Bad looking head under valve covers

[ducpainter]

No oil cooler.  What about the leaking head bolt?  There was definite seapage out of one of the bolts.  Lots of crusty old oil around it as you can see in this pic:



Also, in the summer, the bike will reach temps of 275 degrees (105 ambient).

Head bolt isn't going to cause any crusty brown inside the valve cover.

The temp you're seeing is the temp of the oil in the cases. The cylinder head temp directly above the exhaust is hotter. A cooler would be a good addition.

[ducpainter]

The previous owner might have been using Shell Rotella T oil for diesel engines.  It is a good product.

Agreed

[seevtsaab]

Agreed

Ditto for many 'Diesel' oils, for instance Mobil Truck and Diesel synthetic, if it's rated right and the correct weight....
Not to say it's ideal for the moto.

Replacement gaskets are pretty reasonable, from a site sponsor.

[scduc]

What does the underside of the cover look like? When I took my cover off today, I noticed that it looked like a coating, with a few bubbles. I went to touch them, and they kinda flaked off. almost like a teflon.

[csorin]

Underside of the cover was fairly clean actually.  I did have your described "bubbles" around the valve stem and oil galley.  These were cleaned off before the picture was taken.

As a follow up to the lean/rich question, I changed my plugs.  The old ones were a nice light brown color, indicating a good mixture by my understanding.

For now, I'm not worrying about it.  The engine runs strong, and this condition was scene on both the vertical and horizontal cylinders.  I can't imagine both exhaust guides/seals, and only the exhaust guides/seals going bad.

Maybe this was the result of old oil?  Either way, I'll take another look in 4,000 miles.

[Mr Earl]

<snip>
I can't imagine both exhaust guides/seals, and only the exhaust guides/seals going bad.

Try harder to imagine that.  I can certify that it's possible, and on a maintained bike.  Try checking compression.  Or, forget about it.