Rear main seal leak. How likely?

Hi all.

Advice please. My 2014 GRiSO has a slow oil leak which is making the back half of the bottom of the sump quite damp with oil. Bloody hard to find the source, but it appears to be coming from the rear end of the sump, but higher up than where the bottom sump gasket is. There's a semi round flange-style thing immediately adjacent the rear casing of the sump (near the metal oil line connection) and the oil seems to be weeping from up in there somewhere. Hard to describe, I know.

Before I waste the next week or so of my life getting it to the dealer, does anyone have any experience on the likelihood of it being a rear main seal on what is effectively a brand new bike? Is there likely to be another culprit?

I believe that getting to the rear main seal is a prick of a job, and whilst the bike is still under warranty, I'd prefer that the entire thing isn't pulled apart by some apprentice mechanic unless absolutely required. Any opinions welcomed.

Brent.

Don't freak out just yet brent, I had a leak in that area that turned out to be the the return line from the oil breather box. It's the line with the steel elbow on the rear left side of the sump. My hose was cracked / perished from the heat from the exhaust.  Pic ......
Let us know what you find, It would be unlikely that it's the rear seal... surely ?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Can you get a pic? On a 2014 bike a rear main seal or flange gasket is really unlikely but there are a variety of Welch plugs and the like in the sump spacer that might be leaking. Without seeing it though I'm having a hard time fathoming what you are talking about.

Pete

Thanks guys. Tried taking a pic that was vaguely useful but failed miserably. Suppose with the bike still under warranty the correct thing to do is get the dealer to have a look at it and see what the outcome is.

Flog the Bugger up here. I'd love to take a look.

Pete

Multiple options transporting bikes interstate, I have contacts.
Price equals peace of mind having Roper San take care of it compared to the afore mentioned apprentice.

Depends...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Er...um... Ooh.

Taken by a wedding photographer no doubt. Ha.

that seal looks pretty tight.........

It glistens.

That's so creepy. I swear it follows me as I cross the room!

That seal should be water tight ?

Been ages since I have seen a girl with out her ears pierced

The human svinkter, what a wonderful piece of kit, great design
Just imagine what it does over a lifetime
A pretty damn good 'rear main seal'

Just be careful you don't cross thread the sump plug.......

After thinking the possibilities, pretty sure that's a Buna N O ring and not the more common Viton or Neoprene. Excellent long service life but the supporting equipment is very expensive to maintain and has no known owners or operations manual. Country of origin seems to have no effect on reliability of support gear but being monied will keep the newer models in stock.

ah, dupe!

Back to my original matter at hand..........checked the dipstick and sure enough, it's been filled right up to the top mark. Tested it with the bike level, resting the dipstick against the top of the thread. I recall that it's only supposed to be filled to about the halfway point on the marker range???

Not sure if there's some breather or possibly overflow happening from somewhere at the rear of the sump/block due to overfill?

Unlikely unless the hose on the airbox has fallen off. Excess gets pumped through the breather system which it overwhelms and ends up in the airbox.

Pete

He probably should check the airbox drain plug is still in the hose.

Air box drain tube (the clear one) is absolutely dry. Plug still in it.

Wish I could say the same for my fuel tank breather pipe that drips fuel even with the tank only half full.

nice piece of meat Steak

Update.....

Bike's been in the shop for 2 weeks, and they've only just started to look for the source of the leak! Of course, they now can't find it. Reckon they have washed the sump clean and now can't get it to leak. For the sweet love of God, this sort of thing does my head in. Granted, it's more of an oil "weep" as opposed to a leak......only ever had the odd drop of oil on the garage floor. Not like it's pissing out all over the place, but sufficient to get a nice slick of oil all over your hand if you reach back on the underside rear of the sump.

This will end up with the bike off the road for a month and zero outcome.