Leaky chaincase

[Geoffrey Lord]

Just getting the shakedown runs done on my recently restored 1953 VB600 .

I'm a bit alarmed by the amount of oil that comes out of the clutch cover on the primary chain case after the engine has been run. The oil level is barely touching the primary chain.

Is this normal for the VB?

[volker.halbach]

No, that's not normal. The clutch should stay dry. How much oil is in the chain case? The level plug is a little too high. When you fill up to the level plug, it will leak out somewhere. You can remove the screw and lean the bike a little to the left to drain some oil. If you are worried about running the chain too dry, you can always remove the big inspection cap and check whether the chain is oily.

[Geoffrey Lord]

I've just removed the level plug and nothing comes from there. I've looked again at through the big plug and the oil is barely touching the bottom of the chain.

I'm starting to wonder if it is coming from the output side of the gearbox?

I'll run it without oil in the chaincase for a short while and see what occurs.

[will_curry]

Have you considered the state of the chain oiler? My KH turned out to have the
wrong screw - no taper - in the oilar and could deposit large amounts of oil over
the rear chain and back tyre in only a few miles.

[Geoffrey Lord]

Yes, admittedly the oiler caught me out initially and I was so disappointed by the lack of improvement when I blocked it off!

[will_curry]

Another cause of oil leaking is the state of the two flanges which prevent oil
which is running down the inside walls of the chaincase from running out of
the holes where the mainshaft enters. The flanges suffer if the cases aren't
well aligned with the clutch chainwheel.

The cork clutch isn't usually much bothered by the oil although it can give rise
to noisy selection of first gear from neutral. What you do need to be careful
of is running the chaincase dry as the oil not only lubricates the chain it also
lubricates the engine shaft shock absorber.