I'm about to replace my front rocker gasket as I believe it is the culprit in regards to an oil leak I discovered when doing a few things to the bike. Had a nightmare getting the front bolt off as it had been rounded off slightly 🥲 

I seem to be coming across conflicting stories on fitting the replacement gasket, some say fit it dry and others saying apply some grease. Any input would be appreciated 🙏

Cheers

Stewart 

They dry out and leak out the lower corners. Front left side rear right hand side. 

Thanks for the info, I've got some red rubber handy. Front left side looks to be where it's coming from so glad that I'm potentially not wasting my time 

When I did my valve clearances last year I debated whether to replace the rocker gaskets. Maybe I should have but I didn't but I did use a light coat of Blue Hylomar around the whole seal. Worked well so far!

I was honestly fearing the worst....ended up taking the left side radiator off just to get in to it properly so I could get it out.

That's strange Steve. The gasket seems well designed so it's odd that it won't seal. Unless the cover or head has got a bit hot at some point and is distorted but if that was the case I think you would have worse problems elsewhere.

You can't easily get a torque wrench on all of the bolts, maybe over/under tightened?

When I did a deep clean late last year the front left front head had oil crude around it and then I found the same on the rear right side. 

I couldnt find any obvious faults with the old gaskets I took off when replacing them. Still, the leaks aren't enough to make any difference to the oil level and they're both out of view.

Looking at that pic I'd bet the rocker gasket is fine and that oil mist is coming from the vertical split line in the lower airbox     

The two halves are screwed together and supposedly seals with an O ring seal,in the later Gen1 these get the void filled with excess oil that drains down and it finds it's way past the joint and drips a mist over the cam covers.

Yet another instance where the early airbox is better

That's a good call Ian, you might well be correct.

Sparky46 wrote: after tightening to the spec'd torque they don't really go any tighter....

I think what happens is that over time, especially if the covers are re-fitted regularly is that the bolt seals take a 'set' and you are then effectively bolting onto a solid spacer rather than flexible seal (Which is why tightening them further doesn't do anything) The only proper fix is a new bolt or the seal if you can get it.

Lots of BMW V8's have used a similar system and they routinely spew oil from their rocker covers too.

You're possibly right Ian as there was a fair bit of oil in the air box, I've possibly jumped the gun slightly and given myself more work than needed but it's done now anyway and hopefully when the better weather comes round and I get it out on the road there's no more oil.

I already baulked at the price of changing 1 bolt never mind the other 4  The rubbers on the bolts looked in fairly good condition, also heard that these can be the cause of oil weeps too.

Hmm, not looked at one of those for a long time but could you pack with an O ring under the sealing ring to effectively re tension the shouldered bolt?

Having suffered this exact issue in the past I'd really recommend splitting the lower airbox to check,I found my seal to have rotted away over time. I cleaned and sealed with something,probably Hylomar,but whatever, I swapped shortly afterwards to an early version  paired with modified Edwards tubes to give a continuous airpath insulated from the hot frame rails.

After that I sort of lost interest and decided if I wanted more power I'd just buy something more modern.

I didn't, instead I ended up with a 2009 reg Tuono which I've only just gelled with after rebuilding and modding to suit my needs,

That's exactly the workaround that DiY BMW owners use

The bolts were tightened up to the correct torque so pretty sure they'll be fine. Thanks for the advice I'll certainly look into it if the problem persists. I had my Gen 2 Tuono (2009 also) for 5 years and I regret selling it to be honest as it was proper sorted and had all the necessary upgrades... upside is I now have my Gen 1 Factory instead which I also love