Left Side Oil Leak

[ivany]

So, I've got an oil leak from the left side case gasket. It appears to be just above the top rear-most bolt on the gasket; I can see the gasket has a very small split (1mm or so) just behind the bolt.

I've already got a replacement sitting at home. Question is, how hard is it to replace this one? Is it just all of those little bolts and then replace the gasket? And is there oil behind the left-side case cover, or just the right side?

Oh yeah, and if this is a leak at the top of the engine case, how bad is this? Will a 10-20 mile trip to work and back put me in danger? I plan to nip this one this weekend but I'm wondering if I need to figure out some other way to get to work this week.

Thanks!

[shchuka]

It's not a difficult job - pretty much, undo bolts, take the cover off, replace the gasket, put the cover back on, replace the bolts.  You'll need to take the front sprocket cover off first, as there's one bolt holding the engine cover behind the sprocket cover (you'll need to take the gear shift lever off for that too).  The whole job is pretty simple.  And, yes, there is oil behind it.

As for riding with this leak, depends on how bad it's leaking.  I had a leak from under the oil filter cover gasket.  Pretty bad: I lost over half a litre of oil over the weekend (a nice pool of oil on the paving in my driveway).  I topped up the oil and went to work (didn't have much choice, so took a risk).  I checked the oil before leaving from work - it was clearly lower than what I topped up, near the low mark on the dip-stick.  I topped up again and went home.  Checked the oil in the evening - was lower again, of course.  I did order the replacement gasket the same day - but could only replace it the following weekend.  My daily commute is about 65 miles.  So I rode with the leak for a week, just topping up the oil every day. Went through about a litre of oil in this week.  Replaced the gasket over the weekend - and everything is fine.  So it's really up to you whether to ride or not.