Oil leak?

[DLUX]

While washing my 08 sportster 1200 today, I noticed a slight bit of oil at the bottom of the rocker covers. It is right at the gasket crack area between the two chrome sections. The bike only has 540 miles on it so far. I wouldn't call it a leak, but more like a little seapage. It only looked like a couple of drops that got wind blown or compressed air blown (by me drying it) on the chrome cover. Should I be concerned with this, or is this normal?

[Mike]

I would monitor it for a while. Maybe coming from the air cleaner (carryover) and migrating back.

[DLUX]

Well, I noticed it leaking more. After sitting overnight, there is oil present all along the gasket area on the chrome rocker covers. It is worse on the left side because the bike leans that way. The dealer said both cover gaskets need to be replaced. The bike only has 580 miles on it! I hate the thought of my new bike being taken apart to get fixed. The soonest they can get me in is 3 weeks. He said it's alright to run it like that until then. Has your dealership seen issues like this on new bikes? I guess it does happen, but it always happens to me. I sure hope new gaskets fix the issue.

[Mike]

We have seen some isssues on XL's with leaking rocker covers. The upgraded gaskets appear to be correcting the problems along with checking the covers for chrome flashing. Too much flashing on the corners or edges can make them uneven allowing leaks.