Hey gang,

As some of you may be aware, I am in the process of modding my bike which was triggered by the task of repairing my stator.

Before I even began the tear-down and was just feeling around the bike to locate bolts and what not that I would have to get I, I noticed that when I put my hand behind the primary just under the oil tank I would get a lot of oily dirt on my fingers. I thought that maybe my oil tank might have some sort of very small leak that was dripping over the area.

As part of the needed repair of the stator, I had to remove the inner primary which required unbolting the starter from it. Once the primary housing was removed I was able to inspect the oil tank and it had not leaks. I went ahead and removed the starter from the bike and it is completely covered in dirty and oil. My best guess is that the oil was coming from the primary and leaking from the opening where the starter enters into the back of the inner primary housing. There are no gaskets used and there is a simple o-ring on the starter which I will be replacing with a new one prior to re-installing.

Can anyone tell me if I am correct in my assumption as to the source of the oil? After over 60K miles, I never noticed it until I actually had to get in there and remove those parts. The leak is obviously a slow one and has built over time while getting caked with dirt from riding. Additionally, I've had not starter issues to speak of and am hoping that a new o-ring will resolve the problem moving forward.

Anyone have any other thoughts?

Thanks,

Skeez

 

I've encountered the same problem with my 11 Fatboy. Found I had left a dowel out of the starter to inner primary case(installed a Baker 7speed therefore the tear down) allowing it some movement and therefore the leak. After replacing the dowel I find it still leaks but not enough to warrant a tear down until something else has to be looked at. When I do I'm going to use some Yamahabond(non hardening sealant that's good stuff) on the face were starter meets the inner to further seal I hope. It's a bit weird though cause I can see the oily dirt in there but it never leaves a drop on the ground unless I've been riding in the rain and then will leave a rainbow in the rain runoff.

 

I would call mine seepage more than a leak, if that better clarifies the condition. I get the impression that over the 63K miles of its life, the oil has slowly crawled along the surface and then dirt sticks to it. Evidently it's never been bad enough that it "drips". Not after rain or any other condition.

 

Check the transmission breather hose routing. Could be puking trans oil onto your starter.

 

No. It wasn't from there. But good suggestion.

I believe that it's coming from the the primary where the starters joins with it.

My brother was polishin his 08 Rocker C with only 16k miles on it yesterday and was commenting how he was surprised that everything was so clean under his oil tank and on his starter relative to mine. I them stuck my finger behind the primary and ran it along the edge of the joint where the starter meets and viola! Grimey oil and dirt. His just hasn't had the miles put on it to get as bad as mine.

I wouldn't be surprised to find other bikes with the same condition.

 

Now you have me thinking...LOL...I will check my rocker just for fun...45 k and counting...
Thanks for the heads up!

 

I had to replace my shifter shaft seal at about 70,000 miles. Was seeping enough to make a mess, but no oil ever hit the ground. Inner primary had to come off....