Motorcycle Repair: Honda Oil Leak, header pipes, honda 750

Question
Chris,
My poor 1977 honda 750 supersport has an oil leak near the exaust ports on the front of the engine.  Started as a slow seep, but now is more noticable and is leaving drips down my engine.  The bike has about 30 thousand miles on it, and was rebuilt about 8 years ago.  Do you have any ideas of what may cause an oil leak to start what would be a fix to this problem?
Thanks a lot.

Joe

Answer
Hi Joe.
 If it is coming from the exhaust manifolds themselves, then the answer is either one of three things.

Either;
1) The bolts for the exhaust manifolds have loosened up, or 2) The seals at the exhaust manifold have begun to fail, or
3) The header pipes are not lined up correctly in their mounting sockets.

One sign of this will be the appearance of exhaust fumes coming from the front of the engine as well.  If you are mot sure, then start the bike and look for it.

Start by torquing down the exhaust manifold bolts in accordance with the specs in the manual and see if that doesn't fix it.

Let me know how it goes.
Good luck.
FALCON