help oil leak

[clemsonfan71]

Porbably not a simple answer to help me but I just bought a 06 with 4600 mile on it and have only been on it about 80 miles in the last 2 weeks (too cold) anyway i noticed on the left side of the engine fresh oil running down the side, I cleaned it off and rode about 20 miles and there was more there.  Sounds serious to me any suggestions would be helpful thanks

[X-ray]

Can you be more specific as to the location of the leak?  I've had to replace my clutch rod seal but mine's a '93. 

[clemsonfan71]

more specifically above the kick stand  kind of all around that side Im sure the air moves it when I m riding though.  No oil on the ground where I park it

[X-ray]

Mine looked the same way.  Take off the front sproket cover.  Its 5 or 6 little bolts.  Leave the clutch cable in the top and don't play with it.  Behind the cover you'll see the front sproket, chain and a short metal rod going into the engine.  Check for the leak there.  The seal is behind a metal plate and an easy fix if it's the culprit.  good luck 
btw you'll need to remove the front sproket to do the fix ..... no biggie

[clemsonfan71]

thanks

[Kerry]

Before you remove the sprocket, see how much "gunk" has built up inside the cover.  If it has gotten so deep that it's up to the hole where the shifter rod goes through, you may just need to clean it out.  Several extravagant doses of chain lube, mixed with road grime from the chain, will do that in a few thousand miles.

If built-up gunk doesn't seem to be the problem, I'd clean everything anyway so that you can verify X-ray's suggestion.

[CndnMax]

Check to see if there is oil on the cylinder cooling fins, if there is then welcome to the 06  many 06 have head gasket leaks. I got mine replaced at <100 miles  when mine was leaking there was oil everywhere on the left side, my shoe was soaked in oil.

[clemsonfan71]

how much would I expect to pay if it was a head casket leak?

[GeeP]

Being an '06 it might still be under warranty if it is a head gasket problem.

However, if you keep your chain lubed the GS will "Pee" on it's sidestand.  That's because the chain lube will be thrown off inside the front sprocket cover by centrifugal force and the flow to the low spot which just happens to be above the sidestand. 

As CndnMax said, '06 model year bikes are known to have a cylinder head or base gasket problem.  Some owners have reported the problem with as little as 10 miles on the bike.

Can you post a photo or two of your oil leak on a sunny day?