CincinnatiKid
Forum Mentor
Hi, so i've had a leak in the same place on my 81 GS750E, and now on the 81 GS1100E.
the oil shows itself when it collects towards the bottom/back side of the generator cover, as well as misting my left boot, my shifter and left footpeg, as well as the side stand. the amount of oil it dumps is very small, but certainly not in a great spot. the bike doesn't leak at all while standing, only while riding.
I have been able to trace the oil source to behind the countershaft sprocket cover, but all of those bottom end oil seals are holding up just fine. not wet, hardly even dirty. The culprit seems to be the small drain hole that allows the starter housing to drain off any accumulated water. I put a small piece of cloth into the housing, plugging up the drain hole, and found the cloth later soaked in oil. confirmed.
SO - this oil exodus only seems to happen when riding the bike hard. riding on the highway to work ~45miles on the interstate at night (~85mph sustained), and definitely happens when I bring the bike to the race track for track days. the volume of oil is borderline insignificant, as it very rarely collects enough to leave a spot on a rag when i clean it up between sessions, but it just mists my shifter toe in an annoying way.
Basically, im wondering if anyone has dealt with this issue, and has any ideas on how to seal it up better. i added a bit of extra RTV to the gasket surface for the generator cover to keep any oil from making it's way up from the stator through the starter and into the housing, and out the drain hole. seemed to work for a bit, until i rode the bike hard. I also think that using the engine hard while making left turns at hard lean angles works to distribute more oil into the cover to splash up and around.
thx for the read.
C
the oil shows itself when it collects towards the bottom/back side of the generator cover, as well as misting my left boot, my shifter and left footpeg, as well as the side stand. the amount of oil it dumps is very small, but certainly not in a great spot. the bike doesn't leak at all while standing, only while riding.
I have been able to trace the oil source to behind the countershaft sprocket cover, but all of those bottom end oil seals are holding up just fine. not wet, hardly even dirty. The culprit seems to be the small drain hole that allows the starter housing to drain off any accumulated water. I put a small piece of cloth into the housing, plugging up the drain hole, and found the cloth later soaked in oil. confirmed.
SO - this oil exodus only seems to happen when riding the bike hard. riding on the highway to work ~45miles on the interstate at night (~85mph sustained), and definitely happens when I bring the bike to the race track for track days. the volume of oil is borderline insignificant, as it very rarely collects enough to leave a spot on a rag when i clean it up between sessions, but it just mists my shifter toe in an annoying way.
Basically, im wondering if anyone has dealt with this issue, and has any ideas on how to seal it up better. i added a bit of extra RTV to the gasket surface for the generator cover to keep any oil from making it's way up from the stator through the starter and into the housing, and out the drain hole. seemed to work for a bit, until i rode the bike hard. I also think that using the engine hard while making left turns at hard lean angles works to distribute more oil into the cover to splash up and around.
thx for the read.
C
