MoldTheClay
Well-known member
http://imgur.com/gallery/xH7fTMH
So I did my valve adjustment and my bike is running GREAT as far as I can tell. It is back to having its normal noisy valve train again, my bottom and top end power are back, and it just sounds healthier. Hell even that knocking noise that was happening jn my tail pipe is gone which I guess rules out an exhaust leak.
On the down side, a minor oil leak from the left side of my head cover gasket from before my adjustment seems to have become worse somehow. A day after getting it back I noticed that the whole left side of my engine seemed coated in a layer of oil of some sort.
Initially I hoped that the grease I put along the top edge of the new gasket to make it stick to the head (it kept falling out when attempting to install) had simply melted and ran down the side of the engine while it was hot and leaning on the stand. After cleaning it with soapy water and letting it dry the oil kept coming back and collecting down near where the head is joined to the cylinder on the left side. (I think that is right?) Every time i park and come back to it a few hours later, a little bit more seems to have collected.
The only clear culprit seems to be the brand new head cover gasket that I put on with my valve adjustment. I sealed it with a small amount of silicone gasket sealent along the rubber half circle bits as the manual depicted, and let it set for about 5-10 minutes before putting the head cover on.
It looks like the leaking oil may have run down the front left corner of the bike along the casting marks on the engine to collect in the spot pictured as well as run down along the area under header number 1. I am hoping that if it came from the head gasket itself that it would be running down below that point instead of collecting above where the 2 parts meet together.
Did i seal the gasket wrong maybe? Not use enough sealent? Should i have put the gasket on the bottom half and then seated the top half on separately? (That just seemed harder to make it line up correctly)
I am hoping that that's the only part that is leaking, but a bit at a loss as to why oil is able to make it through. The leak seems to be slowing down instead of getting worse though.
Definitely not looking forward to tearing back down to get that cover off and fix the seal, that is for sure... If the rate of the leak doesn't seem to get any faster (no drips below the bike or in the fairings yet) i might just say screw it and top off the oil now and again until my next check unless my oil loss is faster than I think. Or is that a bad idea?
So I did my valve adjustment and my bike is running GREAT as far as I can tell. It is back to having its normal noisy valve train again, my bottom and top end power are back, and it just sounds healthier. Hell even that knocking noise that was happening jn my tail pipe is gone which I guess rules out an exhaust leak.
On the down side, a minor oil leak from the left side of my head cover gasket from before my adjustment seems to have become worse somehow. A day after getting it back I noticed that the whole left side of my engine seemed coated in a layer of oil of some sort.
Initially I hoped that the grease I put along the top edge of the new gasket to make it stick to the head (it kept falling out when attempting to install) had simply melted and ran down the side of the engine while it was hot and leaning on the stand. After cleaning it with soapy water and letting it dry the oil kept coming back and collecting down near where the head is joined to the cylinder on the left side. (I think that is right?) Every time i park and come back to it a few hours later, a little bit more seems to have collected.
The only clear culprit seems to be the brand new head cover gasket that I put on with my valve adjustment. I sealed it with a small amount of silicone gasket sealent along the rubber half circle bits as the manual depicted, and let it set for about 5-10 minutes before putting the head cover on.
It looks like the leaking oil may have run down the front left corner of the bike along the casting marks on the engine to collect in the spot pictured as well as run down along the area under header number 1. I am hoping that if it came from the head gasket itself that it would be running down below that point instead of collecting above where the 2 parts meet together.
Did i seal the gasket wrong maybe? Not use enough sealent? Should i have put the gasket on the bottom half and then seated the top half on separately? (That just seemed harder to make it line up correctly)
I am hoping that that's the only part that is leaking, but a bit at a loss as to why oil is able to make it through. The leak seems to be slowing down instead of getting worse though.
Definitely not looking forward to tearing back down to get that cover off and fix the seal, that is for sure... If the rate of the leak doesn't seem to get any faster (no drips below the bike or in the fairings yet) i might just say screw it and top off the oil now and again until my next check unless my oil loss is faster than I think. Or is that a bad idea?
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