Oil leak

[Guest harley]

I've been working on stopping various oil leaks on my 2001 V11 for the last year and for the last 7000 mi. The bike now has a total of just over 10000 mi. At 3000 mi the rear bevel drive developed a bad habbit of slinging GL-5 on the rear wheel to the extent that at speed it would run down the tire side walls. I took the bike in to the dealer to have the leak handled under warranty . After three weeks I got the bike back and on the 60 mi ride home found that the leak persisted unchanged. When I took the bevel drive apart I found that a seal had been replaced although it was not the seal that was leaking. I replacd a double sealed bearing ($7.00 at the bearing shop) and have no further leak. After having the transmission recall done last year the bike developed an oil leak at the front of the engine. Upon investigation I found that the dealer's tech had not properly tightened the cooler lines. This winter I replaced the engine breather hose to stop a leak on the upper part of the spine frame near the steering head caused by deteroration of the hose itself. At the same time I pulled the side plate off of the transmission to replace the three springs that control the shift mechanism in an effort to improve the shifting and eliminate some of the false neutrals. I noticed that the two shift selector wheels were one tooth out of alignment and must have been assembled this way at the factory. The transmisson now has noticeably fewer false neutrals. Before replaceing the cover I put some gasket sealer on the neutral switch threads and on the base of the gearchange lever pin to stop them from leaking as they have seeped from new. Now I can see oil running out of the bottom of the alternator cover at the front of the engine. I pulled the alternator to gain access to the front crankshaft seal and noticed that the rotor is marked "ducati". Again I went to the bearing store and bought a properly sized seal ($2.50). I rode the bike last month for 700 mi and the crankshaft leak reapeared. I called MPH Cycles and had them send the proper MG seal ($20.00) which they had in stock. Two weeks later and 400mi down the road no leak. What will be next?

[jrt]

Sooooo, are you and Carl neighbors or something?

 

(not to make fun of you, but there is a superficial resemblance going on here)

 

Hope you have no more leaks!

[DeBenGuzzi]

I'm edging up on 10,000 miles here real soon and the only leak I've had was a weeping Upper Fork Seal that cost me a pretty penny, Although I've looked the bike over after everytime I ride and no problems, In town rush hour, Across town or halfway across the state, I hope this means that these problems occur in different models and are rare. I don't know if I'd have the stomach to keep fixing oil leaks all the time. I also wish there was someone near by I knew of that could tune up my gear box and cut out some false neutrals but I'm about used to them now anyway. Maybe that bike was built on a Friday and Luigi went out for drink the night b4.

[callison]

Sooooo, are you and Carl neighbors or something?

 

(not to make fun of you, but there is a superficial resemblance going on here)

 

Hope you have no more leaks!

46632[/snapback]

 

Not to spoil your fun JRT, but I seem to have cured the leaks (crosses fingers). The ECU fuse still blows though.

[twhitaker]

Knock on wood, the only leaks I've had on my '02 LeMans in the 22,000 miles has been the back of the transmission (fixed under warrantee) and the ignition pick up that I'm going to fix in a couple weeks.

[Guest Nogbad]

My V11 is gratifyingly oil tight. However, the tranny recall is being done as we speak, and I hope to God everything will be as good after, especially the change action which is perfectly fine and free of false neutrals.

 

Mind you, it would have to piss a lot of oil to make me think it was worth fixing as I am an ex-classic brit bike owner........ Just keep filling it up and park it over a tray of cat litter. Action is only necessary when the oil that comes out needs to be poured right back in every morning.

[svjj]

I had an oil leak from the front timing cover area. After replacing the front crank seal twice I found the timing cover to have a hair line crack. . I just used a dab of JB weld and she is dry once again.

 

JJ