Oil, gunk, or my imagination?

[Jhoot]

Hey all, new rider here with very little experience fixing much of anything! Bought a GS1100G a few months back and noticed that the tach line was leaking oil. I replaced the tach line and the small oil stains stopped, so did my jumpy tachometer for the most part.

Tonight I was staring at my bike (slowly turning into my new favorite activity) and noticed more of a build up of 'oil stain' on the left side of the cylinder head than on the right. At first I just assumed that this must have something to do with the bike leaning on its stand. It looks like there is still some oil coming from where the tach line connects to the cylinder head cover, my guess is maybe a faulty o-ring?

I also noticed oil in the surrounding area, in particular around that sort of centre 'stem' to the left of the tach cable (facing forward). It seems odd because I just dont think gravity could carry oil (liquid to the touch) to that place from where the tach line attached just with the bike leaning on its stand. Im worried there is some kind of more serious leak going on here?

Sorry about all the incorrect terms etc, ive posted some photos (scratch that, one photo!) that hopefully will help explain what im seeing!

Any help would be much appreciated!

Joel

[fastbysuzuki]

You need to clean the area first and watch where the leak comes from, some cover the affected area with baby/talc powder to enable the source to be pinpointed. If it is the tacometer drive then it's an easy fix see link.

http://www.bwringer.com/gs/tachcableseals.html

[Nessism]

Might be a good time to pull the valve cover and look at the gasket and adjust the valves too (if you haven't done it lately). Neglected valves will damage your engine so don't allow this to happen.

[Jhoot]

Great, thanks for the advice!

Joel

[850 Combat]

+ 1 on the valve cover gasket. The cam chain flings oil on to that area pretty well. It is prone to leakage there. You might consider replacing the valve cover bolts with allen bolts if you remove it. In any case, make note of which length of bolt goes where. The parts book isn't that clear on this, as I recall. Most people say only an OEM gasket will do. I have had good service with cheap aftermarket ones, which are way less expensive (and easier to source) Z1 enterprises sells them. Most people will say to install it dry. As a person who dislikes scraping gaskets off metal parts, I tend to put a bit of anti seize on the gasket.

Probably, you need a valve adjustment. It is way more often than not a piece of neglected maintenance. I've been guilty too.

[Jhoot]

Thanks for this, yes it makes sense to do an adjustment if im going to be pulling the valve cover off. The bike is running pretty well actually, so its just a matter of trying to get ahead of what seems to be a pretty neglected bike despite the fact it was the PO's daily. I just need to resist the temptation to begin to make cosmetic changes to the bike before mechanical!

[Jhoot]

"You might consider replacing the valve cover bolts with allen bolts if you remove it. In any case, make note of which length of bolt goes where. The parts book isn't that clear on this, as I recall."

What is the advantage of switching over to the allen bolts?

[850 Combat]

You know, there isn't one. I forgot that these are hex head, not JIS screws.