SuzukiSavage.com - Savage lady needs help

Xbeaus YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 5	Savage lady needs help 08/03/16 at 12:24:17 06 blvd. Trying to find out why oil leaks out, covers rear tire. There is a blue electrical wire going into clutch side. Seems to be losing oil out of there but unsure. Running Castrol 20-50 oil and level is good. Gear engagement is also very hard . Almost have to force it in gear. Any input what to do and where to look would be helpful. Thanks!
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stewmills

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Re: Savage lady needs help
Reply #1 - 08/03/16 at 12:35:17

Can you post a pic? Might help others to see if it appears to be something someone rigged up or an issue with a stock bike.

One thing to know/note is that the bolts holding the footpegs on are thru-bolts that hold the engine case together. If these are loose, that can allow fluids to leak out of the case seal although that may not be your issue here.

Have you traced your clutch cabling to make sure it isn't pinched anywhere? Also make sure that the cable is seated properly at the case in the little silver clutch arm.

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Re: Savage lady needs help
Reply #2 - 08/03/16 at 12:40:30

The thin blue wire is for the neutral light indicator. It should pass through an obvisious rubber "seal" in the cover. If you or someone else had done some work it might have been pulled. Give it close look to make sure it's in place and then I might start by wiping the cover down good, have someone hold the bike vertical (not on the side stand) so the oil pump works properly, start it up and see if you can pinpoint any leakage.

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youzguyz

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Re: Savage lady needs help
Reply #3 - 08/03/16 at 12:45:03

oil leak:
Check the "puke tube" that comes out of the bottom of the air box. It should have plug in it.
Oil that is blown out through the breather will collect in there. You empty it when the oil is changed.

It is possible that the blue wire (neutral indicator) is leaking oil where it goes into the case.
In the same area, where the clutch arm goes into the case. That has an o-ring that can only be replaced by taking off the clutch cover.
Clean the area really good, then run it a bit to see if you can isolate which is the culprit.

Hard to shift:
Unless you have some miles of experience on the bike, it could be technique. Sometimes, the clutch has to be let out a bit while you are shifting for the gears to change easily.
You certainly don't want to force it, or you will bend the rod in the shift linkage. It may be bent already, as that will make it hard to shift because the rod will flex instead of transferring motion from the shift pedal to the transmission.

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Xbeaus

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Re: Savage lady needs help
Reply #4 - 08/03/16 at 12:56:52

Thanks for all the input. This bike is my girlfriends bike and has about 6000 miles on it. I'm a very experienced rider but not familiar with the Suzuki. I will take into consideration all input here. The "Puke" tube does not have a plug in it and she says that it looked like it was coming out of there. I sprayed brake cleaner over the case and cleaned it up so I can re-create the leak but I would like to get it to shift better. I'm going to change the oil out completely and start from there for now. As hard as it is to shift I'm wondering if something isn't bent in there. Just doesn't feel right at all.

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Re: Savage lady needs help
Reply #5 - 08/03/16 at 13:17:11

That tube that comes out of the air box and drains down to the area behind the engine - but in front of the tire is supposed to have a plastic plug in it. The line is a drain from the airbox, and it should be drained at the same time you change oil. The rest of the time it is supposed to be sealed - so the vapors from the engine do not exit this little tube.

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Johnny57

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Re: Savage lady needs help
Reply #6 - 08/03/16 at 13:18:39

Look under the shift lever for the linkage and the rod. Sometimes the rod can bend or be set up in such a way as to be hitting the bottom of the case during a shift. Shifting might not be difficult at all. It may just be the setup of the linkage. The linkage can be set up such as to not bind while shifting. I have and know of others who have actually replaced and broken the shift rod after it has been bent a few times.

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Re: Savage lady needs help
Reply #7 - 08/03/16 at 14:05:29

clutch maybe dragging a bit which would cause the hard shifting.

while the owners manual does list the 20w-50 for high temp areas, the 50wt limits cooling flow.
And I don't see an improvement to go to the high wt. oil. Also could be causing the clutch drag.

Back by the neutral wire coming out of the case, are two marks that show the limits of the clutch throwout lever.
Hold the lever up with you hand to take the play out and compare the lever with the marks.

oil leaks are difficult, the dam stuff goes everywhere.
Plug the puke line, clean the engine, take a short ride and check.
It can even come from the oil fil cap up front or the speedo cable on top of the case.

There's a couple of threads at the top of the RSD you should read thru.
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1344399573
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1366651397

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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Savage lady needs help
Reply #8 - 08/03/16 at 14:20:00

How many miles?
When you leave from a stop, do you slip the clutch?

Gear engagement....

If that's
From Neutral, into first, and you've stomped the lever to force it into first after sitting through a light in gear with the clutch lever pulled in, then the odds that the rod is bent are pretty good. If you're able to shift up from first pretty easily, but down shifting doesn't work so good, then certainly check it. Heck, check it out anyway.

The cheapest and, so far, best oil has been Rotella 15/40, though I think I recently saw that the zinc content is no longer up to what the bike needs. Redline ZDDP added will solve that. We have people who have over 100,000 miles on their bikes and and have not pulled the head.

So, go lay down and look under the shifter, pull down on it, gently, see what the rod does.

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jcstokes Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com is very useful Posts: 2119 Mauku New Zealand Gender:	Re: Savage lady needs help Reply #9 - 08/03/16 at 20:23:32 Make sure the speedo cable is tight where it joins the gearbox, this shouldn't cause a huge leak but it can put a little on the rear of the cover.
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Xbeaus YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 5	Re: Savage lady needs help Reply #10 - 08/04/16 at 06:49:53 I'll get to it this weekend and report what I see. What a helpful place this is! I ride a yamaha Warrior 1700. This cycle is pretty light compared to mine! lol
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Savage lady needs help Reply #11 - 08/04/16 at 06:55:42 658 pounds,,, no Way, at no time in my life..
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Xbeaus YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 5	Re: Savage lady needs help Reply #12 - 08/04/16 at 07:13:34 justin_o_guy2 wrote on 08/04/16 at 06:55:42: 658 pounds,,, no Way, at no time in my life.. But she rips the pavement
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SavageMan99 Senior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 391	Re: Savage lady needs help Reply #13 - 08/04/16 at 07:24:11 Does speed shifting while also using the clutch help on our bikes?
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Dave YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 17831 Camp Springs, Kentucky Gender:	Re: Savage lady needs help Reply #14 - 08/04/16 at 07:29:28 SavageMan99 wrote on 08/04/16 at 07:24:11: Does speed shifting while also using the clutch help on our bikes? Helps with the destruction of the clutch and belt....I betcha!
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