[Alba53]

Has anyone experienced an oil leak from the cylinder base, mine has developed this leak and I would like to know if any else has and how it was resolved.
I wondered if a retorque of the hold down bolts to recommended torque (which I don’t know but surely could find out) might help, or does the head/barrel have to removed and a new gasket fitted.

[pedro__]

Send it to warranty.

[RecoilRob]

The head bolts are Torque To Yield so no retorquing them.   How bad is this leak?   Is it actually dripping....or just a stain?  Would be a lot of work to pull the head then jugs to replace the base gasket.

[Alba53]

It’s a considerable leak, after around 100 mile run the front of the engine is coated and a couple of small pools of oil drip down.
The sight window went from midway between the min and max to on min after around 300 miles running.

[Alba53]

The warranty ran out in January.

[pedro__]

So its a Euro 4, how many miles on the clock ?

Try clean it and smear some silicone around it, yes its dodgy as shit. But better than opening it.

[NJ Mike]

Are you sure it's the base gasket and not the oil cooler?

If it is the base gasket, that sucks. But it's a great time to slip in some high compression pistons and a new cam. No extra work really, but since you're there...

[John Mullen]

If the warranty is up you probably have many miles on it.  My guess is that the oil is coming from somewhere else.  Once the head is torqued on a new gasket, and the gasket isn't broken, it will never leak.  Can you post a few close-up pictures of the head and oil leak?  Silly to speculate without seeing many pictures.

[Carl Fenn]

Well it could be coming fro anywhere and running down, the worst case would be base gasket in which top end needs to be stripped there is no other way.

[Wrenchjockie]

One thing about leaks, is that they often fool you as to where they come from.
Clean the motor as much as possible. Spray the area with a good contact cleaner.
Get some underarm or foot spray with a high talc content and spray the area. Start up the bike, but don’t ride it. Sit and look for where the leak originates.
This has always worked for me. Often surprises me where the leak is actually coming from. Air currents while riding can carry the oil in all directions.

[Blazes Boylan]

One thing about leaks, is that they often fool you as to where they come from.
Clean the motor as much as possible. Spray the area with a good contact cleaner.
Get some underarm or foot spray with a high talc content and spray the area. Start up the bike, but don’t ride it. Sit and look for where the leak originates.
This has always worked for me. Often surprises me where the leak is actually coming from. Air currents while riding can carry the oil in all directions.

Thanks Wrenchjockie.  That's excellent advice.

[Dexter]

The warranty ran out in January.

It may be worth contacting RE directly, through the dealer, with a carefully and friendly worded story of your woes with your beloved 650 and pledging allegiance to the brand, to see if they may offer to cover some (or all) of the repair costs, if it is a blown gasket.

I did that years ago on a Honda CB1000 that had blown an exhaust valve just a few months out of warranty and Honda came through for me, paying the lion's share of the bill. Having the dealer back up your request is most helpful too.

[Alan F.]

The very simplest place it could be coming from would be your oil filter's seal, is your filter as tight as it was when you installed it?

[gizzo]

Try clean it and smear some silicone around it, yes its dodgy as shit. But better than opening it.

Ya reckon? That would scream "neglectful owner" to me. One step away from JustRolledIn on YouTube...
I'd be either letting it leak or fixing it properly, me.

Cleaning and checking really closely where the leak comes from is a good idea though.

[fireypete]

My favorite quote of the day......

"Try clean it and smear some silicone around it, yes its dodgy as shit. But better than opening it."

A gasket type sealant could just work ya know.  If you let a shop do the work described above it will only cost $400...