oil leak

ok... rode in to work today, and found this....
http://s1316.photobucket.com/user/jonmi ... e.jpg.html

looks like it's oil... was gonna check the airbox and cover gasket.... anywhere else I should look?

 

I should mention that I'm at work and need to figure out if it's ok to ride home....

 

Could have come from anywhere; clutch throwout shaft seal, breather hose connection, or someplace obscure. I had a fork leak that was so bad it was oiling my right boot by blowing back.

Unless you're seeing a big puddle under the bike, you're probably OK to ride home.

 

Thanks Fitz! no puddles, but oil level dropped to about the middle of the sight glass when the bike is held up straight.

I should mention that last night and today was the hardest I've run it in a while. I gave it a real workout last night, and Usually when I ride to work, I take the backroad scenic route, today I blew up the highway at 75+ cause I was late

 

Hmmm. It may very well be from the breather; but then like I said the wind can blow leaked oil quite a ways.

What oil are you running?

 

valvoline non-synthetic 20w50 motorcycle oil.... and I found where the oil is coming from.... my head gasket

 

Are you sure it's not coming from the valve cover area? Sometimes it tends to seep thru the cooling fins and look like it's coming from below.

If you degrease and wipe the engine from the old accumulated oil, you might have a better chance of finding the source. Can also try using a dye to pinpoint the problem.

This is assuming I have any idea what I'm talking about and it's not a head gasket ... lol

 

What I'd do is:

Clean the Plant.
Let it dry.

Dust the areas you suspect the leak(s) might be from by blowing-on some Baby Powder.
(Shake some into your palm and blow it on the Mill.)
Run it.
The trail of Oil in the Powder will show you where the leak is coming from.

 

Check around your cam chain tensioner. I previously had a leak that I would've bet the farm that it was coming from the head gasket...turns out somebody put the tensioner on without a gasket! The oil worked it's way to the front of the engine and around to the side of the jugs.

Have you done an oil change recently? Check drain plug and filter housing maybe.

I'm curious about something...it was cool yesterday morning, right? like low 50's? Could the temperature affect your oil pressure to where it would blow out somewhere?

Clean it off and ride! You'll find the leak. Just keep an eye on your oil level and make sure it's not blowing onto your back tire!!

+1 on baby powder!

 

jmillken whens the lst time you dropped your bike? or did you forget thet theres a drain plug underneath your oil filter? either you dropped bike while it was runnin or didnt drain main oil and thats all it can be

 

Panic not. Both of the above are more likely. Check the valve cover gasket in the spark plug galleries, if it's leaking there it will do what sektorgaz suggested. The moose had the same experience I did, except on the 550s it makes you think it's the cylinder base gasket.

Take Rick's suggestion; but you have to get it truly clean. Which includes IN the spark plug gallery areas and the front of the motor behind the pipes as well as around the back of the cylinders where the tensioner is. Oil leaks are often deceptive, it may take a bit of doing to track it down.

 

I would put some cash on it being a head gasket for a couple reasons.... spark plug galleries are clean, oil is only from the head gasket and lower on the plant, and i took it for a ride last night and it died out and needed to be towed home.

As far as dropping the bike, lets not talk about it.... While towing the bike home, a strap broke + the bike fell over.... breaking a mirror, my brake lever, and denting the tank.....

 

So, here's my plan of action.... fix the mirrors and brake lever, then torque the head bolts a touch, clean the engine, follow Rick's suggestion... and see where we go from there. definitely hear the cam chain tensioner too....

Ironically, a couple of weeks ago, I scrubbed the CRAP outta my engine... guess it was just practice to do it again.

PS.... I always follow Rick + Fitz's suggestions... even if they tell me to light the bike on fire + push it down my driveway.... I've learned a LONG time ago, there's always someone wiser and more experienced than you...

 

Good plan. Be sure to follow the sequence in the manual and retorque all of them to spec. If you find that they're mostly all already to spec DO NOT overtighten hoping to solve a problem, you'll just cause a bigger one.

 

why don't you NOT mess with the head bolts until everything else is checked out. you might open a can of worms. if you do decide to tighten them, they need to be loosened first one at a time then tightened, don't just start by trying to tighten them.
on the rear corner of the head by #4 plug, there's a O-ring that might have gone away, check that area close.
is the O-ring still on the filler cap?

 

good call guys.

Polock - where's this O ring????

 

Turn that cap over, should see it next to the threads almost flush with the flat part.

 

I believe the o-ring "on the rear corner of the head" he's talking about is in between the head and jugs for one of the oil galleries.
Good call on the filler cap o ring too, polock! Mine often sticks to the engine around the fill hole when I remove my cap. I always check to see that it's still on the cap before I put it back on.