Leak Help on my 98 5th GEN

Hi all Ihave a what looks like an oil leak coming from the exhuast header bolt as you can see from the photo.

I do have some smoke coming out of the exhaust on start up and a few oil drips on the floor after a hard ride when the bike is warm. the bike has just had is valve cover gaskets changed but i dont think the spark plugs seals were changed.

The oil leak was there before all that was done, most likely got worse because of the fresh oil now but any ideas to what it could be are welcome.

 

How many miles/ kilometers are on the clock?

That is a strange place for oil to be comming from. Does the oil level drop over fime?

 

Hi yes there’s around 74,000 miles on the clock but the previous owner told me that the engine was replaced a few years ago so it has around 33,000 miles less than the actual bike.

It does seem to be consuming some oil so the oil level is dropping slowly. This is my daily bike and I don’t have many long rides to work. Usually start stop traffic.

 

I would assume that that is near the location where the spark plug well drains are located. Take a look into the spark plug well and see if there is oil in there. If so, then the gasket around the well probably is in need of replacement. This could also just be due to insufficient clamping force from the hold down bolts, they have compressible rubber washers that loose their spring over time. Don't just tighten those bolts more, they bottom out and more force can crack the mounting bosses in the head which is a Bad Thing.