Oil Leak-1st bike-Young man asking for help

[Guest]

Hey guys, this is my first post so I thought I would share a little bit about myself. I am weeks away from graduating college (I am super pumped idk why i felt the need to include this as my introduction but i am happy young man), for years I have been tossing around the idea of buying a motorcycle, not for flash or chicks but for the sole purpose of touring around the country. right around the end of last semester I made a promise to myself that I would get a motorcycle before the summer was over.
That being said I am very frugal and not one to fall victim to impulse buying with anything really. I began performing a great deal of Cl research and forum inquires to better educate myself on the varies items to consider with make/model/flaws/ longevity this past summer I got the bug bad to buy a bike. I mean super bad, I spent more time thinking about the bike I wanted and the adventures I'd be able to take on to the point that it may or may not have resulting in lower work productivity :P To speed up the story, this site single handily was the reason I choose to buy the bike I did a 1982 gs850g with 73,000 miles on it from the original owner who also was married to the sister of the owner of the motorcycle shop that I bought it from.

From what I gather from site the better I lay out the information I know about the bike the better equipped a person is to offer up useful information about what I should be doing so I will list off the maintenance records I know about the bike.
Last summer the seller had the following work done to the bike at 72,500

1. Rebuilt carbs
2. Petcock
3. fork bushings
4.Oil seal
5. All fluids changed
6. Speedo/Tach cable
7. Valve cover Gasket
8.Dust seal
9. Valve adjustment with 8 new shims
10. Cam Caps
11. Plugs
12. Tires
The seller had great records on the bike and was only selling it because his wife said he had to many bikes. I got the sense he really enjoyed and took care of the bike considering the miles on it.

I knew about the common electrical issues and such well in advance of even going out to see the bike. Thank you gsresource members for contributing a wealth of knowledge!!

Now to get to my main concern, I have put 2300 miles on the bike since I bought it july 17th of this year. The only issue I have run into is my battery went dead on me. Two weeks ago I went to ride it and found the problem. took the battery to batteries plus and had to them charge it and test it. I was really hoping that it was just a junk battery, unfortunetly the battery is fine, leading me to believe I am going to need to get out the flow chart and diagnose the issue with a multimeter over winter and replace the rr or stator etc Which I am fine with and looking forward to doing. Yesterday how ever I rode with a buddy to harbor springs to ride through the tunnel of trees. It was beautiful much more than I expected. On the ride home two things happened though.
Three out of the four small round engine cam covers? I think fell off on the highway. Most likely due to the vibration and no lock tight. Simply fix, but once I got home and parked the bike I noticed that oil was leaking from under the carbs, top areaish and down the left side fins.

I was not happy to see this because I cleaned the engine up great when I got the bike and not oil has leaked out other than a very very small amount around tach cable, where it comes out of the engine. I took a picture of what I saw the moment spotted the leak and I am asking if anyone has any idea of what my POA should be for addressing and resolving the problem before next spring. Also I should say that this was found at end of a 350 mile trip.

Thank you for any help, also anyone believes this post was to long or in the wrong area. I am humble enough to admit Ive made a mistake and will remove it and ask in the right section.

Ryan

[Morethananumber]

This is a picture of my pride and Joy also.

[dorkburger]

First, welcome to the site, and good job on researching..your picture made me laugh...gloves on the ground in the foreground....At stops, my jacket usually falls wherever I take it off, usually just as you're gloves in your pic. Ive never owned an 8 valve GS, but the pics look like there is cooked oil on the cooling fins below the half moon seals where the covers jumped ship...I would start there, after of course someone more knowledgeable then me checks in...That looks like a really clean bike also.

[Morethananumber]

Thanks Glen I love this bike it has brought me and my gf alot of joy these past few months. I will be sure to keep researching the issue and really get into it once I get to the garage I am storing it at which is an hour and half away. Should I be ok to ride it that far if oil level is good?.

[Nessism]

Looks like the valve cover is leaking. Order yourself an OEM gasket and plan to adjust the valves while you are in there. Easy fix.

[dorkburger]

Looks like the valve cover is leaking. Order yourself an OEM gasket and plan to adjust the valves while you are in there. Easy fix.

