Topic: leaky head gasket I think

[wardenerd]

my 81 650C with 9000 miles, It has a leaky head gasket I think.  I cleaned the fins and put flour on the fins and discovered after running it that there is a one half inch wet spot in the center of the seam between the head and the lower case on the left side of the engine.  Is there any way to stop this leak without a new head gasket?  I run 10W30 rotella synthetic .  The leak stopped for about a month after I went on a long trip to the mountains at a constnt 60 to 70MPH but now it is back.  The leak is more ugly than anything else.  Otherwise the bike runs flawlessly.   I ride it to work almost everyday 34 miles round trip and it is mostly city stop and go.I  Add oil when the stick gets down to half way on the dip stick.  A few ounces tops it off. Can I do anything to help the situation?

[Tugboat]

Get some nylon rope that will fit in between the fins and shove it in there to create the Oil Tampon. Seriously. Then just keep it topped-off. Not worth the effort/expense to fix on an otherwise-well-running bike IMO.

[goldarrow]

Time for sourcing a used, good engine....if you ever, I want your camshaft j/k

- its either live with it
- retorque the head down
-change gasket, if you go down this road, might as well freshen up or rebuild  the top end altogether.

[trueblue]

I found when I was running 10w40 synthetic my 650 leaked quite bad, I changed to 20w50 mineral oil and it all but stopped leaking.  The only leak I had to fix after this was the o-rings in my oil pump.  It still has a slight oil leak around the head gasket, but it isn't a dripping leak, it is only a light film of oil that holds a little dirt, I can live with that.  At least until I fit my wiseco overbore kit to it

[Sdsbassist]

Are there any aide effecta running 20W50?

[dhall57]

Get some nylon rope that will fit in between the fins and shove it in there to create the Oil Tampon. Seriously. Then just keep it topped-off. Not worth the effort/expense to fix on an otherwise-well-running bike IMO.

I agree Tug. Wardender both my 750's seep a little, but the K6 is the worse of the two. But still not anywhere bad enough to pull the engine to fix. I use small rolled up sections of paper towels between the fins and even paint them silver and there hardly noticeable. Works great!

[trueblue]

Are there any aide effecta running 20W50?

I assume you mean side effects, other than using less oil mine also now shifts smoother, I can find neutral real easy at a stop, just touch the shifter and it clicks into neutral.  Where I live it is fairly warm, the very coldest we get here is 2-3C and there are very few days a year I don't ride because it is too cold.  In summer we are pushing mid 30's C .  Only on the very coldest days it is a little stiff going into gear first thing in the morning.