Scared straight

Man was I scared yesterday. I have been riding the ole black and tan to work lately. Been super nice to do, and I feel like the world is my oyster.

I was cruisin the Sylvan at about 50 and the bike lost power, but only briefly. It regained it's momentum pretty quick. Kinda got me thinking........well I rolled down Canyon and hit the first light. I smelled burning oil. Next light, I was engulfed in smoke! Smoke from my bike! Next light even worse. Man what happened? The oil cap rattle loose?
I got to the bottom of the hill and took a look, there was oil all over my oil bag and pipes. I limped into a parking lot, and shut her down. Close inspection showed that the oil was coming from the engine, not the oil bag. That ain't good. I figured I had somehow blown the top seals..........crap what have I done. After letting it cool, the bike and my temper, I rode it the rest of the way home. I could look down and see the oil squirting out onto my pipes, man what a smell.

I got up this morning, pretty depressed. I didn't wanna go out there and completely disassemble the bike to get the engine out. I put it off, played some PS2, surfed some net, kicked walls. I went out this afternoon, and cleaned all the oil and mess off the engine and pipes and started it up. I watched closely, keeping the rpms up. The oil was coming from around the bolts that hold the rocker boxes on. I put a wrench to it and sure enough it was loose. I tightened it down, and checked the others. Out of 12, like 8 were loose. I gave them all about 15 ft lbs of torque and cleaned up again. Went for a short ride, no problems whatsoever. Back in business. I am glad I checked before tearing apart that bike, that would not be an easy task................