TOPIC:

Hello! I am going to try and be as clear as possible.... we will see how that goes. So i have had my 82 for a little over a year. I love the bike and I was lucky enough to get it for $400 with 2k miles. I now have 7k on it and have fallen in love. I have done a little bit to the bike aesthetically and other maintenance work. This winter I am late getting started due to focusing on mtn biking. Ok so I have the ever so popular leaking head block and around the tach gear. I ordered a complete gasket kit off eBay for $30 and am planning to replace (most of the gaskets) I want to adjust the valve clearances as well.

I was wanting to ask the crowd if anyone has any pointers, tips, tricks, dangers to stay away from etc.... I have "the bible" downloaded and will use that as a guide but is there anything that you all have encountered you could guide me on? Or is there ayn other things besides adjusting the valves that I should look at while the engine is apart?

Thank you for any advice! I appreciate your time reading through this.

What do you mean by, "The leaking head block?"

The cylinder head or "jug" is leaking oil. It is the part of the engine that has the heat diffusing fins... i hope this can get you a better idea I am not sure if my terminology is correct. I kind of just dive into my projects and learn as i go!

There's a cylinder base gasket, cylinder head gasket & valve cover gasket. Partzilla is handy for identifying stuff.
Is the leak at the base of the cylinder block? or between the block & cylinder head? or at the valve cover?
Are you sure the leak isn't just the tachometer drive?

martin_csr wrote:

Are you sure the leak isn't just the tachometer drive?

+1
Leaking at the tachometer drive is pretty common and easy to mistake as a head gasket leak. Also easy to fix. It would be a bit unusual to see a bike with your low mileage have a head gasket leak. Are you experiencing a loss of power ?

If the leak is coming from the tach drive, there is no need to dismember the engine. It is a very common problem and very easy to fix.
Checking the valve clearances is a good idea. The only gaskets you need are the cam cover gasket and probably the rubber cam plugs.
There is no need to remove the head or cylinder for either operation. Neither do you need a full gasket set. Also, all gaskets are not created equal. The factory gaskets are generally superior. Athena and no name Chinese gaskets should be avoided like the plague.

Cleaning the engine with Gunk engine cleaner (or similar) to remove the grunge is a good idea. Then dry the engine and watch it closely upon restart to see where the leak is coming from.

If you need to change the head gasket it's critical to bust the engine down and to the base gasket too. And use OEM gaskets if you value oil tightness.

If you're going to take off the head, I suggest valve guide seals as well.
Steve

The tacho drive gear has a couple of O rings that could be replaced.

Retourquing the head gasket would be worth doing trying. You need a decent tourque wrench with a long reach socket and follow the tightening sequence in the manual.