Oil Leak from Cylinder Block

[Guest]

Hi, after a run I can see oil on the bottom fin on the cylinder block at the front of the engine. This sometimes accumualtes into a drip, cannot see where this is coming from - does the GS1000 lump suffer from oil leaks here?

Thanks

[Nessism]

Yes, all GS bikes do. Particularly if the cylinder head nut torquing maintenance is neglected. If you decide to replace the gaskets, make sure to only use OEM Suzuki gaskets. The aftermarket stuff is very risky, particularly Athena brand with the green base gasket. Pure junk.

[madreg]

Cheers, something to do in the winter

[bwringer]

First, find out exactly where the oil is coming from. Oil dripping from the bottom fin could be coming from almost anywhere.

Clean the engine thoroughly, let it dry, then "paint" the engine with spray foot powder. Fire it up and the source of the leak will become apparent quickly.

Here's an example showing why Vesrah gaskets suck:

[Sci85]

Wow, cool idea. I had never heard of doing that before. Will file this one away for future reference. Thanks bwringer!

[Nessism]

Wow, cool idea. I had never heard of doing that before. Will file this one away for future reference. Thanks bwringer!

Great photo indeed!

[Sandro_916]

Awesome photo. Wanted to see a photo of this before trying it myself.

[Brendan W]

On Ed's point about head nuts. I was blowing oil out the front and was pricing up oem gasket sets. I tightened up the head nuts, most of them 30% below, and early days but looks like I'm not getting any on the left boot and it doesn't drip after a ride out.
I hear the advice to take nothing for granted on these machines and it's slowly going in.
Assume nothing.