Topic: Some kind of leak

[samfig]

So as I was thinking about how much I love my bike (a '74 CB750) and how it hasn't given me any trouble since I bought it this summer I decided to go and start her up (so that she can breath a little).  I'm in the Chicago land area so riding is pretty much a no-no with the weather today. 

I rev'ed it up a bunch of times and let it heat up for a couple of minutes when I realize that down by the foot peg there is two small spots of moisture!  I had only been warming up the bike for about 5 minutes when I noticed this so I turned off the bike and began to investigate.  My sense of smell is shot but the color was brown, like oil, but smelled a little bit like gas.  the exhaust in that area has some brownish liquid on it and the kick stand had a glint of moisture on it as well.

I left my camera at school so pictures aren't possible right now but do any of you guys have any ideas of what it could be?  I'm new to bikes so the slightest of problems worry me.  it wasn't a lot of fluid but for the short amount of time I had it running it kinda made me nervous. 

The bike is always kept in the garage and I've never noticed any oil or liquid underneath it but I recently put a carpet under it (you gotta treat'm nice sometimes) so I am unsure if it is something that happens when the bike is on or a consistent problem. 

Any help would be great.

[MrZxp]

Sam - one of the byproducts of the operation of an internal combustion engine is water... I would imagine your exhausts would have tiny drain holes to allow for any excess moisture buildup to escape. It is always a good idea, if possible, to go for a decent length ride to allow the exhausts to heat up sufficiently to evaporate the moisture thereby prolonging the life of your mufflers... especially if you have a 4 piper - heat is dissipated far more readily over the greater surface area of the four pipes as opposed to a 4-1 which has all 4 pots feeding the one muffler... hope this helps!

Cheers, Phil

[KB02]

You beat me to it!!!

That was my answer.

Shouldn't be anything to worry about, Sam. Most likely just the condensation leaking out of the pipes.   

[mrbreeze]

Yup....thats the first thing that came to mind.I'm sure you have seen it coming out of your car's muffler on a cold start. Same thing happening here.

[samfig]

Do you guys know how I can check for these "drain holes"?  Is it supposed to be some sort spigot or what?  I have 2 2-into-1 exhausts but I only noticed it from the left side where the kickstand comes down touches the ground.  Does the face that its not on both sides mean something??

[MrZxp]

Ideally they would be at the lowest point of the system... just a tiny hole in each muffler... if you're only getting stuff out of one side, the other side could well be blocked... have a good look underneath, concentrating on any "rustyish" looking area...

Cheers, Phil