An introduction, and an oil leak.

[Detharian]

   Greetings fellow GSers!I've been a long time lurker on the fourms and have learned invaluable
amounts from all of the information that is on this site and the wiki. Finally
I decided that I should introduce myself and thank you all for being so helpful (even without
knowing it!)
   I've had my gs500 for 2 summers now, and am currently waiting for the Illinois cold and snow to leave
so that I can start riding my 3rd. I'm 20 and currently in college, but working on my gs500 is somewhat of
and obsession to me now. I've managed to avoid posting these couple years by doing what everyone says
and using the magnificent "search" function (it really does wonders) but finally now need to
ask about this damn oil leak that I am not quite sure what to do about.

Just a general picture of my 1992 500E, mods are listed in my sig.


You can see in the pics that my carbs are being covered slowly by this oil leak, Im not sure quite where
this is coming from, it appears to be either the tach cable or the cylinder head, but im not sure which,
or what I need to do to fix it. But it is dripping down my case, resulting in a nasty buildup of oil, and
debris. This leak causes the oil to burn off when my bike heats up and make a nasty smoke when until it
all burns off. Any insight you guys have into this would be much appreciated!




(oil residue continues down over the bolt above oil filter cover, missed that in pic)

[Janx101]

I'm no techspert ... And I don't know how much oil/residue might be in a tach cable to start with ... But from the photos I would think the gasket is shot or that little top cover is not tightened down like it should be ...

Looking at it from the front (3rd)  photo ... Sure the oil is built up around the cable ... But it seems to continue FORWARD and around the corner of the little bulge there.... I know it doesn't take much oil to look like a lake... But travelling forward around a corner from the cable? ... Could be the cable has its own leak ... Reckon I would investigate the gasket/cover tightness first though..

[Zethioth]

Welcome! I hate oil leaks. Nice GS there!

I would take some degreaser and clean as much of the oil as you can off. Then go for a nice ride.  After you get back, let it sit, then come back in half an hour. You should then be able to tell a little more specifically where the leak is coming from.

[Zwerski]

I had a leak just like that when I bought my GS. Seller included two little o-ring oil seals for that tach cable connection. It took about ten minutes to open it up, clean everything, replace the seals and button it up. Hardest part was getting the old rings off.

[weedahoe]

It would REALLY help you and us if you cleaned the engine with a degreaser first and then as the oil does leak, you can see exactly where it is coming from.

Either way and other than the oil, it looks like a clean bike to me!

[adidasguy]

Clean bike.
Dry it.
Sprinkle baby powder all over the engine.
The source of the oil leaks will become very obvious.

[jacob92icu]

I would definitely replace head gaskets and tighten the head down. Other than that checking the tach cable o rings also sounds like an awesome idea. do you have an after market seat?

[mister]

What addy said.

This will give you a place to start. Once you know where it is leaking from you can focus on That fix.

You got a square headlight. Any front on pics for us?

[Detharian]

Alright, thanks for the ideas guys. I guess i'll start with the cleaning to narrow it down, but either the gasket or the O rings would make sense... Guess it just gives me more a reason to actually get the nerve to check and adjust my valves while I'm at it.

As for my headlight here is a front pic of my bike, as far as I am aware, it is actually a car headlight.... It came like this when I bought it from the previous owner... Honestly it kinda sucks,  I had to jam a section of some rubber garden hose under the metal holding that glass lens in to keep it from vibrating. And I'm not entirely sure since I got it this way and never had a stock comparison but I feel like it should be brighter then it is since its not actually a "bike" light. IMO it doesn't look bad though, I'd really like to replace it at some point, but honestly messing with the electrical systems scare me a bit.

My seat is stock as well though as far as I'm aware, it's how I got it. Although it does seem in good condition for a 92, so maybe it was replaced or reupholstered at some point.