oil leak!!??

[bbq]

Greetings gentlemen.

I've just purchased a 2001 GSF1200 about a week ago, rode it for the whole week back and forth to work, absolutely no problems!  This past saturday I did an oil and filter change, along with chain, sprockets, etc.

Sunday morning I went for a 50 mile pleasure ride, and on the way back I noticed some oil on my left shoe, found it is coming from the bottom of the starter cover.

I checked the oil level and it was a little above max, so I drained it until it came to the max line, (maybe 100cc aprox.).  Went to work this morning, checked the bike after a couple of hours and it was still bleeding, got back home, checked it again after about 1 hour, and it seems to be getting worse!  What gives??

Please HELP!  And thanks in advance for your attention.

Tony

[txbanditrydr]

Sounds like the starter cover gasket is blown.... pretty common occurance IIRC.  Mine went Harley on me at 42,000 miles while 500 miles from home. 

The gasket is easy to replace however you do need to smear a little RTV where the cases are split (about 1/2 above and below the split line) before putting the gasket in place.  You will lose some oil when you take the cover off so be aware of that.  Also, there are a couple of dowel pins to keep track of - don't forget to put them back in place.  Keep track of the bolts and where they go - I think they are slightly different lengths.

Here is a picture of mine.....

[bbq]

Thanks!

After some searching I've found it does happen quite a lot, I wonder what makes it do that?   Bad gasket material??  Vibration??  Anyway, it was funny how it happened right after I changed the oil...

Picture didn't post, now I'm curious...

[txbanditrydr]

Picture didn't post, now I'm curious...

Should be able to click on the link and it'll open up in a new window..... 

I now carry some RTV sealant with me on long trips - that would have put a temporary stop to that and made the trip a little less stressful. 

[bbq]

Thank you guys!  :nw:

Gasket replaced, she bleeds no more!  A little fight to remove the cover due to a stuck dowel, but an easy fix.  I added a bit of permatex RTV gasket sealer as recommended, and I think she is happy and contained

What sort of puzzled me was the fact that it happened right after I performed an oil change, go figure...

Hey txbanditrydr still curious, no links!

[txbanditrydr]

Not sure what the link problem is but here ya go - I'll bet your gasket was fried at the bottom, eh? 

[bbq]

Well, funny thing is it didn't really look broken, in fact, the only apparent damage to the gasket was done when I was fighting the stubborn dowel.  I did appear however that it protruded to the inside and was being rubbed by the flywheel teeth exactly at the spot the arrow point to on your picture.