2012 Concours with an oil leak

[Z71]

I am waiting for comments about the rear drive oil being slung onto the rear wheel.  Any of you new owners have noticed that?  Do not obsess about it if you see some on your wheel, very small amount getting past the seal and deposited on your shiny rear rim is normal. 

[StPeteKawi]

Thanks Mike, I'll give them a call and see when I can get it in to be checked out.

[VirginiaJim]

I am waiting for comments about the rear drive oil being slung onto the rear wheel.  Any of you new owners have noticed that?  Do not obsess about it if you see some on your wheel, very small amount getting past the seal and deposited on your shiny rear rim is normal. 

In the early days there would be a little oil coming down from the outward most side of the drive shaft, about where it enters the rear drive.  This caused a little angst amongst us but it was basically from the mfg process. 

Drive oil on the rear wheel is not normal to these bikes.  I've never (crossing fingers) had it on my bike.  Oil on the rear wheel could be from over filling the rear drive.  It doesn't take much and filling it until it comes out is not the best of ideas for this bike.  I change both the engine and rear drive oils at the same time.  I only fill the rear drive to about a quarter of an inch below the filler neck.  Never full.  Never had oil on the wheel.  Never had a problem with the rear drive seals.

As to whether the rear drive drains all the oil on the center stand or with the bike truly level....I haven't found any difference in what comes or what goes in using either position.  Did an experiment with draining the rear drive on the center stand using a measuring cup.  Then I took it off the stand and stood it straight up...no difference.  No more oil came out.  I think I measured 152ml coming out.  As members here have said...a quart goes a long way on this bike.  The oil when draining out now looks like it just came out of the bottle.  I change oils every 5k or so. 

[stevewfl]

Hey StPeteKawi, I'm in St. Pete also. Take it to St. Petersburg Powerports & have Mike or Dave work on it. Either of those guys will do a great job.

I'm in Tampa. I used to do my own valve checks and such on bikes but between my career, photo shoots, and college I let Dave do mine last time on the Connie at 25K.  Great job indeed on that and a list of other stuff I had him do

I'm at 50,000 now and if I'm in too much of a rush between trips on the bike in the next few thousand dave will get it again. Otherwise Steve will get it (forum)

[Rasmith]

Are you 100% positive its oil? Mine is new (2012) noticed the same. After closer inspection, its coolant. Probably just a bit of overflow.

I wish I would have read this before going by the manual that states the capacity at 5qts.. I was to the top of the site glass before hitting 5qt..I figured I would be good once I fired it up and filled the filter..Hated draining it..Another learning experience for a seasoned rider on a new bike

[BL]

Hello All,

I am new to the forum and to Kawasaki. My new 2012 with less than 1000 miles is experiencing the same issue--a small oil leak which appears to originate near or from the breather tube and work its way down to inside part of the lower left fairing. I noticed the leak when I did my first oil change. After the oil change, the oil level was filled to just below the top line when placed on the center stand. I removed a small amount of oil to bring the level to the center between the 2 lines and still had an oil leak after riding. I noticed the removed oil has slight green tint and a faint gas odor. To me, it sounds like gas is getting into the oil. Any ideas of the cause?

The dealer will tear into my bike this week and hopefully they will be able to fix the issue and restore my confidence in Kawasaki. They provide me a loaner (a Goldwing) which makes the Concours feel quite light!


Brett

[wrenchjet]

lol...same bike, same color, same problem. First, a leaking valve cover was the issue. Second, it's under warranty. I went thru the same process trying to figure out what was leaking. Gave up when I determined changing the plugs was going to be a pain in the....Dealer fixed the leak and put in new plugs. As a side note: I do not recommend using the site gage when topping off the oil. I performed the break in maintenance. Found nothing. After oil change used site glass to top off using 4.5-4.6qts. After a couple high speed runs, I've got an oil leak. Unrelated, that debate we can save for later. I'm lucky to be near Kawasaki in Irvine, CA. They know all about the oil problems. Unfortunatey, they are more than willing to cover the design flaws under warranty than fix the problem.

[maxtog]

lol...same bike, same color, same problem. First, a leaking valve cover was the issue.

I assume it was the gasket...

Second, it's under warranty. [...]they know all about the oil problems. Unfortunatey, they are more than willing to cover the design flaws under warranty than fix the problem.

I am not sure I would say the leaking valve cover incidents is a design flaw.  It sounds more like an assembly error or a flawed batch of gaskets.

[jmd10259]

Did my valve cover by the book 3000 miles ago and its leaking again! I get a puff of smoke off the manifold maybe once or twice a week.
Yup a pia for sure. But I'm frankly not gonna worry about it for now. It's a seep and not a leak much like yours perhaps. Went to the ZX14 forums and guys are adding a washer (thin one) below each bolt and re-tightening, carefully of course and seems to do the trick. My gasket was brand new from Kawasaki last year, worked awesome at least I thought it did. They ALL seem to get it sooner or later. My cam seal is fine just the damn gasket again. I've since been on a 1500 mile trip and it's no worse so aint gonna worry til valve adjust time. You need to pull some plastic to get in there to have a close look and good luck!

[MGvaleri]

Hi all, new to the forum, but I have been hanging out and reading for months. I purchased a Black 2012, in Jan., and only have 2400 miles on it, I noticed the other day that I have an oil leak on the left side of the bike, the oil is accumulating on the extreme lower faring on the left side, it's not a serious leak as it's not dripping on the garage floor or anything, but it does need wiped off every couple of days, and there's no noticeable drop in oil level.

 Two questions, anyone have any ideas what the leak may be from? I realize that it's nearly impossible to tell without looking at the bike and tearing into it, but I was wondering whether there was a common cause? The second question is, that I live in Saint Petersburg, Florida and I'm not sure which of the local shops would be the best to take it to for repairs? I'm not one to trust just anyone to work on my bikes dealer or not!

Any help is greatly appreciated, and I thank you all in advance!

Walt

When will replace O-RING indicted remember to apply to the sensor bulb silicon at high temperatures to solve definitamente such slight drip engine oil.

http://youtu.be/8fUm8kaTEC8

MGvalerio.

[TJ]

Noticed a leak on the left side of my 2012 model as well. A few drops appears on the garage floor every couple of days. The bottom of the plastic just in front of the shifter is "wet". Decided I am just going to call the dealer and have them mess with it under warranty. 1,150 miles on the bike.

[BL]

Noticed a leak on the left side of my 2012 model as well. A few drops appears on the garage floor every couple of days. The bottom of the plastic just in front of the shifter is "wet". Decided I am just going to call the dealer and have them mess with it under warranty. 1,150 miles on the bike.

TJ--Mind turned out to not be a leak. The breather tubes are located on the inside of the fairing and gas has a tendency to run down the inside of the fairing and combine with grime and dirt when you have a full tank and it is a hot day. I added vacuum hose fittings to the ends of the tubes so the hoses now stick below the fairing slightly. Also, I try not to fill my tank all the way on a hot day and leave it on the side stand.

[TJ]

Think you may be right. I found about 8 drops on the garage floor spread out in a row where the bike is usually parked. Never noticed it until this past Saturday. Bike was filled up then driven 30 miles home so tank was not super full but it was parked on the side stand. Fluid is sort of clear, not like oil. Does not appear to be brake fluid as all reservoirs are full to the top.
Any how, when I came home on Saturday afternoon I put some heavy brown craft paper under the bike and not another drop.