Oil on my boot

[Northern pie eater]

Hi I've a 96 1100GS and after a long run / hard use a mist of oil appears on my left boot . The left cylinder head gasket looks oily and there are no other signs of leaks. Am I right in guessing that the cylinder head gasket has gone ?
Pie eater

 

[Fanum]

Could also be from oil filler if the seal has gone there

That's what I've got at the moment.

Clean thoroughly and go for a short run to see if you can see any evidence of it

 

[Lord Snooty]

Check that the rubber O ring on the oil filler cap is not leaking - they are known to get out of shape as they get older and can leave a pool of oil lying in the cooling fins. You might also just check the tightness off the four rocker cover retaining bolts to make sure they are not loose.

 

[russ996duke]

Hi I've a 96 1100GS and after a long run / hard use a mist of oil appears on my left boot . The left cylinder head gasket looks oily and there are no other signs of leaks. Am I right in guessing that the cylinder head gasket has gone ?
Pie eater

would have thought if head gasket had gone your engine would have developed lack of power, maybe overheating, maybe if bad enough whistle of compressed gases escaping???

well, I would check the simpler options first....

on my 1100 I had an oily boot caused, it turns out, by the oil filler cap not being seated properly
this caused oil to appear on the fins and around the head, after a run down the french a26 autoroute, panic stations until I could check oil level (thought it had all pumped out but in fact level unchanged from last check!)
bloody difficult to clean around the filler, but many paper towels later all clean, removed and replaced oil filler cap, properly this time and all OK, thankfully
there are some small covers around "holes" at the back of the cylinder, also check they are oil tight too!!!
hope this helps!

 

[wildbeeste]

w

well, I would check the simpler options first....

on my 1100 I had an oily boot caused, it turns out, by the oil filler cap not being seated properly

hope this helps!

+1 on this.

 

[davegs]

oily boot

Yes, oil filler cap 0 ring gone, roll of kitchen towel helps a quick wipe and all is well!. Keeps your boot waterproof!.

 

[GhostCav]

+1 for oil filler cap. Mine did it the other day as well. Looked down whilst riding along & it was bubbling out the top. Stopped, wiped the o ring clean & put the cap on the other way round. Been fine ever since.

 

[Yogi Bear]

I had this on my 1100.

It was indeed the cylinder head gasket...

The bike still sat at 110 on the Payage for 6 hours back to the ferry and for another couple of weeks till I got round to fixing it.

Not a big job. I done it twice in 2 days cos I made an arse of it the first time

Ali

 

[Deleted account 231205001]

Oil pressure switch can leak. Easy fix. It's on the lower left of the enigine on the left side. It could be this.

 

[Fanum]

Oil pressure switch can leak. Easy fix. It's on the lower left of the enigine on the left side. It could be this.

oo oo oo if we're playing 'what else could it be' the oil level window can pop out too

 

[GhostCav]

oo oo oo if we're playing 'what else could it be' the oil level window can pop out too

Ok then,
Were you following a KTM at the time.

 

[Northern pie eater]

Thanks for all the replies . I still think it's the cylinder head cos all the symptoms are the same as Yogi's, but I'll check the rest just in case.

 

[spot]

The others are cheap easy fixes but realistically it looks like the head gasket. As previously posted try a good wash and then look carefully at where its coming from. Its unusual for oil to go uphill or against the wind! it should be pretty obvious if its the head gasket. See steptoes excellent sticky on fixing it by the way and be really carefull with the exhaust studs. Best of luck!