Bad advice

If I get three uses out of one I'm lucky. Normally I'd have a new one on the shelf but listening to morons I got caught without one. That's what I'm mad about. My fault listening to a KNOW IT ALL.
Steve

Larry summed it up pretty well on the KZ Market.
Steve

Larry Cavanaugh The old thick OEM KZ cam cover gaskets literally lasted for years. The new ones are thin, like J motors have always had and frequently tear when cover is removed. Here's a tip that works for the new thin gaskets.

Apply a very thin coat of engine case sealer like Permatex MotoSeal to the cover side of the gasket. Don't coat the engine side. The gasket will bond to the engine and allow careful removal of the cover, usually without tearing the gasket....if you're careful.

If you use the old Tappet bore tool to hold the bucket down then you will want the process reversed. Allow gasket to stick to cam cover and not bond to the head.

Don't overdue it with the sealer so that it squishes out inside the head. I've done this for years and I promise you it works if you do it correctly

He also said this.
Larry Cavanaugh Back in the early 80s when I was a dealership mechanic, we coated everything so we could do tune ups on the side and not rip the gasket.....nobody wanted to pay us what we were worth so we did lots of side work....

Thanks Larry.
Steve

My original lasted till 13 when I sent it in for re working...... it was stuck to the motor side and I always greased the top and cover lightly..... still ok for the one I replaced doing the same (checked valves only 2 times though so that can change next time). Had the first one off maybe 8 or 9 times for checking and painting and polishing it a couple times. Was a better thicker gasket though like Larry said so maybe I'll pick up a extra sometime too.

Yes Tons of Bad info on here I try to help someone then end up in a pissing match so i try to keep to myself but use a genuine Kawasaki Valve cover gasket you MAY IF YOU ARE LUCKY get 2 uses if it was tighten properly.

Gezz, I wasted a bunch of $ replacing the cam cover gasket each time it came off! Never considered reusing the gasket until recently when I had to pull a freshly installed cam cover off for something stupid. Same with the cam end plugs. Considering going to Aluminum.