Ok so here goes...

Last year I had my '87 Savage get a new gasket set and piston rings.  However, even after allowing time for break in and re-torquing engine bolts periodically, I noticed an oil leak.  Wouldn't you know it. The speedometer cable was the culprit.  So after a quick look on this wonderful resource known as suzukisavage.com, I promptly put on an o-ring of adequate size and composition as described by so many others here.  This seemed to fix the problem, at least temporarily.

I ride about 120 miles a day, round trip to work and back home.  Eventually the dang o-rings gave out.  So i replaced them. One and then another and another.  The whole time I have been on a mission to find the OEM seal.  This is not possible, it seems, without ordering a whole new speedometer cable.  Well, I decided, if that was the case, that I would order one of the RYCA speedo cables and setup a mini speedo.  After some correspondence with RYCA, however, I was told that there speedo cable does not include a seal.  Puzzling, I thought.

Not one to be easily put off track, I decided to give my local hardware stores a try.  After some quick searches here, I located an image of the OEM seal.



Armed with this image and a plastic spacer (that I had modified to be the size that was required), I headed off to hunt.

After a long day of browsing I came home with quite a few hopefuls.



Total cost for everything was less that $5.

One item in particular stood out from the rest.  A Bonded Sealing Washer 1/4" radius.  



This little guy has a conical galvanized metal washer that is bonded to and NEOPRENE seal.  The seal's inner diameter is just slightly less than the metal washer's.  



I unscrewed the speedo cable. Then removed inner cabling and slid the washer down the whole thing metal side down.  This allowed the metal to go around the larger diamter of the part that inserts into the transmission. and also allowed the neoprene seal to snug against the inner speedo cabling.  It fits perfectly (pics to come in the next few days.

So now I am running it this way.  After a few days I will inspect the seal to check for wear and tear.  I know that EPDM is not ideal for being in contact with oil.  However if this works, I have alread located a neoprene or butyl seal with a stainless washer substrate.  The cost for 100 of these is about $15.  I hope to eliminate all future speedo oil leaks with this endeavor.  Any ideas or feedback would be welcome.

BTW for anyone who wants to try this.  You can pick up the same one I have at Home Depot.  Check the pic for the part number, but its in the hardware aisle.

Someone else on this forum suggested using some yellow teflon tape (oil resistant) on the threads in addition to the o ring seal.  I tried it 3 years ago and no leaks since.

WD wrote on 05/14/12 at 18:19:17:


WD, there are several mods that we can recommend to help you get tickets for speeding, loud pipe, and many others. Just ask. We're here for you.  

I know several folks have just used a nitrile o-ring with good results.

I like the idea of the bonded washer, as long as the rubber is something like nitrile, which is petroleum resistant.  A lot of other types will break down too quickly.  I'm interested to see how well it works for you.

I'm pretty sure WD doesn't use the stock tank.

Does your speedo cable leak oil?

Ben, you need a new category in the voting "leaked, using Ben's discovery, doesn't leak now".  That's what I did and that's what happened.  Thanks for the search and discovery Ben.