[fratermus]

I may have also messed up when I was deleting the PCV (?) setup. I watched some YT vids on vacuum line simplification and may have misunderstood. I routed what I took to be the crankcase vent (in the right in this pic):



... back to the airbox snorkel running from the filter to the carb, not realizing oil could get in that line. I think the oil was pooling in the snorkel and dripping out of the tube/snorkel interface onto the top of the case. Which would imply a leak there. [also, I just rewatched t , and he ran from the PCV port to the air filter, not the snorkel. Perhaps that would result in less vacuum pulling on it.]

I pulled that end of the snorkel, observed oil in it, cleaned and replaced/tightened. I have not run it since I made that observation as it's been raining and I have been researching.

I'll drain and refill the case with a known amount of oil so I will have a good baseline. In the meantime I ordered a catchcan. I will also try the oil additives you recommend. I assume that would show improvement if the problem were with the piston rings.