Google found this for me
http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/ST1300.html ST1300 Known Mechanical Issues
The experience of existing ST1300 owners is that the dealers frequently overfill the oil on these bikes by anywhere from ½ quart to 1 ½ quarts.Over filling your oil can increase the pressures internal to your engine and cause leaks in seals and gaskets. I suggest you check your oil level and adjust it or have it adjusted as necessary. Full instructions for this are in the oil section of this web page, or in your owner's manual.
If you want to try to change your own fluids but are inexperienced, here's an excellent step by step instruction set with pictures.
Some ST1300s are developing oil leaks from the top end which are difficult to track down and can keep your bike in the shop for a long time. Several of these leaks have now been traced to a loose machining plug on the block which is supposed to seal up an oil gallery drilled in the block during manufacture. This plug is not listed on the parts list, nor shown in the service manual. The oil which leaks from this plug flows down into the engine V, and masquerades as a leaking alternator or water pump. I don't have a picture at this time, unfortunately.
Some riders have complained of excessive engine whine and/or transmission noise. Some riders have complained of excessive engine vibration. It has been found by a couple of riders that their balance shafts were mis-adjusted, and adjusting them cured the noise and vibration problems.Full instructions for adjusting the balance shafts are here, or in the service manual. It's an easy job. Symptoms of mis-adjusted balance shafts: too tight = excessive engine whine. Too loose = gravelly sound seemingly in transmission, especially when accelerating from low RPMs.
A couple of riders have found bolts on their triple clamps which were incorrectly torqued - far too loose. Some have also found loose axle pinch nuts and brake caliper bolts. You might consider having a look at your entire front end.
Dash Branding is when your windshield catches the sun at precisely the right angle, and the entire windshield acts like a lens to focus the sunlight onto a small portion of your dash.You know, the magnifying glass frying the ants trick. The branding happens when the sun is directly behind you, at not quite but almost the same angle as the windshield. So, it can happen to you when you're driving west at about 10am, or east at about 2pm, or if you're parked pointing north at about noon in the winter.The solution is, don't park pointing due north, or cover your windshield if you're pointing in a north- like direction around noon. If you're driving on the freeway and it happens, you're just screwed. It happens very fast - it takes about 4 seconds. All you can do is watch your dash smoke and disfigure. This has happened to a couple people in Texas and the Mojave desert.
Most riders have found that their final drive gear oil looks really bad at 1,000 miles. The factory calls for this oil to be changed at 12,000 miles. I recommend you change it at1,000, and about every 250 miles thereafter until you have it flushed out. Full instructions are in the Drive Shaft section.
The temperature gauge tops out at 50c, 122f. If you exceed 122f, the display flashes. This would be a good time to seek an air conditioned restaurant, if you ask me.
