Help! What Am I looking at here??!!

I had a little accident a few weeks back. Very little damage beyond cosmetic. I took it to the shop to make sure nothing was bent or too severely damaged. Shortly after I noticed a little oil drip very near to where my forward control bent in an may have hit the engine. I try to take a closer look today to find the source of this drip and this cap piece breaks in half in my hand. I have no idea what is is though. Its a few inches in front of the oil level window I've looked through the shop manual but I can't seem to figure out what this thing is or how important it is other than that oil was dripping slowly from it.

I hope the pictures work.

 

Oil gallery plug.

Forum sponsor XJ4Ever (link at top of page) will have them, at least he did a while ago when I bought one to modify for an oil pressure sensor.

 

Correct.

But let's go a bit further. It's the oil gallery plug on the MAIN oil gallery for the crankcase. If it lets go altogether, you will immediately lose all oil pressure.

I wouldn't ride the bike (or even run the motor that much) until it's fixed correctly.

 

You may be able to install a replacement plug without draining the oil (if you already have new oil in it) by running the front wheel onto a flat 2 X 6 and put it on the side stand.

Just be sure the bike is stable.

 

If just the Shoulder Flange of the Plug is cracked-off and no damage too the edge of the Threaded area occurred; you need a Plug and O-ring.

If the Lower-end of where the Plug fits got rashed-away or has a hairline crack you'll have additional repair work to contend with.

Although the horse is out of the barn; case guards, ... even 2-point case guards, ... will save that Plug and Cover when the Bike goes-over.

 

Thanks guys I knew you woulds know. I think it's just the shoulder flange of the plug. It didn't even look like it had taken any damage until I tried to see if i could tighten it a little. I had barely put pressure and half of it fell off. That being said how on earth do I get that out of there without that top part?

Sadly, I took the engine guards off to make room for the forward controls, thinking that the forward controls themselves would act as a bit of guard because they don't flex. Which they did to a point, between the forward control and the ammo can saddlebag the engine LOOKED like it took no damage. but I guess the control bent back enough to hit this oil Gallery Plug.
I also never considered I'd get the bike over far enough to scrape the forward control so hard that it would make my tires lose contact with the road. I learned a lot of lessons that day.

 

It looks like there's enough left of the internal hex to engage and remove the plug (have the new one ready.) Just be sure you use a metric hex bit of the proper size.

 

Yea I stopped messing with it after it broke. There might be enough in there but it's not very deep. it's going to be a nightmare trying to get the hex bit to bite. 9mm I got right the size. Any idea what the torque settings should be? I can't even find mention of this plug in the shop manual. Should I drain the oil first? It only leaks while running so if the bike is off there wouldn't be that much pressure right? Sorry for all the questions, but really I find no mention of this thing in the owners or the haynes manual. I'll keep looking.

 

It's not mentioned in any of the books because it's not a "maintenance" item, they never need to be touched unless they leak. There isn't a torque spec (see what Len says) other than not overtightening it. It's not mentioned in the factory books either; it's something that's installed when the motor is built and expected to be left alone. Although I have heard of instances where they started to leak, on high mileage or poorly aged motors.

There won't be any pressure there with the motor off; and with the bike on the sidestand I doubt you'll lose more than a couple teaspoons' worth of oil.

 

Sorry Dannymax I did see that post. I guess I should have mentioned I don't have a side stand. Center stand only. I guess that sort of answers my question anyway though without the ability to lean the bike I should just drain the oil. I've never heard of any problems caused by changing the oil too often. Thanks guys.

 

You will only lose maybe an ounce, or two when you remove the plug. No reason to drain the oil completely.

Also. Draining the oil will not empty the oil gallery that the plug goes to.

Ghost

 

It's all good Novus! No sidestand eh? That's a first....must be a little trickey sometimes on uneven terrain and such, isn't it?

Update...Just saw the accident photos....that probably explains where the kickstand went....glad you're able to write about it.