There is no longer doubt, leaky head gasket

Here are the after and before pics from cleaning up and tracing down the oil leak, you can just see it start to drip through the baby powder where I've circled it, that explains the massive buildup of crud I had to clean off there when I started.

Question, next step? Try torquing the head to spec? I've never done this, so any advice.

I hope the pics work, they are in my gallery, I never have luck trying to put pics in these posts.

 

You could try torquing it, but at best it will only be a temporary solution. Its not that scary of a job to replace the gasket. Get a book if you don't already have one. It will walk you through the process step by step. This will also be the perfect time to check the valve clearances. You can get a whole top end kit for less then 50 bucks

 

You absolutely sure it isn't the valve cover gasket leaking on the backside of the front bank and migrating down? The 550 has passages from the spark plug galleries to the front of the head, does the 750?

 

Not to be a smart-alec, but not unless the valve cover can leak oil out of the head gasket, I can sit there and watch oil seep out of head gasket. That's what the pics are of.

No oil on head gasket on second, oil dripping down from it the next. Bike stationary, no trails of oil leading TO the head gasket, I mean, the pics are pretty clear, I think.

 

OK, no sweat. Just wanted to be sure you were sure; oil leaks can fool you. I've been doing this a long time and have been fooled more than once.

If you do end up pulling the head (although I would retorque it first, just because) might as well replace the valve stem seals and at the very least de-carbonize the head and lap the valves.

 

You have nothing to lose Re-Torquing the Head.

You might as well give it a try.

Remove the Cylinder Head Acorn Nuts and Washers following the pattern.
Clean the Head surface the Washer will sit on.
Apply a few drops of Oil.

Clean and Oil the Washers.
Clean and Lube the Threads of the Acorn Nuts.
Clean and Lube the Stud Threads.

Place a Washer and Acorn Nut on all the Studs.

Torque the Head down to:
15 Foot Pounds.
........................................
(12)<><>(8)<><>(4)<><>(2)<><>(6)<><>(10)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
(09)<><>(5)<><>(1)<><>(3)<><>(7)<><>(11)

Following the Pattern:
Apply FINAL Torque to:
23.1 Foot Pounds (Twenty-three point one)

 

Thanks Rick, and Fitz, I know oil leaks can be hard to trace, I've spent over week just cleaning, I was *positive* the neutral light switch on the bottom was leaking, but now that I've cleaned it up, I can't see any oil coming out, maybe it was leaking when I got the bike, now with better oil it's not? Who knows.

But those pics were literally a minute apart, after letting it sit for several minutes before starting it to make sure no left over moisture was on there, and I could watch little tracks in the powder starting down as soon as the bike was running. Very depressing.

I will try the torquing method, who knows, maybe something is totally out of wack on the acorn nuts, this bike has a strange mix of stuff that has clearly been done recently, and stuff that was left too long (like ten year old tires)

Also, it was laid down at some point, some fins on right side are banged up, same with exhaust, so that might have been enough to loosen the seal of the head gasket, maybe. Here's a pic before I cleaned up front of head.

 

here's something new on this: when I pulled off acorn nuts and washers, noticed that two of them are thinner than the others. Most of the washers are pretty thick, but the two on the far right side of head, marked 10 and 11 on your drawing, Rick, have washers about half the thickness, is this someones's laziness or is it supposed to have two thinner washers?

 

Those two washers are thinner, and also made of copper, as they are actually "gaskets" that seal the oil return passage......

 

Okay, thanks, Chacal, I noticed they were copper, just wanted to make sure they weren't a replacement for what was supposed to be on there.