( UPDATE: Turned out to be a coolant leak ) Oil leak after riding ( with pictures )

[CYYJ]

The way I approach this is like an adult version of Legos, follow instructions step by step, remember what you took out and where it goes, then put it back together again.

That's an excellent description of the process for repairing any mechanical device, whether it is a motorcycle, an aircraft, or a nuclear reactor.

If you have not yet bought a Honda Service Manual for your ST 1300, do try and get one. It is well-written and well illustrated, takes you through all the tasks step-by-step, and having a service manual will greatly contribute to your confidence & peace of mind when you carry out future preventative maintenance or repair tasks.

There are bootleg scanned PDF copies of the service manual floating around on the interweb, but you really need to get the original paper copy. It's far easier to reference when you are doing the work, and you can add your own notes & reminders to the text as you complete various tasks.

There's an advertisement here in the forum about one for sale at this link: Service Manual for Sale. Honda has printed some revisions to the book since it was originally issued. If you buy a used copy, see this post to ensure you have the latest revisions: ST 1300 Service Manual Revisions. If you buy a new copy via a Honda Dealer, ensure that it comes with these revisions (rather than coming off a shelf in the stockroom where it has sat for 10 years).

Michael

Honda Service Manual

 

[paulcb]

Huge kudos to you for fixing this... many with your mechanical experience wouldn't touch it. I suspect you're more mechanically inclined than you think, at least you are now.

 

[red dirt cowboy]

Thread resurrect: about to undertake this... did you put something on the o-ring before reassembly (it looks kind of greasy?)

 

[red dirt cowboy]

So I took it all apart, and it sure doesn't look like the pix... everything was pretty nice and clean. EXCEPT: one of the longer bolts from the bottom was heavily covered with coolant looking corrosion/coating (whitish). I spoke to Igofar a few years ago and he suggested this job for me also. Not at all unhappy with suggestion, mind you, just another potential problem eliminated. But could this be a bigger problem (i.e. water pump?) Haven't had much loss of coolant. 4 years since last coolant change (mea culpa, mea maxima culpa). There was a little coolant residue near the square hole and a tiny bit of oil also from round hole. But the residue could potentially have been from the hose above this. Just trying to cover all the bases.