Nessim is a good egg... far more knowledgeable then me......listen to him

[azr]

ya, the leak is either from the valve cover or the half moons. I find it very odd though that 3 out of the 4 cam covers fell off at the exact same time your sprung a fairly large cam cover leak. Is it leaking on both sides or just the left one? Weather it is the gasket or the half moons you are going to have to order a gasket no mater what. If you are real lucky you may be able to save the existing cam cover gasket, most of us if we're lucky can get 2-3 uses of a new paper gasket. Some will spray it with WD-40 or the like when putting it on to help with it coming off at the next valve adjustment. The half moons can be reused if they don't look harder than a hockey puck, you could even put a dab of oil resistant gasket maker in there when you put them in..or just order new ones with the gasket, they're not much. But I've had new ones leak too so the sealer never hurts. If the valves were only done 2300 miles ago they 'should' still be fine but like Ed suggested, might as well check them while you're in there, but keep in mind if you shim any valves you will need to vacuum synch your carbs afterwards to have things running right. I would look closely on the valve cover and make sure there are no cracks as well. Just so you know there is no reason to be using locktight on those cam caps, not at all. There's really not many places to use locktight on these bikes.

[azr]

Oh ya, I forgot...great looking bike!! and a good post, well described. If you need some cam caps PM me your mailing address and I'll send you the 3 you're missing. Too bad, they were brand new. Maybe the PO put in the wrong screws for the caps?? Maybe before you pull the valve cover off, check the all the bolts for proper torque. Start with the easy stuff first I always try to tell myself.....rarely listen to myself though.

[Morethananumber]

[QUOTE=azr;1941958]ya, the leak is either from the valve cover or the half moons. I find it very odd though that 3 out of the 4 cam covers fell off at the exact same time your sprung a fairly large cam cover leak. Is it leaking on both sides or just the left one?

Now that you mention it I am reminded of a fact that I forgot. Not to long ago I had two screws come out of the caps and the others were loose. I may have made a novice move and thought that I could go to a hardware store and buy two new ones, should I be buying them from a dealer? So had I been a good owner I would have checked them before my ride. Also yes the only side leaking like the picture is the left side.

[azr]

The cam cover screws are very particular, if you pull one out..I 'think' you have two left, ha,ha,ha. you'll see what I mean. Can't imagine any hardware store having any, probably OEM only. Maybe the oil leak loosened them?? If two fell out before I would be VERY suspicious that the threads for those screws are stripped. If that's the case you will need a new valve cover, not a big issue, cheap as molasses, tons of them around this site. Just check the thread with the screws you have left. Again if you need some covers AND some screws just PM me, yours for shipping.

[simon kuether]

The cover screws aren't anything special .
Just a countersunk head screw .
Get the right size though (can't remember off hand - but they're metric - 6mm with 1.25 pitch ??) .
I lost 2 of my covers because I didn't check them . I replaced mine with Stainless Steel screws .
You learn these things (I bet you'll be anal about checking them for a while).
I "run a spanner" over the whole bike Every now and then .
The bolts (or studs if you're lucky) that hold your exhaust headers into the head will come loose as well .
Careful not to overtighten those buggers or they'll strip clean out .
That's a pain in the arse I'll give you the drum . Just goodly firm will do them .
I've had some engine mount bolts come a smidge loose as well .
You'll probably make some of the same mistakes that a lot of us have made over the years .
Generally , that's when you go looking to see what you did wrong .
The good bit is (as you have probably discovered already) is that there's heaps of good folk on here that will help you out with bits and advice .
The only reason many of us supposedly "know what we're talking about" is because we've made a few balls ups ourselves .

You've chosen a good ride old mate .

Have fun .

Cheers , Simon .

[eil]

Welcome! Nice old scoot you have there, fellow Michigander. Keep up on all the maintenance and it will still give you plenty more miles.

Regarding the charging problems, there are three things that usually go bad: the wiring connections, the regulator/rectifier, and the stator. In that order. So first order of business would be to charge up your battery to full. Then let it sit for about a day to let the surface charge settle. Then install it in the bike and run through the stator papers, taking careful notes of the results. You can choose to clean electrical connectors and grounds before doing the test but if it were me, I'd do that afterward so that you can run the tests again and tell right away if cleaning up the wires fixed the issue or if something else is amiss.

[Morethananumber]

Thanks Charles I will be sure to do that once I get past these mid-terms. Its nice to see there are gs members in Michigan, since I got the bike I have always been on the look out for gs's on the road, because I think it would be nice to have someone to go on a ride with or something.. I seem to find more old honda's than any around here though. Ill keep my eyes open though.