Topic: Can you help identify this oil leak?

[aaronk]

I'm waiting on my impact screwdriver to arrive (my local Sears store does not stock them ) so I can't take anything off at the moment to try and locate the origin of this leak.  I figure I might as well take a picture and see if the more knowledgable here can pinpoint it. 

I get a little oil mark underneath the sidestand when I park it.  It usually takes a few hours to show up after parking.  I've taken a picture of the area and circled a few spots where the oil collects.  The first spot is under the transmission cover along the molded screw 'humps.'  The second spot is along the circular metal cover that is circled in the picture as well.  Also, what is this circular area?  The oil pan has a tab that covers part of this area, if that gives you an idea of what I'm talking about...  Anyways, the countershaft sprocket area looks pretty wet with oil, I was going to pop that cover off first to see if it's not my chain oiler.  In my searching I've also read that it could be a shifter seal, or my worst fear, I countershaft seal...

Here's the picture:


Based on where the oil is in my picture, would any of you be able to make an educated guess as to what's leaking?  I don't have oil being thrown all over my left side and the leak is not enough to make a difference in my oil level.  I'm really hoping it's an easy fix or that I could safely ride the bike with the slight leak as I've been commuting 40 miles round trip with the bike for the past couple weeks and plan to do so all summer, unless of course this turns in to a larger problem.

Thanks!

[Hush]

Might help if you gave us the model or year or something to go on dude!
But my 650 had a similar leak when I got it and after removing the trans pan and cleaning out the gunk (looked like tar) and the totally blocked metal filter sieve thing I took the rubber ring gasket from around pan and cleaned it with some good oil.
Refilled with new oil (filter change) and no more leak.
That's on a 1979 CB 650z model anyway.

                                                              Hush.

[aaronk]

I added it to my signature after I posted this.  It's a '73 CB750.

[CBJoe]

The upper most leak might be from the shifter seal seeping and pooling under the cover.

[DJ_AX]

You gotta do the foot powder trick!  Clean it all off.. spray it with foot powder... run it a bit... then you'll be able to see exactly where it's leaking from. My 75 750 used to always mark it's territory where ever I parked. The underside of it looked much like that. I thought for sure I'd be changing gaskets.. but with that trick... found it was only the auto oiler overworking. ... a super easy fix.
Now... it's always nice to see clean pavement under my bike! 

[smccloud]

my bet is on the automatic chain over oiler.