Dwaine, many thanks. Should have put what bike I have ����*
R1150GS Y reg. thanks for the suggestions. Gasket is perishes slightly and needs changing so thought I’d see what else I could freshen up whilst in there. Thanks again
As said - the rubber gaskets (inner and outer) are very re-usable. Personally I always make sure they're absolutely DRY when replacing, and all the mating surfaces are also dry (otherwise they tend to weep oil when hot).
When you put the inner seal back (the spark-plug-tube one) - put it onto the cover THEN put the cover on the engine. If you put the seal onto the head (in it's little well), then there's a good chance the tube won't go into the seal properly and it'll leak aplenty.
The outer seal (the main one) has locating lugs so it's easy to replace in the correct orientation - just pay attention to all the lug location, especially those at the bottom.
You might get a little pool of oil at the bottom-front of the head, so just be aware of that when cleaning up the surfaces before you refit the seal and cover.
Oh - do NOT try to Torque the cam-cover bold with anything more than your fingers. (not your hand, your FINGERS). it's very very easy to strip the thread in the head. 8nm is what the manual calls for, which is pretty much finger tight plus about a quarter turn. (others will have their own way of doing this, but my way is to use a regular allen key and use the torque generated by 2 fingers pressing on the allen key about an inch or 1.5 from the centre of rotation, no more).
Are you not checking valve or end-float clearances?
oh yeah - if it's not come off in a while, you may find the cover is 'stuck' on. All it needs is a little, gentle tapping with a suitable instrument once all 4 cam-cover bolts are loosened. (have some newspaper underneath, there'll be drips)