Some Miscellaneous Problems, Experienced Advice Needed

[jim12]

Thanks ahead to those curious and willing enough to hang out on the forums and dispense knowledge and wisdom to first timers like me. My first problem is a slow but persistent oil leak coming from somewhere around or behind the front sprocket. I bought my '81 Special last summer with 8600 miles and everything was perfect except for this issue, which left the underside and kickstand caked in oil and dirt on top of older oil and dirt. I took some pictures after removing the case covering the front sprocket and again after clearing some of the oil. My plan was to ride around some more and see if I can figure out where the oil is coming from. In the meantime, maybe somebody here knows or has had this problem as well?

My second problem was my own doing. I somehow messed up my turn signals after removing the handlebar controls and switching handlebars. The front signals do not work and all, and the rear ones turn on left or right, but do not blink. When I put everything back on the handlebar, I ended up with this extra piece and no idea where it came from, maybe it has something to do with this?

 

[HoughMade]

When mine leaked there, it was the clutch pushrod seal. I would suggest doing what you said- get out the parts cleaner or kerosene and a brush and get it perfectly clean under there. Ride a bit and see if you can see where it's seeping from.

A for that part, it kinda looks like the clip that holds the throttle cable into the housing on the right grip, but I'm not certain.

[edit]

Well now I'm pretty sure

 

[Sesty]

+1 on the part ID

 

[BBS360]

Are the new bars painted?

 

[jim12]

Yes they are and I think I see where you're going with this. Is it a grounding problem? Not sure how I would remedy that.

Thanks for the ID HoughMade, thats definitely it. I'm also glad to see that pushrod seal replacement is a relatively simple fix, I'm 90% sure thats the culprit.

 

[BBS360]

You got it. Kind of odd that you're getting different behavior between front and back though.
Does the starter button work with the new bars?

The usual fix for painted bars is to sand off the paint where the bars make contact.
You could run a ground wire from the headlight bucket to the controls and ground them internally.

 

[jim12]

The starter has never worked actually, I always kick. Is it enough to just sand where the controls lie over the bars or do I need to sand where the bars are held by the risers as well? I'm also wiring in a new taillight that grounds through its own housing instead of a dedicated wire like the stock fixture, do I have to worry about the rear fender being electrically isolated? I feel like I might soon be in over my head with the electrics and my ambitions for more mods haha

 

[BBS360]

Just both controls apparently. Scroll down to xchris's post:
http://www.xs400.com/threads/starter-button-problem-after-new-bars.12455/#post-130759

 

[jim12]

great find. I understand how you wouldn't be able to start if it's not grounded through the signal housing, but is the reverse necessarily true? Do I have to scrape the paint under the starter housing for the signals to work? I also maybe should have mentioned that I got some aftermarket headlight brackets. Are those electrically involved as well?

 

[BBS360]

With the ground in the left controls I wouldn't think the reverse is true.

When you changed out the headlight bracket you may have affected the individual grounds for the front signals. There's normally a ground wire with a ring connector that goes around the signal's mounting stud.
Are they still on the studs and connected in the headlight bucket?

 

[dgoodsy]

going back to the oily mess, it looks to me like the chain has sprayed oil around in there, which points to the output shaft seal, right behind the drive sprocket. those seals aren't expensive, you may as well replace both while you are in there I would say. There is also a third seal in there, for the shifter rod. It's also cheap but a bit trickier to change.