Splat of oil where I dropped my bike

[elus1ve]

I dropped my Fz for the first time today, after 4 months of riding. This is the first time I dropped a bike ever . There was a splat of oil where my Fz fell and I was wondering what it is.

Was going uphill and then turning right. The car in front of me slowed down / stopped in the turn and I clutch and to keep the bike moving slowly but I choked it and it fell. Couldn't hold the weight, specially since I have been running today and my legs were tired. Annoying but nothing major broke. I lost the right peg and the the slider saved everything else. I had to ride 1hr back home without my peg and the slider provided relief when I was tired. The slider is the saviour of the day.

So back to the oil. The Fz didn't crash on the ground as I was trying to hold it up and it touched down fairly smoothly. The splat of oil was right where the engine is, it was more than a few drops. The amount seems like a shot glass (think tequila).

I couldn't figure out where it came from and the engine ran without any issue. But is it normal that oil would leak out just like that?

 

[jazzpaintball]

Since it was laid down on its right side by the sounds of it, I am guessing that your oil-check stick/plug was/is probably loose. Since it is located on the same side and towards the bottom, it can leak with a heavy lean.

Also, it loosens up rather easily from just riding (or at least mine does). My guess is that it was loose and some oil worked its way through the threads.

 

[iSteve]

You sure it was oil and not fuel from the tank overflow?

 

[ChevyFazer]

You saying that the right peg got knocked off instantly made me think dipstick although before I read I was think most likely fuel or coolant.

 

[elus1ve]

Nope, was oil. I touched it to make sure.

The Fz only stayed down for 30 secs max, can't see how that much oil seeped out through the cap in that amount of time.

I am gathering from your responses that this is not suppose to be normal. Gonna recheck everything today in daylight. Hopefully I won't find anything.

 

[ChevyFazer]

Could you take some pics of the right side and post em?

 

[elus1ve]

Did a check today and nothing seems amiss. The oil cap and the dipstick are all in place and tied. No oil seems to have leaked through there. I see no crack or anything of the sort around the engine.

The front peg, the passenger peg, the slider and one bolt took the hit.

It is a mystery where so much oil came from. I will take some pics of the right side and post

 

[FinalImpact]

Prolly an HD sat at the light earlier and you fell over it. The fizzer's pretty tight cheeked and wouldn't do that in public! :spank:

 

[Gelvatron]

I took a spill in the highway and my bike slide about 20 feet and sure enough right where I stood it up oil, well checked the dip stick but it has an I ring, my guess is the fill plug since its really not that tight either way check your oil level and park it over night and check for a leak if nothing you are good don't sweat it

 

[elus1ve]

I did have another check and I am suspecting it was the clutch cable. I saw traces of oil + goo right beside the clutch on the frame and it seems like it was projected from the clutch cable. Can't find any other explanation so this will have to do.

Not gonna post any pics of the right side as I don't think that will show anything more.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I did have another check and I am suspecting it was the clutch cable. I saw traces of oil + goo right beside the clutch on the frame and it seems like it was projected from the clutch cable. Can't find any other explanation so this will have to do.

Not gonna post any pics of the right side as I don't think that will show anything more.

IF you lubed your clutch cable (and used a good amount of lube), I've had the extra lube run down the middle/rear of the engine and put a drop of oil on the floor of the garage. Took me awhile to find my "leak". The lube tends to gather and stay right before the cable bends to the right. (I now put a folded over piece of paper towel under the cable where it turns to the clutch side to catch any lube that seeps out).

Its possible you had some lube gathered up in the cable where it bends at the lower end but I have to doubt it would come out in the 30 seconds it was laid down, but possible..

 

[FinalImpact]

IF you lubed your clutch cable (and used a good amount of lube), I've had the extra lube run down the middle/rear of the engine and put a drop of oil on the floor of the garage. Took me awhile to find my "leak". The lube tends to gather and stay right before the cable bends to the right. (I now put a folded over piece of paper towel under the cable where it turns to the clutch side to catch any lube that seeps out).

Its possible you had some lube gathered up in the cable where it bends at the lower end but I have to doubt it would come out in the 30 seconds it was laid down, but possible..

