'82 GS1100GK Oil leaking

[Ondina]

Hey! Noob here. I just got a GS1100GK this past week, I'm a new rider, and enjoying it. I picked it up from a motorcycle mechanic in Atlanta, super great dude. Told me everything he had done to the bike. He told me there'd be a slight oil leak on the front right side of the engine. Which there is. I rode yesterday and had a good bit of oil on my right leg. So i checked the levels and filled in as required. Tonight I rode to and from work, and my right leg is very noticeably wet with oil. Enough to make me not ride it until I can fix it. No shops that will work on it in my area are open until next year.

The guy I got it from said it was probably the O-Ring for the Tach cable, and that I'd probably need to get it fixed to get the oil to stop leaking. He gave me both of the service manuals, and told me everything I needed was in there.

I can't seem to find how to locate this, or what part I might need when I do. Has anyone else experienced this? Any advise or help? This is my first bike, and I have very little mechanical experience. But I'm really enjoying riding it, and would love to get it back on the road.

 

[Redman]

Welcome to THeGSR, from a fellow GK owner in Michigan.

Do introduce yourself some more (maybe in Owners section). And post some pics of the bike.

..........................I'm a new rider, and enjoying it. ....................

And welcome to riding.
GK kinda big bike for a first bike, but Okay.
I will recommend finding a MSF class. Around here the registration fill up during the winter for all the classes in spring and summer.

........................be a slight oil leak on the front right side of the engine............... ............

Maybe clean off the engine, so will be easier to see where it is coming from. May not be easy to locate because blows arounfd in the wind and such.
"Slight oil leak" doesnt sound so slight when gets pant leg wett on ride to work.
Tach drive is on front of engine, yes. But high up, in valve cover, in center...ah, where the tach cable goes into. THere are two seals in there.
Slopping on your pant leg sounds more like cam cover gasket on the side under the cam cover end covers (those round things).
Maybe post some pictures.

.......
.................... No shops that will work on it in my area are open until next year. ............

Unless you can find some independant priviate guy shop, I doubt you are gonna find any shop to work on your 35 year old bike. And even if you do, about any sort of project is going to cost about what you paid for the bike (and not raise its value much).

 

[Ondina]

Welcome to THeGSR, from a fellow GK owner in Michigan.

Much appreciated

 

[Ondina]

Welcome to THeGSR, from a fellow GK owner in Michigan.

Do introduce yourself some more (maybe in Owners section). And post some pics of the bike.


And welcome to riding.
GK kinda big bike for a first bike, but Okay.
I will recommend finding a MSF class. Around here the registration fill up during the winter for all the classes in spring and summer.




Maybe clean off the engine, so will be easier to see where it is coming from. May not be easy to locate because blows arounfd in the wind and such.
"Slight oil leak" doesnt sound so slight when gets pant leg wett on ride to work.
Tach drive is on front of engine, yes. But high up, in valve cover, in center...ah, where the tach cable goes into. THere are two seals in there.
Slopping on your pant leg sounds more like cam cover gasket on the side under the cam cover end covers (those round things).
Maybe post some pictures.




Unless you can find some independant priviate guy shop, I doubt you are gonna find any shop to work on your 35 year old bike. And even if you do, about any sort of project is going to cost about what you paid for the bike (and not raise its value much).

Hey! Thanks for the response.
I took my MSF course a few weeks back, and I'm a bigger guy, with previous riding experience on dirtbikes, so I feel pretty comfortable on the GS. I'm not a speed demon either, just enjoying the ride.
I looked at a red light, and The leak is coming from pretty high on the engine, its dripping onto the exhaust. The engine is pretty clean, I'll take a look and upload some pictures in the morning.
I'm gonna make a post in the Owners section with some pictures!

Thanks a ton for the response, have a good night, and Merry Christmas!

 

[Redman]

...
................. and The leak is coming from pretty high on the engine, its dripping onto the exhaust.......

That does sound like the tach drive unit leaking. Maybe I can find a tutorial on replacing the seals in there..... Give me a couple minutes.

