Oil Leak

[jlmoulto]

So I've been experiencing an oil leak on the GS850 which I originally thought was the seal on the starter, but now it appears to be from directly under the cam chain tensioner at the base of the engine. It is leaking badly enough that it is throwing oil on my back tire which sucks big time.

I hope I don't have to strip the motor again, so I am going for the idea that the engine bolts need to be retorqued. Hopefully, that will do it for me. So on that assumption, I believe the torque settings are 27lbs and like 10 for the small bolts. Can anyone confirm for me?

Thanks.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Those head bolt torque settings are what my '79 1000 calls for.
Be sure to crack them loose just a little first and then re-torque from the center-out in a criss-cross pattern. The outer small bolts get torqued last.
Vance and Hines has told me you can cheat a little and torque them all a couple of pounds tighter, but that's up to you.
Torque on a stone cold motor, overnight is better.

[Billy Ricks]

Are you sure it's not the tensioner itself leaking?

[bwringer]

Fixing tensioner leaks:

http://bwringer.com/gs/camchaintens.html

It's pretty easy!

And while you're in there:

http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html