Leak of some sort... UPDATE, Please advise!?

[aretoo]

I notice a wet spot under my starter, just fore of the cat.

I have not checked it yet to see if it is oil of DOT4. I did however pull the drain plug for the airbox and a coffee cup worth of oil came out. I left it overnight to drain thoroughly.

So, here are my thoughts.....

1. Could be oil from...
a. Transmission input
b. evidence of engine oil overfill, leaking from vent to airbox, or the airbox itself?

2. Could be DOT4 from....
a. slave cylinder
b. leakey clutch line?

I am going out to the cold wet garage tonight to do a valve adjust, change out the black lump and replace with a speed bleeder.

Has anyone seen a leak in this location before?

[peels]

under the starter....hmmm.

first thought was slave until i read that.

I dont think its brake fluid, without seeing it of course...But, i think you'd notice a spongy lever by now...maybe?

lets HOPE for 1b.

"coffee cup worth of oil"? that seems odd.

[aretoo]

Well, I inspected all after the valve job etc last night.

Did a fresh clutch bleed with the new speed bleeder installed. Fluid came out great, and was the color that I expected.

I did reach my hand all the way up to the slave cylinder and felt around it. Dry as a bone. Not even any dirt came back..

I cleaned the suspect area with microfiber, and what came off was BLACK, but did not smell. Could not tell if it was oil, brake fluid, anything.

I guess that I will monitor.

[kirby]

A cup of motor oil out of the airbox drain is WAY too much. Even after a two hours on the race track I have never seen more than a couple of ounces.
Sounds like the engine has been over serviced with too much oil which is a common thing with new owners. If you put significantly more oil than you should, it will blow out into the airbox, and that drain can leak. Its near the starter.
Remember if you change the oil and use the proper amount to refill, when you start it up the coolers will fill up and the amount showing in the window will be wrong. You must get the engine up to normal temp so that the thermostats will be open and let the oil drain from the coolers. Its best to run in the middle or lower part of the window, checked only when the engine is hot on the center stand.
This engine doesn't not like to be over filled with oil.

BTW, motor oil and DOT 4 don't look the same and they smell completely different.

Hope is of some help.

mike :-)

[sykospain]

Just be a touch wary about running an oil/air cooled machine like these for too long with no proper forced ventilation - i.e. on the road - or if on the stand, facing a strong blast of forced air on each side of th machine from your room fans. This design can overheat for fun...
That's why BMW now has water cooled Boxers - and yes, with sodding WET Chinese clutches...

[aretoo]

So here is the update.

The leak is still there, and I am getting to the point that I believe it to be the input shaft seal for the tranny.....

I found one other post on adv rider http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44752 They are down for the weekend, so the way back machine is the only way to read it.

http://web.archive.org/web/200705181410 ... hp?t=44752

The leak in his pictures looks to be the same as mine.

My question is this, IS THIS DANGEROUS TO RIDE?

Planning a 4 hour group ride tomorrow morning, and would love to do it... then garage the bike up to tear apart.....