Oil dripping down sidestand, looks like coming from cowling in front of front sprocket?

So i've recently taken my dads VFR800 FIY because he can't cope with the weight any more after a back operation. Everything was lovely and I decided to do the flapper & snorkel mod (leaving out the Pair mod). But since then, I have oil dripping off the cover (the one with the gear selector numbers stamped into it) and running down off the side stand after I've been to work on it and left it over night.

It's not a lot of oil, and it's a kind of dark brown, no sticky oil. It does have a Scottoiler on it and I did suspect that but the chain isn't overly oily?

Wondered if you wonderful guys here could shed any light on this at all, any help greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome. Could be the gear lever seal, best bet is to give it a good clean first. Apparently talcum powder works well in tracing oil leaks. You haven't changed to fully synthetic oil recently? I've heard that sometimes that can make an older bike sprout leaks.

 

I would say gear lever seal but the drip is way above that, it's dripping from the bolt you can see in the picture. Not changed the oil to fully, although it is due an oil change.

 

Is it not brake fluid by any chance? Could be the clutch slave cylinder is packing up, have you noticed the gear changes getting harder and its losing fluid? Otherwise it's perhaps just crap that has been thrown off the chain.

 

Only thing I noticed is the brake fluid is completely topped up, no bubble in there, but the braking is spot on tested at 100% on the last MOT.

 

Brake mc should not be filled to top. Allow space for air or brakes can lock on.

 

I'll get some bubbles on the go in there then! I've also turned down the Scotoiler because I noticed it was set to 9 - highest setting. I've knocked it down to 4.

 

It's just oil from the chain oiler. It's happening to me too and it's cause is too much oil on the chain. The good thing though, is that you'll have a much cleaner front sprocket than the guys that use chain spray. If any of you is curious what dirt can get in the front sprocket's housing, see here: Front sprocket area - My VFR - Gallery - VFR Discussion

 

That would make sense looking at that pic, too much oil and the chain will fling it into that area, and then just drip down as it builds up. It's coming from that exact area that the bottom where one of the bolts is! Makes me feel a bit more confident nothing serious is going on now.

 

Well the other question would be if you had to add oil to the crankcase recently. If that's at the proper level - as is your brake fluid - than sounds like it probably is the oiler.

 

I have the same problem, and I'm 99.9% sure it's chain lube. The kind I use flings off like crazy, but still forms big gobs in the sprocket cover that end up dripping down the stand. Engine oil would be going down the stand pretty quickly.

 

The first step I do when looking for an oil leak is to get out the Simple Green.