Oh Noes..... The Rodent's sick already.

[Motu]

A WoF has nothing to do with oil or fuel leaks unless the oil is dripping on the floor or over your back tyre and the fuel is not actualy wet - the word is considerable and I consider any leaks should be put under consideration,just my considered opinion.

Sounds like the big nut could be the cam chain tensioner,there could be an Oring to seal this,we need that picture.Oil weeps on a bike of this age are pretty normal,dripping oil is not - give it a good clean and go for a thrash,then check them again - if it's gushing out you have a problem,just a weep is nothing to cry about.

[Milky]

Thanks for the replys so far.

Yes the fuel tap was left on iirc. Now know not to do that.

No it didn't seem to keep blowing black once it was left to warm up.

Like the third shot there is also oil? on the left hand side, where there is a huge screw and a second smaller one above it (sorry for the lack of technical detail). I'll go out to the garage and take a photo once the boys are asleep.

This is really frustrating as I had the guy put a new wof on it as a condition of my buying it.

IIRC the two large screws in the left hand crankcase cover are the two for timing. the large one at the bottom allows acces to a bolt so you can turn the engine over, and the top one is the viewing hole to check the alignment of those marks There may be a small o-ring on one or both of these screws, but I cant remember seeing one from when I last took one apart.

[Ghost Lemur]

Well the batteries ran out in the damn camera when I went to get a photo. The wetness (oil?) in the earlier photo seems to have dried up.

But on the otherside where those "screws" are on the casing is still damp. Hoping it nothing too serious and, more importantly, something I can take care of myself. I bought this bike solely as a learning tool, both mechanically and riding. So I don't want to throw money I don't have at it which I wont be able to recoup when I sell it off in a year.

I will get pics asap.

So, correct me if I'm wrong, the petrol was just because I had wrongly left the petrol switch on. The oil could be a few thing but most likely a faulty seal? And the smoke was no biggie just an old putter warming up?

You guys are legends. Muchly appreciated.

[Two Smoker]

Yep best thing to do is what Motu says, clean the bike and give it a good thrashing (even if its like 20 times around the block...) a clean bike makes it easier to diagnose problems, and also lets you see if there is anything wrong with the bike while cleaning it

[merv]

So, correct me if I'm wrong, the petrol was just because I had wrongly left the petrol switch on.

It does mean however that there is a leak in your petrol tap mechanism or the needle valve in the carb is buggered if the petrol is leaking out there. If they were all in good nick and you left the tap on it wouldn't matter.

[Ghost Lemur]

Anything I should know when cleaning? Tips? Tricks? Tools?

[Posh Tourer :P]

Not really. Get some good engine degreaser, and dont use it on the paintwork. Dont spray lotsa water at the instruments, and apart from that, go nuts. Kerosene and detergent at a ratio of 2/3 to 1/3 works pretty good as a degreaser, but better than that is a degreaser sold by the warehouse in 4L containers... will remove anything... brilliant. Degreasers generally work best applied dry I have found so far, so do that first.

[vifferman]

Engine degreaser works really well as an ad hoc stunting tool, if you spray it on the chain goop on your rear wheel, then allow it to be rinsed off onto your tyre.

By the way - from the original description, I had "alarm bells" going off about the possibility of fuel leaking through the carb into the cylinder and into the crankcase. Not likely, but a possibility nonetheless. Very easy to check for, if you remove the dipstick and chack the oil.

[k14]

The degreaser from supercheap autos is really good aswell. Costs like $3 and it comes in an aerosol can, so is really easy to apply. Great for washing dirty wheels. Just make sure you wash it off really good or it will make the paint come off.

[Dr Bob]

If you have one of those pressurised garden sprayers, stick in a degreasing solution (one that you buy or plain detergent) with hot water, pressurise then spray. The long spray head usually allows close application to most hard to get parts. The heat and pressure assist the degreaser.

[FROSTY:Me]

Im bloody lucky I bought a degreaser gun for my compressor. 100psi air sucking the degreaser sure cleans engines well