From: VmaxV-4@webtv.net (Mark Robertson)
Subject: Re: Vmax oil leak

Check your Stator and pickup assembly wires. If your wires have the
woven cloth insulation they will saturate with oil after awhile. When
this happens oil will travel inside the wires and outside the two rubber
oil seals. On my two Maxes, a '90 and an '85, The stator has three
bigger wires that run through one seal and below that the pickup
assembly has 5 smaller wires that through the 2nd seal. Somewhere down
the line Yamaha made a change on the wires. I don't know what year Vmax,
though. I recently checkout a '98 model and it has rubber insulated
wires that won't absorb and leak oil. They also reduced the number of
pickup assembly wires from 5 to 2, these are also rubber insulated. To
check your stator wires there's a 1 inch sq.black cover just above where
your gearshift lever is. Pull this off and see if your wires are an oily
mess. Also run your hand under the rod that connects the gearshift
lever, if this is oily it means that oil is leaking off of your wires.
Solution to this is to have your stator & pickup assembly rewired with
rubber wires. It's quite a job to do. Also your magneto cover gasket
might be leaking, this engine cover is the big one with 11 allen bolts,
just to the side and in front of the head of shifter.
                                                Mark