Agreed, it happened too fast. Why do you think it was your bike that spotted?
Heck for that matter the condensed fuel that gets trapped in the tank vents can look pretty nasty and black too. But it smells like fuel. Mine peed when I straightened the kinks out the hoses the first time I had the tank up and this black junk out of one hose, water out of the other. Both smelled like gas though.

 

[elus1ve]

Found the culprit and it was the clutch cable indeed. Mostly because the rubber ring at the end of the clutch cable is broken. If you look closely in the pic, you can see the rubber ring is torn. As Townsends said, there must have been a healthy amount of oil that accumulated at the lower arc of the cable and it just poured down when the bike was on the side. I had no idea that much oil could fit inside that cable. I did have the cable lubed a few months back and the guy did put in as much oil as possible to make the clutch smoother.

No biggie then, the engine oil is fine. I do want to replace that rubber ring now.

 

[elus1ve]

Doesn't look like I can get that rubber ring by itself. need to get the whole cable assembly

 

[Gelvatron]

Yeah I looked that up too lame a little tape won't hurt though

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Found the culprit and it was the clutch cable indeed. Mostly because the rubber ring at the end of the clutch cable is broken. If you look closely in the pic, you can see the rubber ring is torn. As Townsends said, there must have been a healthy amount of oil that accumulated at the lower arc of the cable and it just poured down when the bike was on the side. I had no idea that much oil could fit inside that cable. I did have the cable lubed a few months back and the guy did put in as much oil as possible to make the clutch smoother.

No biggie then, the engine oil is fine. I do want to replace that rubber ring now.

You should be able to get something close if not dead on at a "RC" remote control car place. They use small rubber parts like that. If that doesn't pan out, someone on the forum should have one from a worn cable or the Yamaha shop may have one laying about from another dead cable...

BTW, if he used, say 10wt oil, it would flow out of that cable much faster than actual cable lube which tends to stick to the cable. And yes, depending on how far down (I removed my plastic, cable, frame holder) the cable is held, that loop would hold a fair amount of oil (enough to make you think your engine had an oil leak as posted earlier((and that was indeed cable specific lube)).

Congrates on finding the culprit!! Scott

 

[elus1ve]

Hey thanks for looking it up Gelvatron. I was thinking that piece is too small and uncommon for them to sell it separately.

 

[elus1ve]

You should be able to get something close if not dead on at a "RC" remote control car place. They use small rubber parts like that. If that doesn't pan out, someone on the forum should have one from a worn cable or the Yamaha shop may have one laying about from another dead cable...

BTW, if he used, say 10wt oil, it would flow out of that cable much faster than actual cable lube which tends to stick to the cable. And yes, depending on how far down (I removed my plastic, cable, frame holder) the cable is held, that loop would hold a fair amount of oil (enough to make you think your engine had an oil leak as posted earlier((and that was indeed cable specific lube)).

Congrates on finding the culprit!! Scott

Thanks for your input. Dunno which oil was used but there was definitely a surprising amount of oil for the little time it was down.

So you saying that RC cars uses those rubber part? Is there any sort of mechanical devices that you don't know? Have to look for a specialized shop. In the meantime, I might use some tape like Gelvatron suggested but this is so... how to put this... no OEM.

 

[Gelvatron]

Lol yeah I hate not using the right parts but I'm not gonna stress it in a week I'll forget when the cable goes I'll get a new one but black electrical tape for now

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

A small piece of tape would work fine, just make sure it sticks tight to the outer cable and is loose enough for the inner cabke to move.

Even if the tape didn't hold, I wouldn't sweat running without it at all unless your riding in constant rain, washing every day, etc. As you now know, it does hold oil not far from that lower entrance... A good dab of waterproof grease would help deter water intrusion too on that end..

As for RC cars, one of the mechanic's I've known literally for at least a decade has them as a hobbie...

I'd put a "wanted to buy" in the WTB section here. Someones got to have one laying about from an old cable.

BTW, there's a "how to do section" you can learn how to lube the cable and other maintainance for a lot cheaper than paying someone. You get to buy tools (instead of paying labor), do the work correctly yourself, save some money, and know how your bike actually works... There are mechanic's (not all by any means) that don't treat your bike as their own and may miss something, not address something found, generally do a piss poor job..

PM me with an e-mail address and year bike if you need a Yamaha SHOP manual as a PDF file... 04-06 is different than the 07 and up...