 

[Redman]

Here is a tutorial that Brian bwringer has.
On your GK, if still has the fairing and lowers, it might be a little easier if remove one of the lowers, the one one on the right side.
https://www.bwringer.com/gs/tachcableseals.html

bwringer has some tutorial on his site. Brian is active member here.

ALso find the BassCliff BikeCliff site. Lots of tutorials and schematics there. Cliff hasnt been around much.

Good that the GK is a good size for you. And good that you have taken a MSF class.
Do post some pics. I would be intersted to see if still has the big fairing, and wonder what you will think of that come summer there in GA.

Yes, Merry Christmas.

 

[Ondina]

Here is a tutorial that Brian bwringer has.
On your GK, if still has the fairing and lowers, it might be a little easier if remove one of the lowers, the one one on the right side.
https://www.bwringer.com/gs/tachcableseals.html

bwringer has some tutorial on his site. Brian is active member here.

ALso find the BassCliff BikeCliff site. Lots of tutorials and schematics there. Cliff hasnt been around much.

Good that the GK is a good size for you. And good that you have taken a MSF class.
Do post some pics. I would be intersted to see if still has the big fairing, and wonder what you will think of that come summer there in GA.

Yes, Merry Christmas.

Thanks a ton! Seems pretty simple! You're the best!

 

[Nessism]

Sounds like the bike needs maintenance. Please check the Newbie Mistakes thread linked in my signature.

 

[Guest]

If the oil leak has gone on long enough to make the location obscured clean the whole area well. My favorite cleanser for these evaluations these days is Maxima chain cleaner. After everything is clean and dry apply foot powder or baby powder to the area. Run the engine and look for the spots that get wet.

A dealer won't be likely to take in a repair on such an old unit, but an independent shop may or in the winter season a friendly mechanic in a dealer may (I took in GS bikes in the winter while at dealers).

 

[Guest]

Hi Ondina.

Welcome to the forum.

Changing the seals on the tach is easy enough. but I don't know that it would get your leg covered in a simple ride.

I approve cleaning first to find where the oil is coming from first.

I would suspect the right hand cover gasket or the oil filler cap.

The fastest and easiest is the cap. Check that there is an O-ring on it.
It reside in a groove on the underside of the cap.

It could be flat from age, hard, cracked or missing entirely.

If it is the r/h cover the job isn't so hard but for a new guy a little bit daunting as there is oil there and you need to disconnect reconnect the clutch cable.
But not that hard at all.

This is my last leak and it was the L/H cover.

 

[Ondina]

Hi Ondina.

Welcome to the forum.

Changing the seals on the tach is easy enough. but I don't know that it would get your leg covered in a simple ride.

I approve cleaning first to find where the oil is coming from first.

I would suspect the right hand cover gasket or the oil filler cap.

The fastest and easiest is the cap. Check that there is an O-ring on it.
It reside in a groove on the underside of the cap.

It could be flat from age, hard, cracked or missing entirely.

If it is the r/h cover the job isn't so hard but for a new guy a little bit daunting as there is oil there and you need to disconnect reconnect the clutch cable.
But not that hard at all.

This is my last leak and it was the L/H cover.

thanks for the reply! The tach cable had actually come loose, which was causing it to put out a good bit of oil. It was no where close to that in the picture thankfully, but it did put a stain on my pants leg.

 

[bwringer]

Even if the tach cable came all the way off, that fitting should not leak any oil; the cable is not the oil seal.

It's quite easy and less than $10 in parts to replace the seal and seal band using the tutorial on my site that Redman linked to:
https://www.bwringer.com/gs/tachcableseals.html

There are any number of dealers that sell OEM Suzuki parts online.

Also, I'd replace the tach cable with an OEM cable. The aftermarket cables are pretty janky, the cost difference is minor or nonexistent, and the aftermarket cables unscrew themselves a lot more easily. In addition, I usually rummage through an assortment and stick an o-ring into the fitting. This has nothing to do with sealing (there's a seal for that drive gear that should keep oil out of this area), but the o-ring simply gives a little bit of extra friction as it squishes to help keep the fitting from unscrewing.