[bluedevilfootballman]

my 2000 tw with about 1900 miles on it looks like there's been oil on the leftside of the starter(sitting on the bike looking down on the left handside of the frame). i don't see any leaks and havn't really noticed my oil level dropping alot. i have had to add just a little, but i cruise at 55mph often so i'm assuming that's contrubuting to some oil loss. anyway is anyone familiar with an oil leak like that?

 

[lizrdbrth]

my 2000 tw with about 1900 miles on it looks like there's been oil on the leftside of the starter(sitting on the bike looking down on the left handside of the frame). i don't see any leaks and havn't really noticed my oil level dropping alot. i have had to add just a little, but i cruise at 55mph often so i'm assuming that's contrubuting to some oil loss. anyway is anyone familiar with an oil leak like that?

Check your starter bolts, then look for a base gasket, valve cover or timing cover leak. Any of those can travel down the motor through the cooling fins and drip onto the starter. In the early weeping stages they're somtimes hard to see.

 

[JimmyD]

my 2000 tw with about 1900 miles on it looks like there's been oil on the leftside of the starter(sitting on the bike looking down on the left handside of the frame). i don't see any leaks and havn't really noticed my oil level dropping alot. i have had to add just a little, but i cruise at 55mph often so i'm assuming that's contrubuting to some oil loss. anyway is anyone familiar with an oil leak like that?

It's most likely leaking from your base. There's an oil passage o-ring that is infamous for being pinched there during assembly. It's too bad because its a 2 dollar part but requires 3 hours labour and 100 dollars of parts to replace.



My 2007 has 9500 km on it and it has slowly gotten worse over time. Nothing to really worry about so long as you keep an eye on your oil. I just haven't gotten around to pulling the cylinder yet.



PS you're also right about high speed cruising, oil pressure is highest when your RPM's are up. Mine weeps more when I'm on the highway with it.

 

[bluedevilfootballman]

thanks for the replies, i haven't really noticed anymore on it since i've washed it and after about 200 miles, however leaks don't usually just stop themselves. i'm almost positive most of my oil loss is due to the higherspeed cruising. me theory is that with a single cylinder engine your crankcase pressure is constantly changeing due to the volume of air under the piston changing and no other piston is there to counteract this. i'd say i probably lose some through my valve seals ect at these rpms. i'm not gonna worry anymore about it unless it gets out of hand.