dribble dribble... pesky oil leak.

[jake42]

i've noticed alittle oil leack when i park my bike at work. It's on a slight uphill and with the bike leaned over all day there seems to be a little bit of oil leaking out and going down the side stand.  It seems to me that it's proably coming from around the front sprocket shaft.  I'm assuming there is a probably a little oil seal there like on my other bikes.  The bike is coming apart in a couple weeks anyhow, but I'm curious if anyone has ever had to change that seal and whether it's simple job or not.  Please please don't tell me i have to split cases.

Jake

[TheGoodGuy]

i had that leak, it might be just gunk around the front sprocket that has collected..

I cleaned mine out recently, no more leak.. though i broke one of those bolts that hold that cover, got to use ezout on it. So careful when torquing it back to spec.

[octane]

I doubt you'll be splitting cases, don't fret. There actually is no oil in the case the shift shaft protrudes from - just the clutch and shaft. As the good guy said, it does tend to collect gunk and chain grime, but that's pretty thick and I dont' think it would be light enough to drip. It may be the left side of that case, which is a simple gasket change that I've had to do before. The only thing that's really a pain about that is the gasket material is hard to get off the case surface. I used a chemical stripper, which worked great, but unfortunately also took all the paint off the case! So be careful if you have to do that.

This is stating the obvious, but are you sure it's not fuel? When I first got my bike it was dripping a small amount of fuel from a leaky petcock and I panicked thinking it was oil.

[paui]

i got the same leak....pools up in a little groove in the bottom of the frame and drips right where my sidestand is...

[Kerry]

I use a thin spray-on chain lube by PJ/1.  It comes in a blue can.  Back when I was applying TOO much lube, it eventually:

1) Dripped directly onto the floor (a couple drips after each ride).
2) Dribbled down the sidestand.
3) Oozed along the underside of my shift lever.

This stuff was definitely BLACK and sticky; not just dark and slippery like dirty motor oil would be.  Of course, this depends on what you use for chain lube.

If this sounds familiar, check out the old thread Fluid Leak for more info and for a step-by-step procedure for checking your front sprocket area.