M900 Oil Leak

[twinflyer17]

Recently my 94 M900 has began leaking oil and leaving drips on the garage floor. I wasn't too worried about it at first, seeing as though the bike is 16 years old and has 21k on it, but lately it has been leaving bigger drips and it is becoming more consistent also. I cleaned up the front cylinder to see exactly where the oil was coming from and realized it is dripping out of a "screw" looking thing almost directly below, and on the underside from where the spark plug cable is. The screw does have and allen head to it but when trying to tighten it it doesn't even begin to move. I have no clue if it is even supposed to turn, or if there is possibly an o-ring that may have gone bad, or what  . If anyone has some feedback or idea it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[greenmonster]

Most likely it has seized very tight, careful not to break it when loosening,
try heat.
It should have a thick copper washer.

[erkishhorde]

Most likely it has seized very tight, careful not to break it when loosening,
try heat.
It should have a thick copper washer.

So what is that screw? I've had a persistent tiny leak somewhere on the front of my '95 m900 for a while now and haven't been able to track it down. Mine doesn't drip though. It just leaves a thin film of oil that is great at collecting grime.

[greenmonster]

Here`s a way to extract the bolt:
http://bimota-db2.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2005-01-01T00%3A00%3A00%2B01%3A00&updated-max=2006-01-01T00%3A00%3A00%2B01%3A00&max-results=33
Lookup 2005-12-13.

[twinflyer17]

Excellent. That's definitely a help on what to do with it, but exactly what should I do after I have it off? Do I only need to relace the washer with a thicker one, or does it need a crush washer or something different?

[ducpainter]

Excellent. That's definitely a help on what to do with it, but exactly what should I do after I have it off? Do I only need to relace the washer with a thicker one, or does it need a crush washer or something different?

A new copper washer or annealing the old one should do the trick.

[twinflyer17]

Thanks ducpainter!

[twinflyer17]

So I was able to finally loosen the screw. It seems like it is just some sort of oil drain??? Anyway, I took the screw off and put gasket sealer around it to seal it up as best as i could. This morning I still realized drips underneath the bike that were funneling from that screw. I cleaned everything up around it to see if the leak is possibly coming from a different part of the bike, but I was wondering if anyone had any feedback or ideas of what to do if the leak is coming from somewhere else??? I'm a little worried now, seeing as though the drips are becoming a little larger and are also becoming more regular...I'm just not sure if I should be preparing myself for an expensive maintainence bill, or if it is something to not really worry about...

[ducpainter]

The only other logical choices are a valve cover gasket, an o-ring between the head and cylinder, or a cam end cap.

None is difficult or expensive.

[Speeddog]

Also can be the 'freeze plug' that seals off the oil jacket on the cylinder.

[twinflyer17]

Thanks again. It is nice to have an idea of what the possible problem is. I'll definitely take all those into consideration!

[twinflyer17]

I hate to keep asking questions, but now I'm in a predicament. I'm supposed to take a trip from PA to NY next week, a 250 mile one way, and 500 mile round trip, and I don't know if i should still go. Any feedback on whether or not a decent size leak like what i have (in the last two days it has left a 4in diameter puddle on the garage floor without being moved) will be a problem on a trip like that? The level of oil hasn't dropped in the check window, but I'm still a little nervous...Thanks again for feedback!

[ducpainter]

If it's a leak that has pressure behind it it will be much worse when running.

I wouldn't make the trip without figuring out what was up.