Checked the valves to day and after bolting everything back I found a seal on the ground, it took me a while to work out that it's the seal from the speedo cable where it screws into the crankcase cover.

I'm not sure which way it is meant to go in or what is the best way to reinstall it. Is it an item that is usual to fall out? I haven't seen any warnings about it.

I'm guessing it's the cable assembly nipple grease seal anyway, I don't know for sure, it has oil on it not grease, the only other part that looks like it on the parts fiche is a cylinder head seal, but it can't be that. Also there is not seal listed in the parts fiche at the end of the cable assembly.
Any help on this is appreciated.

thanks for that, I'll continue in the thread you posted.  I just went out and put the lipped side down because it had oil on it and not grease but I see you have added a suggestion. I think you may be correct I might change it tomorrow. But I also see in the thread there is a pair of seals listed as a part, so I don't know now if I've lost another one, or if they just give you a spare seal (unusual).

In general.....oil seals are installed with the "pressure" side being the lipped side (smooth side toward atmosphere).  The pressure behind the lipped area helps the seal to work....as the pressure increases inside the engine the seal can also apply more pressure to the shaft.

And to answer your question in the Tech Section....it is a single oil seal (not 2).

norm92de wrote on 07/08/16 at 11:23:22:


Yes....and no.  They replaced the seal with an O-ring before we found out how to order the proper seal....the O-ring does not work as well or as long as the proper seal.  The Suzuki LS650 parts list does not show the proper oil seal - luckily someone found the same part used as a tachometer cable seal on a different bike.

I used an o ring as well ,no leaks.   I think finding oil above the seal is normal,the outer layer of the cable rotates and acts like a screw pump moving oil up to lube it. I put a piece of painter's tape around the nut when I  take the cable from the trans now, to keep it from getting lost.