Leaking shock.

[Steve S]

I washed the Venture today and after backing it back in the shop to put it back together, I noticed some oil dripping underneath the center of the bike. Looked it over and it looks like the shock is leaking. 

A couple of questions here.  

Will it hurt to continue to ride the bike with a bad shock? 

And second, who can I get to rebuild this shock?

Thanks for any help.

[Freebird]

It is more or less ok to ride but you’ll get a pogo effect.   If it’s just leaking oil, you can repair it. 

[RDawson]

I texted @dfitzbiz contact info to you. He’ll rebuild it. 

[Steve S]

13 hours ago, RDawson said:

I texted @dfitzbiz contact info to you. He’ll rebuild it. 

Thank you, Ronnie. I have sent him a text and am waiting to hear back from him.

[RDawson]

59 minutes ago, Steve S said:

Thank you, Ronnie. I have sent him a text and am waiting to hear back from him.

If he’s traveling it may take some time to hear back from him. 

[Paul Martin]

Steve, if you're mechanically inclined and wanted to try and tackle it yourself, see this writeup:
 

 

[Steve S]

6 hours ago, Paul Martin said:

Steve, if you're mechanically inclined and wanted to try and tackle it yourself, see this writeup:
 

 

Thank you Paul. That looks very doable for me.  

[Steve S]

I got the shock off this afternoon. It took about 20 minutes to get it set in the vise and start draining it.  I made the bracket to press it up to change the O ring but stopped for dinner. It looks like it will be an easy fix, but I didn't get the fork oil today so it will be Tuesday before I can reinstall it.  

[Paul Martin]

Share some pics when you can!  Here's mine just now - dry 950 miles later.  And if yours was low on shock fluid and was pogo sticking, you will be amazed at how much better the ride is when you get it fixed.

Edited Monday at 07:19 PM by Paul Martin

[Steve S]

WELLLLLLL..... It was NOT the shock.  The shock was had plenty of oil in it and was not leaking. However, since I had it off, I changed the O ring and oil. I was putting it back on, got all 3 bolts in and could not find the lock nut for the 3rd bolt.  🤔 So, I didn't get it finished today. I'll get a new nut tonight and finish it the first thing in the morning. 

The other side of the equation is the problem. Where did you clear yellow oil come from that was under my bike after we washed it. I didn't start it to move it out to be washed or when I moved it back in the shop. 

Here are some pics of the oil and the frame I built to fix it. 

 

To say the oil was dirty is an understatement.  

Now I will keep an eye out for oil leaks.

[Paul Martin]

Ok now where did that plastic cup of clean oil come from?  Is that your new shock oil that you put into the shock, or is that the mystery oil that came from somewhere else on your bike?

If that isn't new shock oil, then the first thing I would suspect is crankcase oil blowing out breather tubes that come out down near where the lower shock mount is.  But I'm at a loss as to what caused it to leak out if you didn't run the engine when you washed the bike.  But also, your profile says this is a 2010 RSV trike.  Never seen one up close.  Does the trike setup have any additional oil reservoirs down under?

Happy belated birthday by the way!