New guy questions

Hi everyone. Chiming in with a first post. Love my 2007 FE550, but man,, what's with the leaks..!?
My w/p seal went at about 65 hours.. coolant streaming out.
I had a hard time removing the kicker, and then the cover.. Had to pry some,, carefully but had a slight nick on the cover near the bottom.

I installed the new seal,, looks like I butchered it, then put everything together. The bike is leaking oil like crazy from the cover gasket. Is it possible to over tighten it and squish the gasket too much? I have not even got it started. It ran for about 30 seconds and stalled. no luck since.

Is the gasket affecting starting? I didn't think so, but am not super mechanically inclined and this is my first 4 stroke. Can I simply pull the cover and apply a small bead of sealant on the gasket?

It should at least start right??

Thanks guys. I'm pretty sure trhe kickstarter is in place. I made sure it didn't move when the cover came off.


I'm going to order a new gasket as I need to pull it apart to figure it out.

As for not starting,,, I'm, puzzled. Using the electric start, I can run the battery flat and only get it to run for a few seconds.

I worked on it layed on its side, maybe I dislodged some dirt particles in the float bowl and the needles are blocked???

I'm really ticked and have spent way too much time on it this weekend. Fuel is turned on..!

Just to update.. I finally did get it started and assumed oil got up past the rings somehow but never thought of the air boot.....

It was running good, no coolant leaks. After a few heat cycles and a trip around the block the oil drip slowed and I tightened the cover bolts a tad more.. So no big issues.
Tonight I warm it up,,, to go for a rip to test for the weekend,, near the end of my street in 2nd gear it locks up and quits.

I look down to see the left side cover split open and oil spilling. I am totally choked...
I can only assume it's my fault and dislodged the kick start shaft, which made replacement difficult and explains the oil leakl. I didn't feel it move when I removed the cover, and there was no noise when the bike was running.

It looks as if only the outer cover is my issue, as the speed was low thankfully. Man I'm so angry at myself for this. As I say,, it must me my error. Am I in for major damage?? The cases look ok.

I'll remove the cover, clean everything to ensure no gears are damages, but short of a complete tear down,, what else am I facing???

So here is the news. After I pulled the cover, clutch etc, I found that the kick start spring bound up and sheared the inner housing where it sits in the case.
The metal shavings and chunks fell to the bottom of the case. A couple went in the gear box from laying it on it's side. I fished them all out, cleaned it all up. The screen was clear and no metal whatsoever. It seems as if the pieces were too big!

The magnet was as normal.
So, rather than spring for a new case ($$$) my plan is to put the new cover on with out the kicker in place and bung the hole with something. I never used the kick anyway and it's the only option I have unless I want to spring the money for new cases and do the re-build.
there may me some very fine metal in the gearbox but I've been flushing it with cleaner and if there is anything left the screen and filter should pick it up. Everything is moving freely.

I'm such an idiot....