Thank heavens for leaky gaskets and bodgers!!

[cruncherkid]

About a month ago, my CD200 Benly developed an annoying very slow oil leak from the left had side bottom of the engine, so dropped the oil and took it off the road, deciding to investigate 'later'......but the oil leak persisted!!! Anyway, 'later' arrived this week...so got stuck in. CDI cover plate off, left side casing screws out....tap tap with the mallet, casing came away and unleashed a deluge of best part of half a pint of oil. Next step, rotor off along with associated starter clutch & chain gubbins....turns out the left hand crankshaft seal has failed allowing oil to pee very slowly into the generator housing! Not good!

Thankfully, somebody has had that sidecover off in the past and with typical bad practices has re-used the original gasket with it being a non oil-carrying area, and it hasn't sealed properly. That failed crankshaft seal could have gone undetected for literally years as the generator housing became home to more and more oil had it not found a slow way out through the bodger's re-used gasket!

A happy ending with thanks to an unknown cheapskate bodger!! New gaskets and seal on the way, and the sweet little Benly is back in the running for summer transport

Cruncher

[Newtsalad]

A happy ending! On the CT there is actually a small drain hole beside the gasket at the bottom, to let oil and water drain out. Unfortunately it was blocked, hence the pint of water that fell out when I removed the cover!

[radar]

Its a good feeling when you can fix things on motorcycles especially when you save yourself some money in the process.

[mark1982]

hmmm i dont know if to buy new gasget set for my c90 the old bloke i brought it of said he had taken casing of to check gen on bike and used same gasget and sealed it with gasget sealer just bfor selling me bike i dont want it to start leaking

[cruncherkid]

said he had taken casing of to check gen on bike and used same gasget and sealed it with gasget sealer just bfor selling me bike i dont want it to start leaking

If it's the C90z2 mentioned in your rides i wouldn't worry too much, just check the garage floor where it's parked before you take it out for a spin ....the generator on those does have oil in the casing anyway! My CD200 isn't meant to have any!!!

Cruncher

[mark1982]

yeah its my z2 'll keep eye on the floor were park it

[Black Sheep Radical]

A happy ending with thanks to an unknown cheapskate bodger!!

It's not often you can say that. Most of the time when I'm stripping something down I end up thinking 'if I could get my hands round the throat of the person who did this...'

You know, the more I look at those old Benlys the more I think one will be my first geared bike at some point

[cruncherkid]

You know, the more I look at those old Benlys the more I think one will be my first geared bike at some point

Now there's a choice you wouldn't regret BSR! I do not know why the little things get so overshadowed by other models, and you can pick up a minter for the price of a good 12V Cub Fancy being a founding member of benlyclub.co.uk?

Cruncher

[Boo]

... be my first geared bike at some point

Have a mess around pressing the left pedal on your 90.. There's a nice susprise in store if you haven't discovered them yet!

[Boo]

I've always wanted one of these Benlys. Missed the boat on prices I reckon.. They've gone mad.