I recently removed carbs / airbox etc to replace the starter clutch. Now I can't see the breather tube that has the plug in the end that you remove to let out the gooey liquid.

Can someone tell me where it comes from and how it should be routed? And what is that goo?

Thanks!

 

Hi Howard,
The pipe comes from the bottom of the air box and routes down to the R/H side exiting under the heat shield just behind the rear brake lever along with the other drain pipes from battery overflow, tank breather (if fitted) and header tank overflow pipe. The goo is just accumulated condensation and general ****e that gets blown back from the rocker breather. If all is well with the engine you should only need to drain it about once every 100,000 miles. If the pipe is missing from the bottom of the air box then you'll be bypassing the air filter.

 

Thanks Henry.
Pretty sure I reconnected it, must have rerouted it wrong.

 

Just had a look underneath the bike. Breather pipe from airbox has disappeared. Is this harmful? I'll probably stick a screw in there for now.
Strange thing is, the bike is running better than ever...
1. Put 20% Marvel Magic Mystery Oil stuff in my last oil change - immediately had a positive effect on the smoothness of the engine (better than at normal oil change) and clutch slip no worse than it was before (it was beginning to slip so I thought what the heck...)
2. Turned the idle up a bit - now 1300 - and the erratic idle / stalling when stationary have gone
3. Using Shell V-Power and that has improved the smoothness even further (and fuel consumption)
Go figure...

 

The drain pipe allows the oily nasty gunk that accumulates in the airbox to drain to the bottom, the plug should be periodically removed to get rid of the nasty stuff.

The loss of the pipe in itself is not harmful, but it will allow the gunk to drain all over the rear of the engine, adding a screw as a temporary fix will be ok in the very short term, but the liquid will have nowhere to go until you replace the pipe.

Glad to hear she's running so well.

 

Yeah I'm with the idea, leave it open and let it drain until you get a hose on it, more so
if you have a K&N style filter that can drip filter oil in warmer weather.