Name that leak.

I have a 1981 Maxim 650. I've had it for about 6 months and this is the first I've seen this leak.

The oil stain outside the blue section is a automobile oil change gone bad. Only what is circled is recent.

I'm not sure if this is from the brakes or the forks. I showed this to a coworker and he suggested replacing the fork seals. I'm also in the process of ordering a replacement brake line, so that should be here by the weekend.

Is there anything else I should be considering here?

Thanks!

 

Rebuilding your brake system if it hasn't been done yet.

I'm about to do my fork seals myself. What parts are you gonna be ordering?

 

Could be either the forks or the brake, if the bike has been right where it is pictured (in relation to the leak on the floor) for some period of time, I'd guess it's coming from the forks, in particular the lower tube drain hole or the lower damper rod screw gasket (at the very bottom of the fork tube).

 

yeah, the fact that it is so dirty with the oil having that kind of outward bleeding effect makes it fork oil in my book. I think brake fluid would be more consistently colored.

Try smelling it. Brake fluid and fork oil have two very different smells. If you need to differentiate the two, try taking the master cylinder cover off and comparing.

You will lose some brain cells in this process.

 

Thank you everybody. Both areas need attention, anyway, so that's what I'll get started on.

I'm going to ask my co-worker if I need anything else, but for now I'm going to buy "ALL BALLS Fork And Dust Seal Kit Offroad 56-121 56-121" off of ebay/amazon.

 

While you're "in the forks" for the oil seal replacement, there really are a number of other items which you'll need to replace.......o-rings, gaskets, some hardware, etc.

 

Feel the following places......

Where the brake hose enters the caliper

The bottom of the caliper

The brake pads

The bottom of the rotor

---- if any if those have a drip, you know fluid is coming from there

Feel the bottom of the fork, and check the drain screw and bottom bolt.

Feel the joint of the two tubes.... Should be all dry.

Whatever you find, take the time while things are apart, and do the whole brake system and the forks system.

 

put a few drops of water on the spill, if it's oil it won't mix at all. brake fluid will mix up with water