Ok- the bike can sit forever, and go on small runs with no problem. However, if I ride it for over 30 minutes she starts a small oil leak. Any ideas?
Where is the oil leaking from? It might just be as simple as ordering a gasket and pulling off the case. Do a search for gaskets...We recently had a discussion of places to get them from. I think the supported gasket is Cometic (and I heard these are reusable).
Kevin W.
It's leaking from the bottom right of the stator cover. I have a new gasket on there but maybe I didn't get it to seal right? But then why is it not leaking when just sitting?
When the oil heats up it will get thinner and more apt to find small gaps...I believe there also is one bolt that is supposed to have a copper washer to prevent oil from bypassing it.
Read this post and see if it helps.
http://ridersofvision.net/forum/index.php?topic=4371.0
Kevin W.
lol
coincidentally, I seem to have been to that post before. I got washers from advanceauto for about $.80.. I don't think that's the problem. I'll try getting another gasket for it
Yes I should have scanned through the names on the post...lol
on cars I've had the problem before....sometimes just a small amt of oil gets on the metal surface....Use brake cleaner to get the oil off not Carb cleaner and it should make a good tight seal...If there is a small amt of corrosion in the aluminum it will also allow some oil to leak by...a good green scour pad will take that off.
If your stator has been replaced, getting a good seal onthe rubber grommets where the wires pass through can be a real pain. Mine was acting just as you describe after my latest stator change. I let it leak for a while and it eventually stopped. Just did an oil change a few minutes ago so it may return. From your description of the leak location, that is what I'd suspect the most. If you're going to try to fix it, I highly recommend the Cometic gaskets. I have a set for each side cover & will be installing them the next time I need to get inside the cases. I have a waterpump seal to replace eventually & if my leak returns, I'll be diving into the left side again as well.
H2O
I just ordered 2 of the cometic gaskets, and I am gonna put them on this week. I have had some pretty good runs of "no oil leak" on the stator cover, but they always seem to leak eventually.
On 2 of our V's I just used red permatex on the stator covers and they sealed up fine. ;D
You might try putting the bike on the centerstand and looking closely at the starter nosepiece. Oil will leak past the o-ring and run down the left sidecase and drip off the motor where it looks like it is coming out of the stator cover or shift lever seal.
I redid the starter and put a new seal on that so I don't think that's it, but I'll check. What about the shift lever seal? Could it be coming from there and look like it was from the bottom reatr of the stator cover?
There is a gap between the two rubber grommets that the stator and trigger wires run thru. I fill this gap with RTV and have no problems with leaks there.
Glad to see cometic is taking care of you guys! Tdub
Do you mean the big gap between where each set of grommets slide into the case (I'ld always heard not to fill that with sealant, for what reason I don't know) or around the surface of each grommet where they touch each other?
the reason is that several ppl who tried it (seemed like a good idea at the time) found most of it missing when they pulled the cover off, sometimes clogging the oil pick-up!
it seems with that volume of sealer it took a year at least to cure fully & the oil (which is corrosive, but you knew that) ate it away...
I just got my bike back from the shop for a persistant oil leak at the base of the left side cover, turns out thew cover its' self was warped, they had it machined 40.00 added a new gasket and quality gasket goop 19.00 and labour 60.00. Done. Back to ridin.