Left shoe tip oily wet after riding!

OK, I know, this screams oil leak!:lol:

Now that the bike is running like new, I can take it out much further and longer. I was using different footwear the other day, and the tip of the left shoe was wet... WTH? I knew there was a leak somewhere, most likely the head gasket, but I'm not 100% sure. If I leave the thing that way, what can possibly happen over time? Besides adding oil every other fillup and using older footwear?! I mean, if the bike run great, and there is oil in the engine at a normal level, is everything good? I'm not really planning any looong trips as this is my first bike, the longest I'll go out is probably a day trip here an there... anything longer I will have to put a few quarts of oil in my buddy's panniers!

any thoughts? And just for the record, it was leaking that way even BEFORE I dropped on last Monday! Don't ask me how I did it! Just think sidestand before dismounting! :blush:

Betcha it's not the head gasket.
But could do compression test.

Some other things to check:
Exhaust clamp loose;
Exhaust gasket failure;
Tach drive leak;
Valve cover gasket;
Cam plugs (half moons);
Oil cooler fitting (if applicable).

Good Luck!

My oil seals at the head gasket were leaking and the whole front of the engine was wet with oil, and when I would lean in corners, the oil would run down the fins under gravity and come up over the right side (alternator) cover by beeing blown over the cover and then it got to my shoe tip. Thats how I got oily shoe tips. No need to fill up all the time though, it leaks slowly. It can also be the tach seal as patton mentioned and oil taking the same route as mine did.

Most probaly an oil seal...

Parts diagram for 1977 KZ 650

Old Man Rock

Parts diagram doesn't show it bit I would check the rubber plug in the dyno cover that the wires run through.Famous for leaking and easy to fix with some silicone sealer or you may need a new plug & silicone.

YEP
What Jack said.

XENU

Jack wrote:

Parts diagram doesn't show it bit I would check the rubber plug in the dyno cover that the wires run through.Famous for leaking and easy to fix with some silicone sealer or you may need a new plug & silicone.

Good call for the bigger bikes, but the 650s run dry alternators, if the oil is indeed coming from the alternator it´s most likely a leaking crankshaft seal - bad news is you need to split the cases to replace them.

I'm not sure, but I don't think the 650 has oil in the dyno/stator. If it did then my foot would be wet because I don't have a rubber plug for the wires. Do the 900/1000/1100 use oil in the stator?

Isnt there a seal in on the shifter shaft? Would make sense its running down the shifter..

had exact same issue 2 weeks ago you might want to check the oval rubber rings underneath the head i thought it was a gasket but it looked pristeen after replacing the ring wet shoe be gone just a side note my left boot now is i beautiful shade of dark brown.

Ps if you pull the head the two bolts recessed underneath the valve cams only get tightened to 8 ft lbs i learned the hard way that the manual misprinted it at 16-20 ft lbs

Hmm, that seems like it makes sense djcamp. Then again any comment here makes sense. What's the part number on those rubber o-rings? Do I have to remove the head and everything to get to them? Removing the head and everything scares the crap out of me!:laugh:

Yes you need to remove the head. Not all that hard if you watch closely as you disassemble and reassemble the same way. The rubber orings on a KZ650 are the worst feature it has as it uses gobs of them where the KZ1000 doesn't which I never exactly understood, so 650s will leak after the engine heat has taken it's toll. I just ride around leaking oil anymore on the KZ650, heck with it.