Calling Steptoe - Oil leaking from bellows on final drive

[Lord Snooty]

My 1150GS has got oil leaking from the bellows on the final drive.

1. Looking at the point at which it is leaking out what is the likeliest culprit? Is it just an oil seal gone?
2. Is it likely to be something more serious than the oil seal? If so what do you think is causing this.
3. What parts will I need to repair it?
4. Is there a Steptoe thread on carrying out this repair.

FFS the first decent sunny weekend for months and I'm gonna be grounded tomorrow cos of this. Well I suppose I could take out the LT but as her indoors is studying and I'm going to be riding solo taking the lardy LT out just isn't the same.....bollox bollox bollox!!!!

 

[Uinneag]

Tight git putting it up here

Why not call him on his premium rate helpline 0898 666666

Calls charged @ £1.50 per min may vary depending on network

 

[roddy]

Yir lordship may do well to cut the ty-wrap off the gaiter and let the acumilated gunk out I beleive some of the seals in the final drive can breathe a wee bit so you get a bit of leakage, as i had recently.

cleaned out the gaiter
drain the FD and checked the condition of the oil
re filled with fresh stuff
been okay ever since and that was abpout 1200 miles ago

HTH

 

[Fanum]

Mine's been like that and worse for over a year Mike.....not a problem

 

[JoeC]

you get a bit of leakage, as i had recently.

Roddy, you fixed the bike but have you managed to sort yourself out yet?

 

[motobiker]

I would bet that if you took the bolt out and had a look at the level of gear oil you will be surprised to see that its hardly moved... if at all.

plenty of posts about this on this site... it looks a lot nastier than it actually is. all that muck is 99% water and dirt + 1% oil.


steptoe has posted a 'fix' attached to this thread - http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1350942&postcount=6

but.. it's just as easy to live with untill you get chance to fix it while doing other things.... which is exactly what I did.. the oil level never moved - so I didn't worry... got it fixed when I could be arsed. (about 18 months later)


edit: when this happened to me I drained the oil into a glass bottle - just to be sure it wasn't contaminated. It wasn't - the oil looked exactly the same as when it went in originally.. so I put it back in the drive and rode the bike.

enjoy tomorrow matey and fret ye not.

 

[ELIMINATOR]

Mike,

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134734&highlight=gaitor

Moved on from the 37,000 miles when posted to 45,000 miles, still no further problem Just cut the tie wraps, clean out the inside of the gaitor, this is the boring bit! then put it back on and wait for nothing to happen.(in my case at least)

 

[roddy]

Roddy, you fixed the bike but have you managed to sort yourself out yet?

I'm getting better it only seems to happen when I open my mouth, ya cheeky k*^t

 

[davegs]

Oily gaitor

Check the oil level and ride the bloody thing! it aint exactly a Torrey Canyon type leak!.

 

[Lord Snooty]

Thanks for all the input chaps. My concern was that the oil was a sign that something more catastrophic might happen on a ride out. I changed the FD oil earlier this year when I did the 6k service - for the sake of 25cls of oil I always change it when I do the engine oil.

I'll check the oil level and clean the gaitor out and go for a ride - I feel better already

 

[MikeP]

Mike,

While you are checking the FD level, check the gearbox level too.

That amount of oil and coming out where it is, is either the FD oil seal "breathing" or possibly the gearbox output-shaft seal weeping.

 

[shready]

That doesn't look too bad, if BWM had used metal clips there wouldn't be any oil showing at all.

When I have my bikes serviced the guy always removes the plastic ones and puts the proper metal clips on.

 

[Lord Snooty]

Been for a run

I nipped the cable tie off the gaitor and gave it a thorough clean - as far as I could anyway as there isn't much room to get your fingers under the gaitor. Put a new cable tie on and have just returned from a 100+ mile run and there is no sign of any weepage at all.

MikeP thanks for the advice mate - I've just read your post after returning from my ride out and I will check the gearbox oil this week.

 

[motobiker]

I nipped the cable tie off the gaitor and gave it a thorough clean - as far as I could anyway as there isn't much room to get your fingers under the gaitor. Put a new cable tie on and have just returned from a 100+ mile run and there is no sign of any weepage at all.

MikeP thanks for the advice mate - I've just read your post after returning from my ride out and I will check the gearbox oil this week.

thems classic symptoms of it being the final drive weeping.... you might not get any more oil for a week... 2,3 whatever... then a little bit more. However you will still not see the oil level move... its quite amazing that such a mess can be caused by so little oil.