached a certain rpm, the bike had barely any power, and the rpm's would practically redline. After about a day of riding, the bike has no power at all, and barely accelerates. When I give it gas the rpm's just shoot right up. The chain isn't loose or skipping at all either. Also it seems to be leaking more oil. Please help me!!!

Answer 1

if your rpm is going up, but your bike isnt moving then your clutch is way out of adjustment or shot. Take care of that problem and see if that wasnt overheating your oil.

Answer 2

You need to quit riding it and take it to a bike shop to get looked at. Oil leaking mean reduced lubrication and now your redlining it with low oil. Not smart. You'll end up blowing the engine if you keep riding.

I agree that if you are in gear and gassing it, the clutch is bad if all you get is high RPMs and not equally high MPH.

Pull the plastics off, wash the engine and all parts covered with oil. Wrap the nat in a plastic bag so it doesn't get wet. You can buy the stuff to clean the engine from Wal*Mart. Once it's clean and dry, change the oil and filter. Check all hoses and clamps, and inspect the engine case for cracks.

With fresh oil and a clean engine, run the bike so you can see where the oil is coming from. A clutch kit will run you close to $200 + labor, unless you put it in yourself which isn't hard. On such an old bike you'd need the fibers, steel, and springs so make sure you order the entire kit. I thought I was ordering the kit once and it was just the fibers.

anyway, replacing the clutch should resolve the redlining issue. The leaking oil is something else you'll need a pro to look at. Do your own troubleshooting though so you don't get ripped off.

Answer 3

The Katana is an air-oil cooled engine. The huge oil cooler looks just like a radiator. It is located in a place that can easily leak onto the headers. The connections can leak and get the pipes oiled. I agree with the last poster that a slipping cluch could overheat the oil. I'm not sure how that would cause the overflow, but it isn't a stretch of the imagination to see how it could. I would adjust the clutch to factory specs and see if there is anything left. I would also change the oil because a shredded clutch will throw tons of metal and friction plate compound into the engine.

If the adjustment cures everything, then you are money. If it cures the slipping but not the leaking, clean the bike carefully and look for the source of the leak. Those old Kats are not easy to work on. Things are cramped and hard to see. Hopefully there is access to the area of the leak.

I used to have an 1100 Katana. It was a great bike. I hope yours is back on the road soon.

Edit: Can you pull the plugs on it? If you did that and posted what you find, that could answer a lot. I'm not sure it will be good news though. Another thing that you might want to consider is that Katanas are notorious for fouling plugs when the enricher is run too long at start-up. If you are having bogging issues, that might be a place to start. The symptoms you are having don't seem to be all related, but they may well be too. If you have blown a head gasket or cracked the head, you may be pressurizing the oil system and blowing it out the fittings or seals and dumping it on the headers.