Head gaskets/seals are starting to go. Anything else i should do while in there?

Noticed some oil misting on the heads the other day. Nothing drastic. But in the next few months, i'll be 'going in' to replace them.

Just wondering if there's anything else the community would recommend i do while i have that part of the bike stripped and accessible.

Are you talking head gaskets (that seal the heads to the cylinders) or the cam cover gaskets? If the latter, then I'd be doing a valve clearance check. The service manual calls for use of gasket sealer on the half-moon sections (only) to ensure they are leak tight. I have left this out once but the gaskets do seep without sealant. 

Head gaskets. As seen here - Number 8

Valve clearances were done just over 8000 miles previous / 24000 miles, and i got the bike at 24250 (August 2015), now at 32500 - At last check it needed no shims. No info/history to suggest if it was done at 16000 miles as there's a gap in documentation, but of the times it's been serviced at my place of work, it's not thrown-up any unusual problems, so i'm left to assume it's all good, within reason.

I'm assuming the air box needs to come out, so i'll clean that and the filter, make sure fixings aren't falling apart, and give the general area a bit of a clean.

Yeah, that's the valve cover gaskets. Since you said the clearances were checked not long ago, that suggests they were reinstalled without gasket sealer on the "half moons". I tried that myself and yep they misted oil onto the heads for a while. Don't even need new gaskets, just a bead of sealer on those rounded bits. 

11 minutes ago, KevCarver

Yeah, that's the valve cover gaskets. Since you said the clearances were checked not long ago, that suggests they were reinstalled without gasket sealer on the "half moons". I tried that myself and yep they misted oil onto the heads for a while. Don't even need new gaskets, just a bead of dealer on those rounded bits. 

Interesting! I shall see what i can do.

KevCarver, 11/4/2016 at 2:33 PM

Yeah, that's the valve cover gaskets. Since you said the clearances were checked not long ago, that suggests they were reinstalled without gasket sealer on the "half moons". I tried that myself and yep they misted oil onto the heads for a while. Don't even need new gaskets, just a bead of sealer on those rounded bits. 

Yes.