how does oil defy gravity

[pompousporcup...]

My mate has an oil leak on his zzr11. it puddles up on his cam cover pretty badly and also seems to run down onto his exhaust manifold and gets burned off.

Oil can be seen on the tops of his carbs, the outside of the airbox among other places.
There is no oil in the spark plug recesses.

We cannot see where its coming from and so far have done:
replaced the cam cover O rings.
cam cover gasket still needs doing.
rerouted the crank vent tube which normally goes into the airbox to an external bottle to confirm its not leaking out of the airbox.

there is oil literally everywhere and its a proper ballache to trace as it only seems to happen after his commute, which is an hour or so at 80+

The next bit ive told him to do it replace the cam cover gasket but struggling to think how an oil leak from that gasket would cause oil to puddle above the gasket and even reach the airbox and carbs 6-8inches above it.

any ideas welcomed.

[RhynoCZ]

Degrease the engine, start it up, sit next to it and watch where the oil is coming from? Oil creeps out when it gets hot and even ''climbs'' up various surfaces = especial metals.

Also, there might be more than just one vent in the engine. Is the head vented too?
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[pepperami]

[pompousporcup...]

that is a theory Pepperami, an oil filter is on order. They're the paper style filter in the sump rather than an external metal filter.. whether they're more prone to clogging up i do not know but that can be ruled out at least.

No breathers, as far as we can see are blocked. A coat hanger through the breather pipes should confirm that 100%

Its difficult to get it to leak without caning it somewhere. I think he has already cleaned the engine a couple of times and run the engine for 20 mins staring at it for leaks with no success.

A major service is on the way for it as a matter of course

[stinkwheel]

Fork seals?

Does it have an oil cooler?
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[pompousporcup...]

fork seals are good, checked them myself.

It does have an oil cooler yes.

I have been having a think and am wondering whether the oil is leaking from the front of the cam cover (not unheard of on these engines, experienced it myself) but at speed, and under a higher pressure, the air passing the front of the engine is flinging the hot runny oil up over the cam cover with some of it going onto the airbox and carb tops.. its the only way i can see oil getting to those bits. It then lands on the cam cover and gives the impression it is coming from all sorts of places.

[Wonko The Sane]

My ZZR did this!

Can't remember what the issue was as I didn't fix it, think it was gasket related
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[karoshi]