Oil Leak - Help

[LR44]

A couple weeks ago, I finished a rebuild of my swing arm and installed a new rear tire. During the rebuild, the bike was resting on the oil screen cover bolts with the rear end supported by jacks (one for each kickstand).

I come outside a couple days after I finished all of the above and there's an oil spot underneath my bike. Not pleased. I first look underneath the bike to see if resting it on the oil screen cover loosened the screws. I check with a torque wrench and they're all gravy. No leakage around the seam of the cover. I also checked the drain screw and the oil filter screw just in case. Both are fine with no leakage.

I was due to install a new sprocket anyway so I pulled the sprocket cover and cleaned the area with a work towel. I see oil on the towel, so I wipe the area down thoroughly and within about a half hour after installing the sprocket, I notice a trail of oil appear. The oil appears to be pooling under the starter motor (see the attached photo - the red arrow is where the trail of oil appeared). Again, not pleased.

A look at Ron Ayers suggests to me that this is due to a bad starter motor gasket, but I haven't started the bike in a couple months. Am I correct or could this be something else?

[LR44]

A couple weeks ago, I finished a rebuild of my swing arm and installed a new rear tire. During the rebuild, the bike was resting on the oil screen cover bolts with the rear end supported by jacks (one for each kickstand).

I come outside a couple days after I finished all of the above and there's an oil spot underneath my bike. Not pleased. I first look underneath the bike to see if resting it on the oil screen cover loosened the screws. I check with a torque wrench and they're all gravy. No leakage around the seam of the cover. I also checked the drain screw and the oil filter screw just in case. Both are fine with no leakage.

I was due to install a new sprocket anyway so I pulled the sprocket cover and cleaned the area with a work towel. I see oil on the towel, so I wipe the area down thoroughly and within about a half hour after installing the sprocket, I notice a trail of oil appear. The oil appears to be pooling under the starter motor (see the attached photo - the red arrow is where the trail of oil appeared). Again, not pleased.

A look at Ron Ayers suggests to me that this is due to a bad starter motor gasket, but I haven't started the bike in a couple months. Am I correct or could this be something else?

[LR44]

So I walked outside yesterday and found a oil spot underneath my bike. I checked the usual suspects: the drain bolt, the oil filter bolt and the oil screen cover bolts. All of them were properly torqued to spec and no leakage was found around these areas.

After taking a closer look, the oil looked like it was dripping from somewhere behind the sprocket cover. Seeing as I had to install a new sprocket anyway, I took off the cover and cleaned up the gunk with work towels. Some of the gunk was laced with oil, so I knew the leak was in that area. After installing the new sprocket, I waited about a half hour to see if I could trace where the oil was coming from. Sure enough, I saw a streak of oil develop from beneath my starter motor (indicated by the red arrow in the attached picture).

I took a towel and forced it into the gap between the engine and the starter motor and found a substantial amount of oil had pooled there. Diagrams on Ron Ayers would suggest the issue is a bad starter motor gasket, but could this be something else? I haven't run the bike in a couple months so I suspect the onset of cold temperatures at night is why this issue is rearing its head, but what do I know.

[LR44]

So I walked outside yesterday and found a oil spot underneath my bike. I checked the usual suspects: the drain bolt, the oil filter bolt and the oil screen cover bolts. All of them were properly torqued to spec and no leakage was found around these areas.

After taking a closer look, the oil looked like it was dripping from somewhere behind the sprocket cover. Seeing as I had to install a new sprocket anyway, I took off the cover and cleaned up the gunk with work towels. Some of the gunk was laced with oil, so I knew the leak was in that area. After installing the new sprocket, I waited about a half hour to see if I could trace where the oil was coming from. Sure enough, I saw a streak of oil develop from beneath my starter motor (indicated by the red arrow in the attached picture).

I took a towel and forced it into the gap between the engine and the starter motor and found a substantial amount of oil had pooled there. Diagrams on Ron Ayers would suggest the issue is a bad starter motor gasket, but could this be something else? I haven't run the bike in a couple months so I suspect the onset of cold temperatures at night is why this issue is rearing its head, but what do I know.

[LR44]

I walked outside a week ago and found an sizable oil spot under my bike. I haven't started it in a couple months as its still a work in progress. I checked the usual suspects: the drain bolt, the oil filter bolt and the oil screen cover bolts. All of them were properly torqued and there was no leakage around the seams.

After a lot of frustration and searching, I determined that somehow oil was pooling underneath my starter motor and was dripping down behind my sprocket cover (see red arrow in attached image). Before I go the whole nine yards and pull the starter motor, has anyone experienced this issue before? I thought it may be a worn starter motor gasket but what do I know.

[Ram Jet]

Originally Posted by LR44

I walked outside a week ago and found an sizable oil spot under my bike. I haven't started it in a couple months as its still a work in progress. I checked the usual suspects: the drain bolt, the oil filter bolt and the oil screen cover bolts. All of them were properly torqued and there was no leakage around the seams.

After a lot of frustration and searching, I determined that somehow oil was pooling underneath my starter motor and was dripping down behind my sprocket cover (see red arrow in attached image). Before I go the whole nine yards and pull the starter motor, has anyone experienced this issue before? I thought it may be a worn starter motor gasket but what do I know.

Any oil directly under your counter shaft sprocket? Maybe a counter shaft seal?

Bill

[DannoXYZ]

Pull the starter and check the O-ring. If it's flattened, replace it with new one so it's rounded. I've reinforced with some RTV as well.

[Alex]

All threads merged. Brian - it looks like some of these got caught in the spam prevention process. They go into a queue to be approved, but are not deleted. Apologies for taking this long to get to them.

[LR44]

Thanks Alex - my apologies for submitting so many posts. I'm a newbie and didn't realize that was something that might happen.

Lesson learned!