I recently ordered something from Power sports plus and FedEx was dropping it off two days later. Great company and seem to be well organized

Quote from: sledge on December 02, 2012, 02:49:50 AM
Is it leaking from several places at the same time?

You definately need to check the breather.

The left-side gasket leak was far worse -- it was literally a leak -- than the right side, which was just a moist spot that could have been there a long time. I'll order the gasket anyway and replace it, but it's not a serious threat like the left side one. Can you elaborate on the breather, though?

As for other posts:

1) Agreed; this bike is not going anywhere in its current state.  Oil pan looks okay, right side gasket looks okay as well. It's a GS500E so I don't have to worry about the oil cooler ( ) Good to know it's fairly simple!

2) Thanks for the tip, will place the order ASAP.

The breather tube from the top of the motor to the airbox. The entire system needs to be able to breath - well, it and the actual steel mesh filter under the breather tube plate at the top of the motor. But the chance of that mesh filter being clogged is slim to none.

Quote from: Foxtrot Tango on December 01, 2012, 06:34:28 PM
So after another 30 minute spin, yes, this thing is literally dripping oil.

Reference this: http://www.powersportsplus.com/parts/search/Suzuki/Motorcycle/2002/GS500/CRANKCASE%20COVER/parts.html Gasket #15 seems to be the one at fault; I'm ordering a gasket for the oil pan just in case, as well as an oil filter and Gasket #2 (the bottom of that one is slightly moistened but not bleeding 10W-40). Gasket #15 is literally dripping oil all over the frame and side of the oil pan (and also my rear tire!)

Does anyone have any experience with this site?

The bike is rideable; but it's a rodeo. Despite being in the desert; everyone has a lawn, and this lawn must be watered or else your kids will grow up to become axe murderers (??). This water runs down the sides of the roads and forms little streams at intersections. Oily rear tire and water causes some wobbling when going over that wet strip. When I try to practice the MSF Panic Brake, the rear end slips out and also wobbles. Could be technique -- not hard enough on the front brake? -- but I wouldn't expect it to go sideways.

with oil all over the tire ? nah, it would never loose traction and swing around. can't be the oil. nope !



sarcasm off.

if i understand you correctly, the bike was serviced. ask them what they did, and if they noticed the leaking gasket. i'd be worried about many other things if they had the side cover off.... and dropped wrenches in there etc

might want to check other fasteners for tightness too

Okay, so it's been a while, but in this case, that's a good thing. I've been too busy riding to post!

Last month I bought me some tools and cracked her open. The first thing I did was adjust the headlight. My commute involves riding at 70+ MPH on an unlit highway at night, and I was tired of my headlight illuminating the International Space Station instead of the ground. Using the wiki, I found the page to properly aim the headlight, and modded that. ( http://www.webmaster10.com/ldr/headlight_aiming.html )

Warmed her up and drained the oil before removing bits. The shifter came off, then the sprocket cover -- I was AMAZED to see all that muck and debris-laden grease under my sprocket, to include dead leaves -- and then I cracked open the generator cover. As the thing slid off, I told myself "Well, THERE'S YOUR PROBLEM"....the gasket was baaad. Parts had literally dried, cracked, and rotted. My theory is that a previous owner (perhaps the aforementioned hippies) might have neglected this thing, just sort of letting it sit. (I had the carbs cleaned and the fuel lines, which also went bad, replaced in the past.)

I soon discovered that where the gasket was good, it was literally fused to the case. Rock-solid and stubborn. Fingernails wouldn't remove it. Brass brushes didn't get it. I didn't want to risk destroying the cover with overzealous use of the Dremel. So the only option left was to be very, very careful and use a stainless-steel razor.

This proved to be an exercise in patience. The whole operation took the better part of two weekends -- probably about 12-16 hours total. I didn't get to work on it during the week, but rigged up a ghetto FOD cover by duct-taping plastic bags over the exposed motor.

That complete, I picked up some Yamabond to help seal the new gasket. A bit of Yamabond on the case, gasket went on, and with some swearing -- the stator and rotor are magnetically attracted, and like to jump at each other -- I managed to get the case back on. Torqued everything to spec with a torque wrench, star pattern.

After putting Humpty Dumpty back together, I put the drain plug back on, poured in 3 Qt of Valvoline 10W-40 for motorcycles, and ran it for a little bit. No leaks.

Ran it around the 'hood, at night, in the wet. Bad decision in retrospect. No leaks.

Ran it the next day to get my new tires (Dunlop GT501s in the stock size). No leaks.

Finally, the bike is fully functional! The headlight actually illuminates the road, so I don't have to ride behind and astern a car to help shine a path for me. The GT501s are worth every penny -- they stick MUCH better than the stock Bridgestone Exedras, which to my knowledge may never have been replaced. At all. I'm much more confident on them. And best of all? I can thrash this thing, park it, move it out of the way, and eat off the floor where I parked it....because the floor is no longer irrigated with 10W-40.

Thanks to everyone who helped!

EDIT: I also changed the oil filter, for what it's worth.

Quote from: weedahoe on December 02, 2012, 07:50:42 AM
I recently ordered something from Power sports plus and FedEx was dropping it off two days later. Great company and seem to be well organized

Seconded. PSP is fast, cheap, and excellent.