How much oil leakage is normal?

sammyman said:

Last night after riding it for about 20 min, I parked and immediately noticed about a dime size oil, and I could see the oil dripping! By the morning I noticed about the size of two quarters oil under my bike. Is the normal? Or do I have leaky gaskets that need replacing? Thanks!

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Normal? No! Common? Unfortunately! Exceptable? Not to me. Mine doesn't leak normally. 99.95%dry. When it does, I nip it. Common sence and sound mechanical practices and your Norton will be Normally dry too.

"It is nice to know there is another marine oriented guy here. It seems incongruous with Mexico City!"

We have a boat on the Cheapeake Bay that I'm on about 4 months of the year. I'm leaving here for the boat in about 2 weeks and will live aboard May/June and do it again in Sep/Oct. SO I spend a good bit of time around boats and helping folks do work. I have a car in a storage garage about a mile from the marina...there might be room for another Commando...

maylar said:

My 850 is not leaking one drop from anywhere. But that could change tomorrow. If it does, I will address it.

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I lied. There's another wet spot under my primary cover this morning. Grrr. Damn Norton needs a diaper.

If its my age ,could be a weak bladder!

Heat them to red hot and let them cool in the air. They will seal as well as new ones.
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To anneal copper you need to quench in cold water after heating Mike,
Dave.

Yamabond is designed to be used without a gasket. I use it often as I rebuild my Yamaha racebikes often. Any engine with vertical cases will tend to leak. I guess we have people here that have Nortons that don't leak, but I suspect that most Nortons leak oil. Don't worry about it, it prevents rusted frames.

"To anneal copper you need to quench in cold water after heating Mike,"

When I started doing this stuff, mumbldy-mumble years ago, the old mechanic who taught me to reuse copper gaskets (the OLD guy was younger then than I am now!) specifically taught me NOT to quench them so I have never done so. Maybe I've been doing it wrong but have never had any problem with one leaking.

I much prefer lacquer based sealants like Threebond 1194 or Yamabond over any or the RTV or silicone based sealants. They tend to seal better, for longer and there is a much diminished risk that chunks of it will find their way to the oil inlet screen.

Take it for what it is worth from Wiki, I am no expert,

"Annealing, in metallurgy and materials science, is a heat treatment wherein a material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness. It is a process that produces conditions by heating to above the re-crystallization temperature and maintaining a suitable temperature, and then cooling. Annealing is used to induce ductility, soften material, relieve internal stresses, refine the structure by making it homogeneous, and improve cold working properties.

In the cases of copper, steel, silver, and brass this process is performed by substantially heating the material (generally until glowing) for a while and allowing it to cool. Unlike ferrous metals--which must be cooled slowly to anneal--copper, silver[1] and brass can be cooled slowly in air or quickly by quenching in water. In this fashion the metal is softened and prepared for further work such as shaping, stamping, or forming."

I think too that is what is done with rifle and pistol cases to soften the case mouth to keep it from hardening and cracking with reloading.

As I remember from my little metallurgy experience, quenching hot steel in water or oil usually resulted in a harder surface, but you need to realize what it is going to be used for after doing that. If you are making punches that is fine, but if you are making gaskets, maybe it is not so fine. But in the case of Copper, it sounds like either method works.

Dave
69S