Oil tank leak

So, having noticed the odd drops here and there on the garage floor the morning after the night before, and thinking it may have something more to it than having had the belly pan off to clean the inside.....I decided to investigate.

It turns out that the lower mounting bracket which is welded to the tank has developed a very small crack/split and is allowing the oil to very slowly make its way out and down to the top of the main pipe and then dripping onto the inside of the belly pan. I'll get some pics up soon.

For a while I thought it was coming from the clamp holding the pipe, so if any of you out there have or come across a similar problem, take some time and clean it all down with a cloth and leave it on the sidestand, have a cuppa, then come back and take a look at the weld :roll

Anyone know if this is a problem that comes up every now and then? Anyone had the bracker re-welded?? I noticed that the mounting bolt didn't have a rubber washer to act against vibration whereas the top one does :dunno

not something i have seen mr cat but will check it when i get back home to my bike.

It's caused often by the tighteneing process for the mounting bolts. when things start to tighten it's easy for the bracket to twist round with the nut and it's stresses the weld on the bracket.

The tank is very thin and difficult to weld. brasing seems to be a good option.

Just crossed my mind that the leak is very very slow and I wonder how long it has actually been going on for. The bike certainly hasn't been using excessive oil over the past 2500 miles since i've had it, and the oil and filter were changed in the first week of ownership. I say this as the inside of the belly pan before I cleaned it out was covered in the proverbial road muck/grease/grime/oil mix that you'd expect if it hadn't been cleaned for sometime, and i'm rather guessing that any leakage would have been soaked up by the crap and so no oil leaks noticeable.

Just a thought!

Thanks for the tip re brasing spoonz. Any tips on the tightening process when re-fitting?

Just put a spanner on the nut and physically stop it spinning and twisting the bracket. It just needs to be nipped up not wound right up so don't overtighten it.

Thank you that man :thumbup