Got back from town today and noticed that my engine was covered in oil!
I just changed the oil yesterday and oil filter.
Thinking it might be the infamous oil plug thingy behind the exhaust head.
I found this thread in the tech section, but unfortunately the site with the pictures is gone.

PICTURES are at: http://photos.yahoo.com/djpennin

I saw Greg's thread but the only pic is the one of Julie holding the top of the engine.

I can follow the first part of his instructions without photos but I get lost after the red line. any suggestions?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-remove seat
-unscrew 10mm bolt on left side
-unscrew 10mm bolt on right side
-pull seat off
-remove left side cover
-remove screw
-pull off cover
-disconnect negative battery lead
-remove screw
-turn gas petcock off
-remove gas line from tank
-remove speedo cable
-unscrew from engine
-pull out speedo cable
-remove breather tube
-pull off tube from carb on right side of bike
-remove rear two 10mm bolts from rear of tank
-pull tank up and back and disconnect electrical plug
-remove left side chrome cover
-unscrew 10mm bolt from back
-unscrew 10mm bolt from front
1-use needlenose pliers to hold nut through fins
2-remove cable that goes to solenoid
3-loosen nuts that hold cable
4-pull off cable from head
5-remove spark plug wire from plug
6-remove right side chrome cover
7-unscrew 10mm bolt from back
8-unscrew 10mm bolt from front
9-slide right side chrome cover back and remove tube
10-remove chrome cover
11-unscrew solenoid left side 10mm bolt
12-slide solenoid up then replace bolt to hole solenoid up
13-this gets the solenoid just far enough out of the way to reach screws below
14-disconnect solenoid plug
15-remove 10mm bolts from head cover
16-DO NOT REMOVE THE BOLT that is on the right side
closest to where you removed the big tube
17-remove the bolts in a orderly fasion from one side
to the other to even the stress on the head cover
18-dont forget the 10mm bolt that are under the valve timing cover
19-dont forget the other 10mm bolt under the other cover as well
20-remove the engine mount
21-unscrew the three 12mm bolts
22-remove cover
23-pull off head cover
24-clean any sealant that is on head cover
25-REPLACE your HEAD SEAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!
26-apply sealant to your head cover
27-NOTE when putting the head cover back on be sure and place that bolt that is upside down into the head, and also that very center bolt. I place those bolts on the head cover and taped them on so they wouldn't fall out as I  put the head cover back on.
-now do everything in reverse to put it all back together
-ENJOY (grumble grumble)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guess I won't be able to ride for a while too broke to buy parts, too busy with work and no time to do this.
I'm seriously bumming right now.
In the roller coaster of life I definitely hit rock bottom, I guess I has too much fun on my trip to Montana!

Well you could buy Greg's CD.

But...I personally dont know if it shows step by step how to fix things or not

Actually I'd like to know if it does.

verslagen1 wrote on 09/01/08 at 22:26:04:

Thanks for the numbering tip. Did so.

What does decomp stand for?

One more time, oh you evil windmill, shall I tilt against thy blades ....

The pics in the tech treads need to be preserved.  People need the tech threads, it is the primary reason the list exists
(yeah, I know -- best chat on the web and all that, but when your bike breaks you need to know how to fix it)

Paladin, if I paid the money could you endlessly host the pics in the tech treads so they quit disappearing?  People like Greg spent a lot of time and effort building "HOW TO"s then the places they put the pics (like Photobucket) changed their retention policies and threw the pics away.

This has happened several times -- last one was the thread on the petcock mod to make it a manual petcock.  People scrambled and got the pics back on that one.  We were lucky ...

My offer is for the core tech thread posts -- hosting through whatever permanent means we can find that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

And yeah, once all his pics start disappearing you all will start to appreciate Savage Greg more -- he had some bark still left on his lumber but he sure knew what he was doing and he took a mean pic to help teach it -- I still refer to his stuff and think he knew a hell of a lot more than I do about a Savage engine.

Oldeller

(PS  last two times I tried to offer this I got zip/nadda response)

Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 09/02/08 at 03:27:44:
im in for$25..miss that savage greg

SW just noticed your post, been to Seattle visiting getting our sidecar rig back from the shop. You were stopped by the item in red? I think Greg is referring to the left front head retaining fastener, which is upside down and the bolt stays in the head, not cover as I recollect. If you have an attack driver the decompression solenoid bracket is easy to remove by taking out the 2 phillips head screws. If not, then use the method listed. BUT FIRST !! are you sure the plug is the leak? Any chance it is the oil fill plug leaking, or the filter oil ring is not sealing,  and the wind blowing it up all over the bike. Isn't much cause from changing oil to make that plug start leaking and the wind will move the oil a long ways. The plug can actually be seen by looking up in the cavity next to the exhaust pipe, if it is loose yo can see it move up and down with the engine running. Probably too late for that now if the bolts are already loose. Wish I could be there, direct e-mail is on the card I gave you for a quicker response.  Max

Max_Morley wrote on 09/02/08 at 08:38:58:

Aloha Max  
No it doesn't look like the oil came from below. I cleaned of the engine after all the oil spillage and started her up again and watched for the drip.  At first it came dripping down on the left side of the bike, but it was on the stand so the oil ran to the left.
I looked at that plug and there's a lot of oil puddled up in there, so I'm pretty sure that's where it's coming from.

SavageWahine,
    I think you know this aready.... WD-40 is your friend......  (the wonders of living on an island.... )

Before you attempt the head cover removal, squirk the bolts down with a little WD-40 (or Liquid wrench or CRC , your chioce).  Just a little,  then ride around a bit.  Let it cool ... repeat a couple more times.  This "tempeture cycling" will cause the penetrating oil (WD-40, Liq. Wrench etc etc) to work it's way into the threads.

Also, the oil going by that plug is oil that is returning to the sump.  It's not in the "gotha oil something" path.   It's just a messy thing, won't damage the engine as long as you keep an eye on the oil level.

Note: I replaced my plug, took 2-3 hours.  But, the engine was apart previously....

Note2: For the Decomp linkage,  if you can, leave the adjusting nuts alone, remove the bracket that is attched to the cover using the two philips screws.  That way you don't have to worry about readjusting when you put it back together.