Topic: Chasing a CB 550 oil leak

[Mooshie]

For the last week I have been chasing a drip that comes down the side stand (I think all 550's may come with that standard  ) I sprayed foot powder on oil pan gasket and trail seemed to be coming from the second screw on the left side of oil pan--which is near the shifter shaft.  Everything else was perfectly dry.  So,  I took off the left crankcase cover and of course it had a lot of chain grease in there and what appeared to be about 2 teaspoons full of oil (or could it have been liquefied chain lube?).  At any rate I cleaned everything up so it sparkles and sprayed with foot powder.  Put on shifter, left crankcase cover off and rode the thing all over and of course no drip.  Rode it some more.  No drip.  Checked shifter shaft seal (visually) very closely as that tends to be culprit.  Dry.  Checked oil pump seals visually (those 2 tiny o ring areas) seemed dry. 
My question is could it have been just the liquefied oil dripping from where it had pooled in the crankcase cover when it was on the kick stand?  Am I missing something? 
Oh, and since my last oil change no change in oil level (though 2 teaspoons may not be enough to register on dipstick). 
Any help you can give would be appreciated. 

[Greggo]

Two teaspoons wouldn't register (I think) with our wet sump systems.  I remember cleaning up a lot of gunk/liquid out of my 500's cover the first time I got into it.  I say ride it some more and see if it persists. 

[Spanner 1]

I think you answered your own question Moo when you said could it be chain goo. I think the usual goo in the front sprocket area will 'melt' with heat and find it's way down the convenient kickstand route to the ground. Having cleaned it out, your 'prolly good for 10K miles before a repeat ! Could it be chainlube ?

[Mooshie]

Well I feel better after hearing both your responses...thought I was going to lose my eye sight straining to find a leak.  I will put the cover back on, ride it around. Plan on doing the 2012 rally (if it comes together soon enough) figure that ride should be a good test of whether it was chain lube or a leak.  Thank you

[dave500]

the cover also goes over the oil pump,the pump can leak at the casing and fill that little void area slowly over time,then you get what seems to be quite a bit of oil when you take the cover off,it can seep and creep down the shifter pedal even.

[bryanj]

Apart from the pump cover O ring(on its way) the oil pressure switch can leak a bit through the wire screw area--no cure for this except a new switch.

I have had a shifter seal pop out and leave a large puddle when bike on sidestand, and that was 100 miles after rebuild!!! pushed it back in and it never came out again nor leaked---go figure(I couldn't).

If you are driving a lot of miles i seriously suggest checking the oil EVERY gas fill as the 500/550 do tend to use/loose a bit when run hard or for long periods

[Mooshie]

Yes I check the oil level frequently and am glad that I at least will have all the "O" rings I could possibly need once I trace this darned leak (glad you still had some Bryan).  Of course I am hoping it was lube goo but don't know if I will be that lucky.  Everything around the oil pressure switch and the oil pump cover was clean as a whistle even before I cleaned out the gunk that was all around the area.  Once I sprayed it with foot powder it stayed the same.  I will put the crankcase cover back on and take a look after 1000 miles and see if more oil has collected (and I am going to use chain lube that does not liquify so I can rule out that issue if oil is there again). 
Love this forum...thank you

[Dimitri13]

For safe measure, replace the 3 oil pump seals, shifter seal (these four are real cheap, <$10), and use some teflon tape on the oil sender switch. That should stop and prevent the most common leaks under that cover.