Just yesterday, I noticed that my bike seems to have developed a slow oil leak from the gasket underneath the valve cover. The leak seems to be centred around the front right half-circle shaped portion of the gasket, but I can't really say certain yet: when I discovered it, there was some oil following the line of the gasket to the sides of the half-circle piece as well, but I'm not sure yet whether this was just runoff from the leak at the half-circle location or whether the leak is actually wider. To figure this out, I cleaned off the whole section the other day, and am keeping an eye on it to see where the oil's actually coming from.

Background on the bike: The bike is a 2007 F model (though now naked) which I purchased in March with 800 miles on it and no known mechanical issues at the time of purchase. Since then, I've put another 4500 miles on it (totalling about 5300 on the clock right now) and have come to the conclusion that something is probably either clogged or sticking in my carburetor, but not so badly as to cause more than a little roughness, so I've been trying to put off dealing with this for a while.

Maintenance I've performed includes:
- Oil change, twice: once at around 1200 miles to get out any junk from the break in period, and once at about 4500 miles (don't have my maintenance record sheet with me presently for the exact figure).
- Regular lubing of chain, performed an adjustment of tension at about 1500 km or so.
- Checked spark plugs, brake fluid, etc. a couple of times, all looked fine so no action taken.
- Made some small adjustments here and there to clutch cable and throttle cable tension.
- Occasionally fiddled around with the idle adjustment screw to get the idle speed 'just right'.

So, I want to fix this leak but have a few questions before I do. There're also some other maintenance tasks that it seems like I might as well do while I've got things disassembled, and I've got some questions there too.

Questions about fixing the oil leak:
1. Should I try to just add some sealant to the gasket, or should I replace the whole gasket outright?

2. If adding sealant is viable, I hear a lot of people say 'use RTV', but when I look up RTV on the Canadian Tire website, several products show up. Which kind of RTV should I be using?

3. Are there any other washers or O-rings that I'm going to have to remove in the process of lifting the valve cover to get at the gasket that I might want to have replacements handy for?

Questions about other things that I might also want to take care of while things are taken apart:

4. I'm probably about due for a valve check. I guess I should probably do this while I'm in there, since I'll have the valve cover off anyways? Gonna guess that the answer here is probably yes. What tools will I need to perform a valve check/adjustment? Assume that I've already got the cover off and am asking about the tools I'm going to need once I'm inside, I'm pretty confident that I have the tools required to remove the cover itself. Feeler gauges? Shims (what kind, how many)? Anything else?

5. It would probably also make sense to take a look at the carbs while I'm in there - as mentioned before, something seems like it's either stuck or clogged in there, and I also have a set of Buddha's jets that I'd like to install.  Are there any gaskets, o-rings or washers I'm likely to destroy in the process of opening the carbs that I should have replacements handy for?

I'm also going to change the air filter since it's just about at it's expiry date according to the maintenance schedule, but that seems straightforwards. Might even change the spark plugs for iridium ones, just for kicks.

Questions about tools:

6. Will I need a torque wrench for any of the things I intend on doing?

I'd like to just make a weekend of it and fix the leak, check my valves, change the air filter, clean my carbs and install my jets all in one go, so I just want to make sure that I have all the tools and parts that I'm going to need.

Valve cover leak - try just tightening down the fasteners

Check your valves every 4000 miles
Synchronize your carburetors every 4000 miles
Change your oil every 4000 miles

For the valve check you will need a set of feeler guages.
For any valves that are out of spec you will need a valve depression tool.  I suggest the Kawasaki one.
You wont know what size shim(s) you will need until you find out what size shim is already in there.  Keep your shims for future valve adjustments.

While the valve cover gasket is off, wipe it clean and the mating surface, and then use Gaskasinch on the half moons.

Watch out for the teeny-tiny o-rings under the diaphragm caps.

Just get regular spark plugs.

Quote from: scratch on September 16, 2011, 04:33:51 PM
Valve cover leak - try just tightening down the fasteners

To be honest, the gasket looks a hint squished to begin with - maybe I need to loosen it, not tighten it? Thinking that maybe I'll just replace it, it's only about 20$.

Quote from: scratch on September 16, 2011, 04:33:51 PM
For any valves that are out of spec you will need a valve depression tool.  I suggest the Kawasaki one.

Got a link or part number for this? I googled "Kawasaki valve depression tool" and got some forum results, but no store results that'd actually let me buy one.

