Pulled the starter now a large puddle of oil

[chief771]

I pulled the starter on my 1980 gl1100 and now there is a puddle of oil about the size of a dinner plate under the bike. Is this normal when pulling the starter?

[OldguyGlen]

A big spill is not normal. Oil can get sprayed internally into the area where the starter motor snout goes into the engine, so a few drops might be normal. Is the bike overfilled with oil ?? Is the bike level on its center stand ?? Does the bike lean left more than normal angle on its side stand ?? (should be on center stand for this project anyway.)

[chief771]

It is on the center stand and sits straight. It might have been over full as I can barely read the oil level sight glass. It appears it was just the plate size puddle of oil and it looks like it has not leaked any more. If it was over full would that be how oil got inside the starter?

[chief771]

So it turns out old guy glen got it right. My oil was over full caused by the carb dumping raw gas into the intake. Thank you sir! That helped me sort out two problems. Now I am trying to find the leak source in the carbs. I think I missed an o ring or something on the number 3 carb. Everything else looks good.

Thank you again oldguyglen!

[OldguyGlen]

Glad you are making progress Kevin.
Remember you helped me out last year with a carb problem (shaft linkage). Happy to be of help in return.

[chief771]

I appreciate that. I found the carb problem yesterday. When I rebuilt the carbs I missed putting in an o ring on the no. 3 carb. Took me a while but I am happy I found it. No more leaks.

Have a great week!