Leak? Petrol?

[loply]

Hi folks,

Okay after my initial panic I calmed down about what I believe was a petrol leak.

The bike has been standing for 7 days now, and the puddle is this big:

https://www.loply.com/loply/leak.jpg

I think that is petrol, the garage smells of it. But I really dont know. The puddle is slightly "wetter" or deeper IRL than the photo shows.

Is that significant enough to worry about?
How can I find out whether its water/petrol/oil?

[loply]

P.S. Yamah SZR660's have carbuerettors but do not have a fuel tap.

[stinkwheel]

Looks too mucky to be petrol from your picture. More like oil.

How oily is your chain? That puddle is directly under the spot that oil-fling from an over-oiled chain would drip down from the front sprocket cover.

Does it have an automatic chain oiler?

Why not stick a piece of aluminium foil under it and see what collects there. Take it away from the bike, sniff it, rub it between your finger and thumb. If it smells of petrol, it probably is. If it feels oily it is probably oil. If it has dissolved the foil, it is acid. If it is none of these taste some on the tip of your finger, if it is sweet, it is antifreeze.

Most bikes have a variety of overspill hoses that are often routed to that area, have a good look underneath, if stuff is coming out of one, follow it back to the source.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[cagiva gezzer]

[Guest]

Chuck a match on it (move bike first)

What Stinky said. Take the sprocket cover off and give everything a damn good clean - it just might be the output shaft seal. Clean the ends of any breather/overflow pipes that hang down there and then go for a 10 miler. Park the bike over a fresh spot/sheet of baco-foil and observe.

[loply]

The bike has a chain oiler but it drips near the rear sprocket (and afaik is empty)..

I will put some tinfoil underneath and investigate. Thanks

[stinkwheel]

It'll be oil off your chain. The oil drips off your chain oiler near the back sprocket, it hits the chain and is carried round on it. Some of it flings off the chain, due to centrifugal force this happens where the chain runs over the outside of a sprocket. This means oil getting flung off the back sprocket onto the road/back wheel and off the front sprocket where it is splattered over the inside of the front sprocket cover. This eventually builds up and drips out of the cover onto the garage floor as you are seeing.

If you were to remove the front sprocket cover, you would almost certainly find it is covered in old oil.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[loply]

Few questions then:

1) The chain oiler is empty and may have been for a long time, does this impact your theory?

2) Is it easy to remove the front sprocket cover?

3) How do I clean that old oil off (assuming i get the cover off)?

[Guest]

[Robby]

All of my chain drive bikes have always had that. Its just the chain lube sludge around the sprocket that has been melted by the heat off the engine and dripped down.

Its quite a lot, but I wouldn't worry. Just keep an eye on your oil level.

[STUNTMAN2000]

Kill the oiler and grease up the chain manualy every now and again, this will sort your mess on the floor