Bonding with my Commando

Today I spent about 4 hours bonding with my 73 850. For some reason the primary has started to drip a bit. Replacing the o-ring while fairly brainless is one of my least favorite jobs. Most of the time was spent scrapping the black RTV out of the inner primary cover. Years ago I made a special tool just for this job. It's nothing more then a ground to shape screw driver. Works well. I had 2 tubes of Permatex RTV dissolver that I just knew were going to simplify this tedious job. Crap! The goo that came out of these tubes was the consistency of Jello and wouldn't stick to anything. Maybe two years of being stored in my garage killed the stuff. The summer time temperature in my garage runs between 110-120 degrees for about 3-4 months. Maybe I'll have to start storing even more things in my beer fridge. This time around I used my old favorite, blue Hylomar. When I cinched her down it looked like I'd squished a Smurf between the inner and outer primaries. Hope this works as I hate it when my Norton marks its' turf.

I'm bad about that too when I'm drinking....Like a dog around a new tree.

Hmmm...I've used Grey Permatex on the primary seal and it seemed to hold alright. Now I have it all off again (gearbox rebuild project) and am about halfway through the groove clean up in prep for reassembly. Got a tube of black automotive sealant, more grey permatex and blue hylomar (30+ yrs old). Which to use this time?

Is the chain oiler fitted? if so it could be over oiling and the excess oil runs down the inner case and drips off joint.

I'm surprised to hear your primary seal leaks that much?
I have only ever used grease on the rubber band and never a leak
However the sheet metal seal and felt wick have given me trouble in the past

It doesn't leak much. Maybe a spot the size of a dime weeps out after a ride. I did find a small void in the rear bottom of the o-ring. My guess is that there was a bit of oil when I smeared on the ample amount of RTV and it just didn't seal in this one spot. I's all buttoned up and ready for the primary oil. It's raining here in Gold Canyon today so no hurry to fill the case.

A wee drop of oil from just riding the Norton is just showing you the Norton is leaving its mark, should not have to use any sealent on the primary case rubber at all, mine has only ever leaked when over tightened, I learned that a long time ago, but if you do need to seal it using grease would be better and a lot easier to clean out after removing the cover, depends also how many times you have taken the cover off and used the old rubber, also where the rubber is joined put it up the top of the primary case in the centre, also don't over fill your primary.

Ashley

When I replaced the 45 yrs old seal with new, I found the groove in the casing already had some kind of clear gummy sealant within...did not look like any commercial type silicone or urethanes...more like an OEM sealant. Not that detectable unless probing around with a small blade screw driver. Was quite hard to scrap out. more like a varnish. I think a less aggressive bathroom chalking silicone would ensure a tight seal and yet be easy to remove when needed.