I have a '96 850R. Yesterday I was messing around in the engine compartment and decided to clean the valvecover(black plastic piece covering the plugs and wires). On the underside(bottom, towards engine) I noticed a build-up of a white or cream colored substance that at one point obviously blew out of the hole the plug goes into. This is only at one plug and looks kinda' like the white stuff from when a battery corrodes. I cleaned it off so I can check it again, but does anybody know what this could be? Thanks.

I think if your plug was loose and stuff was blowing by from the combustion chamber then the hole would be black with carbon and oil deposits.

--
Nathan Valles, Black 855R, Tint

If you bought it used, it's likely that the engine was steam cleaned before and that causes those holes to fill up with water. When the water eventually boils out, it leaves a whitish residue behind.

This sort of begs the question, how do you safely clean under the plug cover. I steam clean my engine from time-to-time to keep this tidy. The next time I change my plugs, I'd like to clean up the dirt and grime that collects under the cover. Currently I just blow out the spark plug hole with compressed air in order to keep stuff out the the combustion chamber. Any suggestions.