Oil Leak and Squeaks on my 01...

[TheGoodGuy]

I got an oil leak (well a couple). One is my valve cover gasket, looks like i will have to take it off again and put it back and retighten it once again..or replace the gasket.

The second leak is on the underside, its on the side of teh sidestand, infact teh side stand has oil on it (the bracket the sidestand is attached to has oil on it). Its leaking around there. I cant seem to find where it coming from. Its not the chainlube, cause it feels like oil by touch, but it could be..

anycase i got a leak there. its not a mix of fuel dripping and diluting the stuff near the front sprocket but rather oil.
what might have gone wrong and how am I going to fix that.

Then I got a squeak from my rear suspension (Katana 600 shock). I am thinking the rear shock linkage.. every time i hit a bump it squeaks. Also my front progressives are "bottoming out"..i dont have a fork leak.. it seems to be bottoming out sometimes.

Manjul

[dmp221]

Finding an oil leak is a pain in the butt sometimes..fortunately, the GS is a relatively small bike...soo..clean the bike up...soap & water, garden hose, dry off everything.  Then park it overnight on level ground with light-colored  paper (newspaper or better, paper toweling) under the suspect areas.  In the morning, the oil spots are the beginning of the trail you try to follow backwards to the source of the leak.  Good luck.

[JamesG]

What he said about the oil leak.

The squeek is probably the shock rubbing the swing arm. Could be the bearings or shaft but is probably the shock.  look at the inner parts of the swing arm where it comes close to the shock. You should see some worn paint on it or the spring.

[Kerry]

I'm not sure if you were around for the Fluid Leak thread.  It talks about the chain lube that builds up behind the left side cover behind the shift lever.

I only mention it because I remember that the "black stuff" dripped from my sidestand as well as the shift lever.

[Diderich]

I have an '01 with the exact same leaks.  I've ordered a new valve cover gasket, since I'm at 3600 miles and due to check the valves anyway, I figured I'd just replace the gasket.  I've convinced myself that the goo on the side stand is as Kerry described, because to me it more resembles the goo left in the bottom of my chain cleaning turkey pan.  The gasket from suzuki is about $25.

I haven't had any problem with my progressives...far from it, actually.  Fork oil level has some affect on bottoming, is the level good?

[pantablo]

I get a squeak from my gsxr shock-its the coil of the shock rubbing (ever so lightly) on the front edge of the swingarm.

Your progressives shouldn't be bottoming out completely but they may occasionally under hard bumps. Its not perfect-more like what stock should have been.

What they said about the oil at the side stand. I guess I've been lucky that I havent had any of these issues with my 01.

[gsJack]

Then I got a squeak from my rear suspension (Katana 600 shock). I am thinking the rear shock linkage.. every time i hit a bump it squeaks. Also my front progressives are "bottoming out"..i dont have a fork leak.. it seems to be bottoming out sometimes.
Manjul

I don't know if you shipped the stock shock yet, but I'm thinking you might want it if your having trouble with the Kat shock rubbing after reading all this.  JohnLA mentioned he had a low milage takeoff shock that also might be available.  Let me know if you need to keep your shock and I'll check with John.

I've never had my Progressive springs bottom yet in a couple years of using them and I weigh about 240#.  Maybe I'm not riding it hard enough.   The same Progressives are in my new 02 now, the're broken in just right.  :lol:  :lol:

[pantablo]

Maybe I'm not riding it hard enough.  

Somehow I doubt that!