oil leak

[davyfee]

hi, i'm a complete novice, just passed my bike test and bought a diversion xj600s. ive only had the bike a couple of weeks and in the last few days it has started leaking oil from a pipe that seems to run from the front of the petrol tank to the back, the oil appears a bit milky at the point where it comes out but ive put a newspaper down to stop it spreading on the garage floor and it looks normal on the paper. can anyone tell me what this pipe is and why it might be leaking? i think the small clip on it maybe isnt tight enough but if i put something tighter on it will that just be masking the fault?

[nayruf]

Hi Davy F

Assuming I am correct in thinking that the bike is air cooled, the description, ‘milky oil’ fits oil that has been contaminated with water, if this is what you have then I think that the oil pipe is the engine crank or rocker box case breather and most likely should be attached to the air filter box probably through some type of mesh type filter, It looks like you have water condensation in this pipe, you should not get too much water in this pipe so I would ensure that it is connected and then try to figure out why it has been disconnected, I would also look at draining the engine oil and look for water contamination in it. Condensation can occur in engines that are used on short journeys that do not warm the engine sufficiently to cook out all of the moisture. I would get a manual for the bike as you will find it shows how to do all the day to day maintanence that your bike requires, and should have schematic diagrams of the various systems on the bike including the engine breather set up.

AJ.

PS: If this is your 1st post you will get more responses if you say hello in the new member section.

[Keiran95]

Would it be possible for you to post a few pictures of this pipe then it will be easier to try and tell you what the pipe is there for, and if its milky in colour then it means that water has mixed with your oil, get some pictures up