Crap. Black sludge

[Ryguy]

Damn. I found some black sludge at the bottom of my bike. It was at the joint of the gear lever peddle and behind it. I am guessing the gear box?

This stuff doesn't look like oil, felt almost more like a grease.

I always thought the transmission on these bikes sat in the motor oil like the clutch plates. But this must be something different.

How does one check the level of it? I see no dipstick?

Would some wear on a seal for that case be the likely culprit?

Whats the severity of a leak like this? I have a course to get my full M license next week that i paid a bunch of money for. I am afraid to take the bike apart and then f%$k something up and cause me to have to forfeit that course.

I included some pics of it, then some pics of it after i cleaned it.

Any wisdom is appreciated. Cheers!

[Bluesmudge]

How often do you lube your chain?
How often do you clean out behind the sprocket cover?

Chances are its just a bunch of old chain lube/road grime. If you want to be 100% sure, pull the sprocket cover off and clean it all out 100%. It can get really gross in there so be ready for a lot of cleaning. Then sprinkle some baby powder in there and go for a short ride. Maybe 15 miles. Then open the sprocket cover again and see if/where any leak is coming from. Could be the output shaft seals, or the clutch pushrod seal, or the shift shaft seal. But it's probably none of those things and just accumulation of chain lube and road grime.  If the bike is new to you, it could just mean that the previous owner really like chain lube. Honestly, you can probably just ignore this unless you start dripping oil onto the ground.

[herennow]

my bet was chain lube also....