Out of warranty thanks to a year in the desert.  Had her in for the rear brake recall, (they did the headlight knobs as well), and asked them to look for an oil leak.  They pointed it out, left front corner of valve cover.  The damn thing was replaced at 15k service, and they just did the 24k to include valves 1,100 miles ago.  Dealer said he would bring it up to Kawi the next time he talked to them. 

I know there have been a LOT of postings on this, but I wasnt able to find one where someone with a green shirt on acknowledged that a gasket should last a bit longer than this. 

Mine's been weeping for 19K miles.  As long as it's not peeing oil I wouldn't worry about.  But if you can get it fixed under warranty - great

Replace the gasket, and put the sealer all the way around; Kawi only specifies a couple locations.

My ZX14 weeped like a hardly-ableson.  after they tried everything to include sealing it and planing the top of the head it still went back in the shop.  After 3 or so trips for the same thing I sold that POS. Actually traded it in for a new bike, I couldn't look someone in the eye and feel right about selling it to them.

KiPass is the only thing between my current bike and typical Kawasaki probs 

Out of warranty thanks to a year in the desert.  Had her in for the rear brake recall, (they did the headlight knobs as well), and asked them to look for an oil leak.  They pointed it out, left front corner of valve cover.  The damn thing was replaced at 15k service, and they just did the 24k to include valves 1,100 miles ago.  Dealer said he would bring it up to Kawi the next time he talked to them. 

I know there have been a LOT of postings on this, but I wasnt able to find one where someone with a green shirt on acknowledged that a gasket should last a bit longer than this.

I think the mechanic that did the 24K valve check did not get the cover gasket installed properly.

Should go with a new gasket every time the cover comes off. Dealer should have to eat it on the re-do.

Should go with a new gasket every time the cover comes off. Dealer should have to eat it on the re-do.

+1 my buddy Darren..  Not installed correctly.  Or maybe torqued incorrectly

JJ

'08 with 24,878k?
Maybe you should ride it more?!  Just sayin'.... :-)

Sorry you're having problems.

Any chance that it is the cover and not the gasket?

'08 with 24,878k?
Maybe you should ride it more?!  Just sayin'.... :-)

Sorry you're having problems.

The OP first sentence of his post was...... "Out of warranty thanks to a year in the desert."  The man is in the Army, and was overseas in Afghanistan... 

Thank You for your service! Thats why he's not riding it as much as he'd like.

JJ

I would like to take this moment and thank you for your service as well!

I would like to take this moment and thank you for your service as well!

+1... 

So I bought my 08 3 years ago with 3k miles and it is at 76k now, I had valves done at 20k at which time dealer says valve cover gasket was leaking so they warrantied that and charged me the difference in labor for valve adjustment.  At 50k I got valve adjustment done again and guess what leaking valve cover gasket again... This time he didn't notice it until he was preparing to do valve adjustment and said Kawi would not cover unless he submitted ahead of time and got approval but since my bike was apart and it was a Saturday I could not wait until Monday for Kawi approval so I just paid the entire valve adjustment service.  So here we are at 76K and I had a rear tire replaced and talked to him about bringing it back in near future for valve adjustment.  He glanced inside fairing with flashlight and says valve cover gasket is leaking again.  I told him to submit to Kawi for approval then I would have him do valves while he was in there for the gasket replacement under warranty which would help save me some labor cost.  He said Kawi no longer will warranty the gasket if you are close in mileage to needing valve adjust since replacing gasket is part of that service.  I am not in agreement with that... I paid for warranty and valve cover should not leak.  I am going to talk with dealer one more time about it then speak with another dealer about it then if I still don't get the correct answer I will call Kawi myself.

So I bought my 08 3 years ago with 3k miles and it is at 76k now, I had valves done at 20k at which time dealer says valve cover gasket was leaking so they warrantied that and charged me the difference in labor for valve adjustment.  At 50k I got valve adjustment done again and guess what leaking valve cover gasket again... This time he didn't notice it until he was preparing to do valve adjustment and said Kawi would not cover unless he submitted ahead of time and got approval but since my bike was apart and it was a Saturday I could not wait until Monday for Kawi approval so I just paid the entire valve adjustment service.  So here we are at 76K and I had a rear tire replaced and talked to him about bringing it back in near future for valve adjustment.  He glanced inside fairing with flashlight and says valve cover gasket is leaking again.  I told him to submit to Kawi for approval then I would have him do valves while he was in there for the gasket replacement under warranty which would help save me some labor cost.  He said Kawi no longer will warranty the gasket if you are close in mileage to needing valve adjust since replacing gasket is part of that service.  I am not in agreement with that... I paid for warranty and valve cover should not leak.  I am going to talk with dealer one more time about it then speak with another dealer about it then if I still don't get the correct answer I will call Kawi myself.

Tell Mark the rest of us that have been  'ed say hello!

Replace the gasket, and put the sealer all the way around; Kawi only specifies a couple locations.

+1
 
I coated both surfaces with Permatex "Ultra Grey" silicone. Installed a new gasket. Problem solved!