Odd Little Oil Leak

Bought my VFR about a month ago - 08 - 30k miles

Day I got it home I parked it on the center stand with paper underneath to see if anything is dripping.

After 48 hours not a spot.

Then left it on side stand for a couple days and I notice a small spot. At first I think its chain lube dripping off as it's running down from that area then onto the O2 sensor and sidestand and I had recently lubed the chain.

For weeks nothing, but I almost always use the center stand.

Then after I put on the new plastic and leave it on the side stand over night I see a small oil puddle.

Hmmm

What I know:

It's motor oil
It only drips when on the side stand
It's not the shifter seal
No determinable oil loss while running
It's coming from higher up from where the front sprocket is hiding.
The PO replaced the front sprocket some 10k ago

All relevant thoughts appreciated.

 

Possible its coming from the shift mechanism cover, the one right in front of the front sprocket.

 

Thinking the same thing. Where in relation to where the bike is sitting is it coming from.? Could still be chain oil.

 

First clean the area around the front cog. You want it spotless - don't forget the top of the side & centre stand. Only once the bikes really clean can you follow what's dripping.
Also has it been down?

 

One more thing: after you get it all cleaned up in the area where the leak might be, sprinkle some
white flour around the area. Any leak at all will be easier to spot that way.

 

Hasn't been my week with the VFR. Got a flat rear tire on Monday about 30 miles from home. Puncture directly in the center of the tread.

Luckily I have towing insurance but it was an ordeal.

Since Monday night she's been sitting on the center stand while I await delivery of my new tire.

Not a drop of oil on the paper.



Behind here at the seam is where the oil drips from onto the sensor and side stand when on the side stand. It's comming down from higher up.



The tire arrived while I was typing this so will get it on tomorrow then put on sidestand overnight.

 

There's stuff you can put in oil and then look at engine with black light after running it. I used it on my airplane...oil can go almost anywhere from anyplace under a cowl.

Of coarse I was raised on English bikes and you learned to live with a pan under them.

 

After 5 days on the centerstand not a drop. 12 hours on the sidestand and I got this. It's definitely the nice clean motor oil I put in a few weeks ago, not chain lube.



Because the PO changed the front sprocket I'm inclined to think that's where it's coming from. I can see that it's coming from that general area but things are in the way. From the service manual it looks like you have to replace the clutch fluid to get at the sprocket as the clutch slave has to be removed. While I'm in there I think I'll go back to stock sprocket size.

 

That really looks like it's too far under the bike to be from the countershaft sprocket area. My chain lube, gear lube, usually
drips right near the sidestand, not under the bike that far. But it could just be the perspective that's throwing things off.

Changing the front sprocket shouldn't have caused a leak, unless the PO was a total ham-handed idiot.

 

It runs down from under the sprocket cover until it collects at the bolt in photo 2. It then drips onto what I think is an O2 sensor. It then runs down and drips off the low point on the exhaust.

Going to take off that clutch slave and have a closer look this pm

 

Neutral light sensor?

 

Well it won't have been a waste of time to remove the clutch slave and sprocket cover because I found this:




While removing said cover I noticed all but one of the bolts were warped/deformed (all of the long ones). This leads me to believe PO way over torqued the cover when he reinstalled it after sprocket change resulting in warping what Honda calls a Cover, Change, Part # 11630-MW4-000. This in turn has lead to oil seeping out here:



I'm thinking it pools there then runs off when bike is leaned on the sidestand. I ordered a used one on eBay for $25 and will replace it while I'm switching my sprocket back to stock and the full 16 teeth.

 

I sure hope that fixes your issue. I'll have to say seeing that missing tooth and warped/deformed bolts just
gives me the chills. Those sprockets generally don't break just out of the blue. Makes you wonder what happened.

 

Any idea how many miles are on that broken sprocket? Even without the missing tooth it looks like it is very worn from what I can see in the photo.

 

Made in China no doubt.

 

Gives me the shivers.
I would look for any other things the PO might have “fixed”.

 

Exactly...

 

It's a PBI sprocket made in Oregon, USA. Though maybe the guy doing the actual casting was Chinese-American. The ore could have been mined in China or the steel smelted there. It's an integrated world. I've bought great Chinese made products (my cell phone for example) and shit American ones and vice versa.

No way to know if it was abuse or bad metallurgy that caused it to fail. Not the first sprocket tooth I've seen break off though.

I can't really be sure if it broke while he had it or just recently of course. I've put about 600 miles on it since buying it and he changed it 8,000 miles ago so odds are it happened some time ago.

I couldn't tell the bike was running poorly. She's no rocket and a bit choppy at low speed, but from what I've read on this forum that's par for the course.

The rest of the broken sprocket shows no excessive wear except the two teeth past the missing one where the chain was not hitting correctly.

The PO also swapped wheels with a friend of his, black for silver. Already checked and tires replaced.

He 'fixed' the fairing scrapes with JB Weld. Replaced the fairing.

Fluids are replaced and I had a look at the air filter (snorkel, PAIR valve and flapper haven't been touched). Nothing looks messed with under the tank.

Everything necessary to replace that 'change cover,' including new OEM bolts, on order and should be here by end of the week. I'm confident that will fix the oil drip.

On the bright side, with the VFR down it's given me time to get the Buell's suspension tuned. I thought its clumsy low speed handling was just the nature of the bike but the suspension settings were completely out of whack. It's scary how people mess with stuff without know what the heck they're doing.

The look is an acquired taste but the ride is ooooweeeee...

 

That like saying Quasimodo should be on the top ten playgirl lists...

Most manufacturers give at least 1 bike with a very respectable engine..

 

All the parts arrived to swap out the shifter cover today. Here's what it looks like when you overtorque, long bolts are especially vulnerable. New one on top:



Here's what it looks like after you take the shifter cover off (you do lose some oil). It's easy to take off, just six lightly torqued bolts. The top two, only, call for thread sealer. To get to the one on the bottom left you have to take off the water pump and move it out of the way. No coolant leaks but you have to be careful so the oil seal seats properly when you re-install.