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Great input folks. The culprit turned out to be an exhaust gas leak. A couple of inmates on ADV Rider suggested it as well as here. I had tried the Hammer as a stethoscope trick, but I never put it against the exhaust header. When I did, bingo!
Why did the exhaust header gasket decide to give up at that time? Let's assume it was fragile. One of the things I did in an effort to get all the oil out of the right side case is tip the bike over pretty severely to the left side. It's possible that doing so worked the frame enough to cause the leak. Replacement part is $2.49, and does not require dismantling the engine, wahoo!
This community is amazing. Lots of thought experiments and input make all the difference when somebody is struggling alone trying to figure a problem out.
I must say, I really like the bike. It's sort of a miniature BMW R75/5, like I had back in the day. Except it has a disc brake up front instead of that evil, grabby drum brake. Neither are quick, but there is plenty of torque. The sg250 just rails around corners. I guess that's why those classic bike proportions are classic.
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