Head gasket?

Hi all,

Just returned from a 3 day trip to Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, which during the trip I noticed an oil like from the RH cylinder head. Only leaking during riding, but oil was all over the cooler, dripping from the head. Look like a head gasket? If so, anyone got any experience of this, what’s involved in the job, anything to be aware of or jobs I should do while sorting this?

Thanks,
Andrew

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Unlikely to be the head gasket. Have a look up near the exhaust port in the finds and you'll see there is a small grub screw. That is a plug for one of the cooling galleries around the exhaust valve seats, these, especially on early bikes, are sometimes leak prone.

I'd give the whole area a really good clean and then take it for a run before doing the talcum powder trick to it and see if you can narrow down the source.

What’s the talc trick?

Get everything clean and dry and puff talcum powder on the area you suspect the leak is coming from. Run motor and watch for staining in the talc. Just helps identify the leak point more clearly.

Thanks Pete, I will give this a try to find the culprit.

It's not clear from the pics, but is the oil just on the outside of the cylinder OR is it (looking from front and/or back) also all the way up to the inside....if it's all the way to inside of cylinder, I'd take the tank off & see if it's coming off breather hose/oil pressure sensor etc....