Oil leaking on Exhaust

[Grant]

I am just getting ready to do the rear main seal, the bike has been sitting for 2 weeks without being started or moved. I cleaned up all of the original oil that leaked. Last night I look at the bike and there is a puddle of oil, (about 3 ounces) under the exhaust headers? There is another smaller puddle under the center stand.

It appears that the leak originates somewhere above the gear shifter on top of the transmission? What I can't understand is why it would start leaking without anything being disturbed? The weather was hot yesterday, perhaps some pressure built up in the crankcase and forced some oil out?

Has anyone experienced this? I searched the forum and couldn't find anything.

[stokester]

Before blaming and replacing anything I would first determine the source.

Clean and dry with brake-kleen and apply some spray powder to the area. While there are commercial leak trace powders available a cheap foot powder spray will work.

[Laitch]

It appears that the leak originates somewhere above the gear shifter on top of the transmission? What I can't understand is why it would start leaking without anything being disturbed?

My experience is that oil has leaked wherever it can given enough time and a favorable conditions for exit—compromised seals or boots coupled with heat, pressure or gravity. Follow stokester's advice and follow the site's guidance on posting photos so we can see what's going on where. Move forward with disassembly; leak sources are likely to be revealed during the process.

[Grant]

Thank you for the great advice, I will post some photos this afternoon and be sure to follow up when I discover where the problem is.

[Grant]

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[rbm]

Possibly came from the breather on the top of the transmission.  The puddle under the centre stand could have come from the drain hole on the transmission.  Does the oil have a sulphurous smell to it or not?

[Grant]

I solved the problem. The coolant reservoir was slowly leaking from where it joined the tank through a small crack in the hose. It washed down old oil and grit from the top of the transmission and appeared to be an oil leak. My apologies, I should have been way smarter in diagnosing this. Hopefully others will benefit from this.


This should solve my concerns over a rear main oil leak, but I am not convinced, there was some small drips of oil coming from the weep hole. I will take it out for a good ride tomorrow and see how it goes. I cleaned up the oil pan and underside of the engine with a good degreaser so I can tell if there is a leak.