Ok guys and gals I have never owned a bike, but I have been offered a 2005 883 with 12k miles as part trade on something. The guy sent me pics and the bike looks great, but I noticed in one of the pics there appears to be an oil leak. Any guesses what this could be? I would love to have the bike, but if it has issues I don't need the headache.

 

I'd like to see a pic of the right side with the air cleaner off.

 

I don't have any pictures without the breather. These are the closest he sent me. I did read about the blow by, but it seemed odd that the oil would end up here, no?

 

doesnt look good to me...
he has a breather tube that should handle the blow by-
so any oil on that part of the engine could be a sign of a leak in the head (not saying it is, am saying it could be)
can you have a mechanic check it out?

 

Any chance this could be an oil tank leak?

 

No. it’s just my guess, but it is probably not an oil tank leak. It really looks more like a leak in the head gasket than anything else to me. It does not look like it has leaked down from the rocker box onto the rear cylinder from what the pictures seem to show (Although it still could be a rear rocker box gasket leak as that is a really pretty common problem) and a leak from the oil tank would have to somehow jump forward onto the engine and while moving forward when riding, the wind would blow the leaking oil tank oil backward on the bike, not forward. Rocker box gasket or head gasket, either way an easy fix.