Cracked head, but not what you think

[Jhortz]

Hi guys,

I recently made a horrific discovery, the head on my 2011 Roadster is cracked. I initially thought I had a leaking rocker cover gasket, so I changed it as i had to check valve clearances anyway. I changed the gasket but there is still oil there, and the leak is slowly getting worse. On closer inspection it looks remarkably like there is a crack in the right hand rear corner of the head, you can see a faint crack and the oil pools there when the bike has been run. I hope it is just a superficial crack letting oil run out of the top of the head and not cracked through to an oil gallery.

Has anyone seen this before, is this common?
Has anyone got any alternative theories?
Has anyone got any repair recommendations? (I think I might try smearing some black RTV silicone in there first and see how it goes.)

 

[Gerald]

Hi guys,

I recently made a horrific discovery, the head on my 2011 Roadster is cracked. I initially thought I had a leaking rocker cover gasket, so I changed it as i had to check valve clearances anyway. I changed the gasket but there is still oil there, and the leak is slowly getting worse. On closer inspection it looks remarkably like there is a crack in the right hand rear corner of the head, you can see a faint crack and the oil pools there when the bike has been run. I hope it is just a superficial crack letting oil run out of the top of the head and not cracked through to an oil gallery.

Has anyone seen this before, is this common?
Has anyone got any alternative theories?
Has anyone got any repair recommendations? (I think I might try smearing some black RTV silicone in there first and see how it goes.)

I've heard of this several times but seems to always be a leaking gasket or faulty valve cover. Make a thorough inspection to be certain and if it actually is a crack, I'd vee it out lightly with a dremel tool or something similar and fill with a good epoxy and sand/ file smooth.