1198 woes

Well,I now have 2000 miles on the 1198 motor.
It realy rips.I just put on some gel grips and
Suzuki 1200 Bandit bar end weights and it felt
like a new bike.After a 100 mile ride I looked
down and saw some oil running down the stator
cover.The base gasket is leaking.Also some oil
around the head gasket.I think these cylinders
flex and scrub the gaskets.I am not sure whether
to try a big block next or just buy another bike
and use the KZ as a museum piece.

Have you retorqued the cylinder heads after the rebuild? Also what type of head and base gaskets are you using?

later, Doug

And if you want to be rid of the parts I know where you can send them.

Cometic gaskets,ape studes,been retorqued.
I might try sqeezing her some more.I am realy
tempted to get another stock motor and sell
off some of the 1198 stuff.I am not sure how
the Vin number change on the motor affects
licensing though.

im not sure about where youre at but around here they just look at frame numbers.ive run several 1170-1197 motors over the years with stock blocks without major issues.i always spray my base gaskets down with copper coat before installing,i pitch the big o ring in cam chain tunnel and fill the groove with silicone.ive got a couple of the old plain label bigblocks i aquired from sid pogue back in late 80s-early 90s i use for really big projects (i dont like having the name stamped on there in big letters,sorry JAY it gives away too much info)they are deinately stiffer but theyre heavy and you loose the cooling passages between cylinders when running them

The gaskets I am getting from Cometic and
Wiseco just don't seem to be of the same
quality as I used to get years ago.They
don't even put the copper compression rings
around the oil galleries in the head gaskets
anymore.The last head gasket was only on for
a couple of days but it was oil soaked into
the material.No matter how you seal a gasket
if it can pass oil through its matrix,I don't
see how it cannot leak.I just need some H.D.
stickers.

well if all else fails i guess there is always this route!:evil:

Post edited by: PLUMMEN, at: 2007/09/04 22:42

my 1135 (10.5:1)cometic head gasket has metal rings on it and it is holding after 1000 miles but my copper bace gasket with copperkote is seeping.
what compression are u running ?

my 1170 cometic is leaking at the headgasket and after 3 retourqes it hasent stopped, it doesnt affect the driveability of it so i dont care.

I am running 10 1/2 to 1. I went through
all this crap years ago,it is like dejavu.
Only the graphite gaskets worked then.With
none to be had,1170s and up will probably
leak some oil after they get some miles on
them.I have been running standard 20/50 oil
because the sythetics are known to cause leaks.
Anyone invent a stop leak for gaskets that works?

mark1122 wrote:

my 1135 (10.5:1)cometic head gasket has metal rings on it and it is holding after 1000 miles but my copper bace gasket with copperkote is seeping.
what compression are u running ?

copper base gasket?:blink: the only way ive ever seen a copper head gasket seal is if the cylinders are O-ringed;)

i had to use a .030"copper base gasket to get the piston to head clearance i wanted.the head and block were milled years ago to gain compression.the old base gasket was .030" cometic,but they are .020" nowadays.