Hitchcocks Forum

My Effie has a small oil drip from when she's left on the side stand for any length of time.....It appears to be coming from the region of the forward primary chaincase but the oil will find its lowest point before letting go right?
Not knowing much about the underside of my Bullet yet, what else is under there that can work loose & let oil out slowly?
I have noticed the oil in the sight glass is about halfway up when the bike is stood on its wheels with a rider holding it upright but some on this forum seem to say that this means there's too much oil in the engine?!?
I have not done an oil change yet but I'm willing to have a go, what's the correct amount needed for a normal oil change?

Questions, questions, question!

If it seems to be coming from the primary chaincase then it'll likely be a damaged primary gasket. If it's coming from underneath it might be the sump filter cover o-ring. Possibility it could be the gear lever oil seal. But it should be fairly easy to locate! Clean, leave on side stand... find leak.

And about 1.5 - 1.75 litres of fresh oil if I remember correctly. A wee bit goes in the left hand case too.

Michael: Thanks buddy! - I'll have a look at the weekend & see what's occurrin under the engine.

I'm also gonna do an oil change shortly so should be able to 'get down & dirty' with the bike on a more personal level!

Cheers!

No problem. Your primary gasket is *probably* OK unless the cover has been off. There are other places where oil could be dripping from so the 'clean and look' approach is probably best. go for a ride, warm up the oil, clean quickly (and carefully cos it'll be hot!) and leave on side stand Regarding the oil change, there are TWO drain plugs: one is essentially underneath the crank, with two 6mm bolts holding it in place. This one has a rubber o-ring seal and has a wee filter above it... make sure you take the wee filter out for a clean and replace the o-ring if need be too. Be careful torqing up these bolts! The second drain plug is actually the main drain plug, basically under the gearbox area of the unit. It's a big 12 or 14mm plug and this one has a copper crush washer seal. Replace the washer if possible or you'll risk drips. Also be careful torqing this one up! The filter, on the right hand side of the engine casing, has two 6mm bolts holding it in place (maybe three on some models). On removal, if your bike is of 'original' EFI stock, then a whole pile of inards will pop out when you remove the cover, and you will need four hands to reinstall them... maybe even 17 fingers! Part number 90156 or 90157 cures this... a one off cost. Not necessary, but it makes changing the filter a one hand job... newer stock EFIs have this mod as standard. Make sure you change all the o-rings and gaskets when refitting the new filter (there is one o-rnig at the back of the filter chamber that is easily missed... and be careful with torque!

Thanks mate - My Effie has been lightly 'breathed upon' by a previous owner (of the 4) with a Hitchcocks seat, breather conversion etc. which I'm still finding out as I go through the bike myself.....
It's possible the filter cap has already been changed but I'm gonna have to find that out the hard way it seems!

Cheers

Before pulling the casing off I would check the various sump plugs.



The forwards end has the little filter cover held on with a pair of little 8mm spanner screws that cannot be overtightened for fear of snapping, inside are O-rings; it can easily leak and the oil will run across under the motor to the LHS when on the side stand. Clean under the motor and put dunno, paper or something like, under it on the centre stand overnight to spot where the oil is dropping from. There are two other larger sump plugs. You may be able to nip up the bolts but cure is new seals.

Thanks jefrs, I knew you be able to give advice on this subject being the oracle & an' all that!
What are those metal washer gizmos with the rubber inside the holes called? When you nip them up, they compress the rubber to seal better or something?

Cheers!

On my EFI the small filter cover was not machined very well if you looked across it with the O ring in place the O ring was a shade low at one point so I replaced it which gave a much better seal

The Hitchcocks filter kit came with a set of odds and sods, few of the O-rings seemed to be the right size so I reused the nearly-new old ones; the filters were correct. You can get a boxed set of many O-rings from Halflords etc, I haven't tried using them, I need to speak to H about proper O-rings and copper washers missing from the kit for next time. On my EFI there is a front crankcase drain plug, the workshop manual only mentions draining from rear plug and bottom filter, doh.