Quote from: scratch on September 16, 2011, 04:33:51 PM
You wont know what size shim(s) you will need until you find out what size shim is already in there.  Keep your shims for future valve adjustments.

How much are valve shims? Are they cheap enough that I could make some sort of guess about what kind of shims I MIGHT need, such that I'll probably have whatever size is required? If so, what are common sizes? If they're cheap, worst case is I just end up with a handful of extra shims. I don't even know part numbers for them - I looked on the parts fiches but couldn't find them (maybe 'cause they're not something that comes with the bike stock, and are something you add later, so perhaps not actually considered a 'part' of the bike?).

My bike is my only means of transportation, so it would really suck to have to disassemble it to check the clearances only to reassemble it to go pick up shims, just to take it all back apart again upon getting back to install them. It'd be great if I could just get a baggy of shims and do the check and, if needed, adjustment in one go.

QuoteWhile the valve cover gasket is off, wipe it clean and the mating surface, and then use Gaskasinch on the half moons.

Sounds like a plan, thanks.

QuoteWatch out for the teeny-tiny o-rings under the diaphragm caps.

I think I'm just going to order replacements for every o-ring I expect to handle and assume that I'm going to break/lose some. They're cheap enough.

QuoteJust get regular spark plugs.

No good reason to get the iridium ones that are shown in the wiki? Is there an interaction with jetting? I've got a set of 132.5/20 jets from Buddha that I'm going to install while I'm in there.

new valve cover time, and holy crap man valves need to be checked at 4k but once you set them you can let them go longer than 4k, thats a evil job to do every 4k... i do 4k in 2 months...

Quote from: crzydood17 on September 18, 2011, 02:59:44 PM
new valve cover time

I hope you mean new valve cover gasket?! The valve cover's never even been removed, I don't see why the cover itself would need replacing...

Yeah, just the gasket. I do recommend getting new o-rings for the valve cover bolts as well. Even if you don't need them now, they are cheap.

I use the pair of tools on the far right, they are the Kawasaki set:
http://www.chrome-addiction.com/p-motion-pro-kawasaki-valve-shim-tool-p525-10088147.php?r=froogle

Quote from: bombshelter13 on September 18, 2011, 12:41:44 PM
How much are valve shims? Are they cheap enough that I could make some sort of guess about what kind of shims I MIGHT need, such that I'll probably have whatever size is required? If so, what are common sizes? If they're cheap, worst case is I just end up with a handful of extra shims. I don't even know part numbers for them - I looked on the parts fiches but couldn't find them (maybe 'cause they're not something that comes with the bike stock, and are something you add later, so perhaps not actually considered a 'part' of the bike?).

My bike is my only means of transportation, so it would really suck to have to disassemble it to check the clearances only to reassemble it to go pick up shims, just to take it all back apart again upon getting back to install them. It'd be great if I could just get a baggy of shims and do the check and, if needed, adjustment in one go.

The shims are probably too expensive to have a bunch on hand. What you may want to do is get a single very thin shim just in case you need it to measure. I just got the thinnest one available. If you have any valves that are too tight to get a feeler gauge in then you can swap to the thin shim to measure to see what you need to replace them with.

Quote from: SeriousGeorge on September 20, 2011, 10:15:19 AM
The shims are probably too expensive to have a bunch on hand. What you may want to do is get a single very thin shim just in case you need it to measure. I just got the thinnest one available. If you have any valves that are too tight to get a feeler gauge in then you can swap to the thin shim to measure to see what you need to replace them with.

I can see boxes of shims like this on BikeBandit:

http://www.bikebandit.com/valve-shim-kit-refill-packages/c/a676361

If I bought a box like that (what OD does GS500 use?), would I be likely to have the shims I need, or am I likely to still end up missing some?

Not having to spend another hour or two taking the bike apart a second time to install shims is definitely worth more than 40$ to me, so if I could buy a box and be set I'd prefer it.

I'm not sure off the top of my head, but it's more than an inch. Probably around 30mm. When I looked into it the kits were over $100 for the suzuki size.

Yes, the diameter of the Suzuki shims is different from all the others.  I thought it was 31mm (Suzuki) vs. 29.5mm for everybody else.  Don't use the smaller shims; the potential for spitting a shim out of the bucket would be greater if you use the smaller shims.