Oil Leaks / erratic idle on startup..... related?

Hey Guys!

Maybe you can help me out with some information.

I just got my kz440 LTD running after sitting for a few years (previous owner).
Still working all there bugs out though. The only motorcycle mechanical knowledge I have has been gained on my journey thus far on this bike.

There are a few oil leaks here and there and recently it’s been having a hard time starting/idling/staying at an even rpm when the bike is warming up.
Like a really hard time. I have to mess with the choke and throttle constantly for about 5 mins straight to keep the idle from either spiking up to full rev of dying completely.

One of the leaks I’ve found seems to be a wetness around the head gasket.

Others include under the engine, the long doohickey that sticks out of the front of the engine, and a screw on the bottom left of the engine.

I sincerely apologize for my lack of legitimate nomenclature for these parts. But….. I’m including pics to help show you what imp up against.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to replace the head gasket but I’d love to hear from you all about what the other leaks might be.
I also suspect I need to replace my valve seals as there was oil on my spark plug on the right side.

Would slight weepy oil leaks be a cause for erratic engine behavior at startup? Or maybe the valve seals?
Could they be causing changes in compression etc.? I’m just guessing at this.


Thanks in advance!!!!

Pic of the plugs?
Steve

Right side plug.....



Left Side Plug......

Smell fuel on the fouled one? The other looks good.
Steve

Its hard to tell if there is (or was) a smell of fuel on it... its actually been out of the bike for about a month while Ive been working on it. New plugs were installed but the bike has only been ridden about 3 miles total with the new plugs.

When i initially started the bike after acquiring it.... there was a ton of white smoke coming out of the right side tail pipe for a while.
From what ive read there are atleast 2 options for what might be the culprit. (correct me if im wrong)
1. Maybe the carb float might have been stuck while the bike was being stored for so long and fuel leaked into that side of the engine?
2. Maybe the valve seal was leaking on that side?
When i initially changed the 3 year old oil, it reeked of turpentine but i wasn't sure if it was just the smell of bad oil or a mixture of old oil/fuel.

Its had a carb cleaning, oil change, new plugs. Doesn't have the white smoke coming from the exhaust anymore.
It does have a slight smoke from the exhaust.....slight..... enough to make a good haze in my garage if i let the pipes point that direction for any length of time.

*****possibly important note******
The first time it had the really "hard start" problem was approx 3 days ago.... after about 10 mins of running there was a visible white smoke coming off of the engine somewhere which caused me to investigate and was the only reason i saw the oily head gasket. I wasn't able to find where the smoke was coming from exactly but I did notice my tachometer cable was loose at the engine. I tightened it up and the smoke seemed to slowly go away. No idea if the two instances were connected or just a coincidence.

All of my cold starts have been rough ever since..... It really never had that problem as far as I could tell in the 2 months ive been working on the bike. but who knows.... it had been sitting for a few years and has only now been brought back to life. So age could have been a factor on all the rubber parts and they might slowly be disintegrating..

Oh! and there's also some oil around the breather tube at the top of the engine. Not sure how or why. Or if its connected somehow haha.
There's a pic of that in my first post but i forgot to mention it specifically.

Firstly you would be better off cleaning the motor down this way you will be able to detect oil leaks starting at the top and working your way down, the breather pipe on top looks like it is split and a zip tie is not up to the job so change that for a proper clip or jubilee clip, white smoke is not smoke but condensation, blue smoke is oil and black is unburnt fuel, you really need to check valve clearances, points settings and ignition timing along with new air filter and spark plugs, you say you have cleaned the carbs if done with just a spray carb cleaner this really is not enough to clean out the finer passages in the jets, also have the carbs been bench synchronized and float levels checked and adjusted, does it leak fuel when the petcock is on and not running, when all these things are done and it is running reasonably well you will be able to balance the carbs as well.
P.S a video of engine running may also help us to give you better feedback.

YO! So I did what you said and cleaned down the motor. The only leaks I can see are the wetness at the head gasket, the vent tube at the top (i'll get a new hose and correct clamp), and the cam cover at the front.

I also checked the valve clearance, points and timing (it has the electronic kind), the air filter is new and i checked the spark plugs.
I then bench synced the carbs, checked the float levels, and checked for vaccum leaks.

Heres what I found:
I had a vaccuum leak around my fabricated airbox where the boots meet the box so I fixed it with a rubber washer on each side.
Carbs were sliiiiightly out of sync.
The floats were fine.
The valves didnt have any clearance. AT ALL. So I set them to .18 (the manual says between .17 and .22).....n But now the valves are REEALLY loud.
It doesnt seems to stumble as much warming up now either. I think it might have been the vaccum leak. There doesnt seem to be smoke either. The exhaust is noticeable, but not thick and smokey like it used to be.
It actually started right up and settled down into a nice rpm after about 20 secs of 1/2 choke.

I am worried about the sound of the valves though.... it sounds like a friggin diesel engine. Im not sure how its supposed to sound though anyway.
Do you think the previous owner screwed anything up by running it with such tight clearance?

Heres a vid of it running. It had been going for about 5 mins. The ambient temp is 73 degrees, and it didn't get any quieter after about 10-15 mins of running around the block.

Thanks in advance y'all!!!

Those tappets are way too loud, did you do them in thou or millimeters or have you got the measurements mixed up?

WOW I feel so embarrased!!!
I was using the feeler gauge marked "inches" instead of "mm". hahahah..... :blink:
Just finished resetting them and will report back once Im able to start it up again.

Thanks again hahhaa.

After using the correct measurements the Motor sounded great!

I just took it out for a 40 mile ride and it felt sooo good to be back on the road.

It seems as if the right side exhaust valve is clicking really loud now. it started about 20 miles into my ride.
it sounds like that valve is loose again for some reason. I can hear it clearly when idling and it rattles from there as well when I take off in first gear until the clutch is fully engaged.

Maybe I'll give it another once over in the am to see if anything moved?

Also, the engine got really buzzy with vibrations on my way home as well!

Not sure if it's all related.