Head Gasket Repair

I finally spoke to the owner of the other shop I was planning to take it to and....it was an entirely different experience from talking to the local guy. He is familiar with KZ's, has one in his shop right now, and seems to know them well. That's the good news.

The bad news is he said that if he were to do the job he would want to do a total rebuild, because its very risky going in there, disturbing everything, and not doing so. And he was very knowledgable and believable. But the price for a rebuild is waaaaaaaaaay out of my range. He said just replacing the head gasket means a 50/50 chance it doesn't run very good or last very long.

So now my choice is looking very different. It looks like I either hang it on the wall or...I'm not sure there is another choice.



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What exactly does this mean:  "total rebuild"?  Sounds like a smokescreen.

My advice is to post your location.  Maybe a Forum member who is local can assist you.

Also, if you're in the US, check Craigslist under Cycle Services, and seek references.

You could also DIY, with a shop manual.

wrote:

What exactly does this mean:  "total rebuild"?  Sounds like a smokescreen.

My advice is to post your location.  Maybe a Forum member who is local can assist you.

Also, if you're in the US, check Craigslist under Cycle Services, and seek references.

You could also DIY, with a shop manual.
 

I don't think this guy was smokescreening me, he's the only person I've talked to who sounded like he knows what he's talking about. I called another shop in the Twin Cities (I'm in Duluth) and they said the same thing. It'll be at least 2 grand and could be higher. Or I could take my chances on the guy who doesn't know what a valve stem seal is.


 

Look at it from a business owners perspective. You may only need a head gasket so he quotes you $400, but then he gets in there and everything is out of spec and you really need complete top end rebuild including pistons, and cylinder head rework. Plus he's in the sticky position where many parts will not be easily available or available at all so he may spend a good amount of time trying to track down parts. At this point he's blown his initial quote out of the water, and the client is upset because its costing significantly more. So the client either doesn't pay, lashes out on yelp and tarnish his business, or convinces him to do a half as repair which prematurely fails and now he has a bigger headache.

It just isn't profitable for shops to work on these old engines unless they assume the worst from the beginning which is why most shops will not touch vintage bikes. The best solution, as many members on here will tell you, is to do it yourself.

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Look at it from a business owners perspective. You may only need a head gasket so he quotes you $400, but then he gets in there and everything is out of spec and you really need complete top end rebuild including pistons, and cylinder head rework. Plus he's in the sticky position where many parts will not be easily available or available at all so he may spend a good amount of time trying to track down parts. At this point he's blown his initial quote out of the water, and the client is upset because its costing significantly more. So the client either doesn't pay, lashes out on yelp and tarnish his business, or convinces him to do a half as repair which prematurely fails and now he has a bigger headache.

It just isn't profitable for shops to work on these old engines unless they assume the worst from the beginning which is why most shops will not touch vintage bikes. The best solution, as many members on here will tell you, is to do it yourself.
 

I agree, and the guy who quoted me 400-500 at first probably doesn't know what he's getting into.  

  I have a bad record at fixing machines. I took the clutch out of my garden tractor 2 years ago and...its still not fixed. I cleaned the carb on my snowblower 2 months ago and...I still haven't put it back together. I started building a kayak 5 years ago and...its still not finished. 

So I think it would be prudent not to even start doing an engine rebuild myself. I think I just keep looking to get lucky on a cheap bike. But cheap bikes don't seem to exist anymore. 

Cheap bikes exist but you have to be prepared to do your own work to keep them running.  

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Cheap bikes exist but you have to be prepared to do your own work to keep them running.  th

This^

You better be either a willing wrench or rich if you choose to purchase a 40 year old motorcycle. For guys that just want to ride they would be much better off with something newer.

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Cheap bikes exist but you have to be prepared to do your own work to keep them running.  

 

And I am willing to do almost everything, short of rebuilding the engine.
But in fact, as I complained about in a previous thread a couple years ago, people are scooping up all of the classic bikes to resell elsewhere, like Europe. I keep a close eye on my market and other markets within a couple hundred hundred miles, and there are literally almost no cheap bikes anymore. To me, cheap is under $1000 and there are very few bikes under $2000 and when they do come up they are either too old or they don't run, and I won't buy anything I can't ride. 3 or 4 years ago it wasn't that hard to find running 80s Japanese bikes for 700-800 bucks, but I didn't need one then. You can find some in the Twin Cities but that's a 3 hour drive



 

Once I won an ebay auction for a KZ400 deluxe, no one bid against me and I walked away with it for $1. Yes you read that right $1.  It was complete and untouched after sitting for 25 years. Surprise surprise, it needed everything - I put at least $2000 into it to make it road worthy.

In my mind there are two ways to buy a cheap bike. (1) Spend at least $2000 and get a bike that is turn key, or (2) spend $500 on  bike that "ran when parked" and then spend another $1500 to get it on the road. It almost always works out to 1500-2000 unless youre a complete cheap ass willing to neglect certain aspects like tires and chain.

Sometimes you can get lucky and get a sweet deal. but Ive given up on wishful thinking in regards to vintage bikes.

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In my mind there are two ways to buy a cheap bike. (1) Spend at least $2000 and get a bike that is turn key, or (2) spend $500 on  bike that "ran when parked" and then spend another $1500 to get it on the road. It almost always works out to 1500-2000 unless youre a complete cheap ass willing to neglect certain aspects like tires and chain.

HA! I'm about $6000 into my "$300" bike. 

wrote:

Once I won an ebay auction for a KZ400 deluxe, no one bid against me and I walked away with it for $1. Yes you read that right $1.  It was complete and untouched after sitting for 25 years. Surprise surprise, it needed everything - I put at least $2000 into it to make it road worthy.

In my mind there are two ways to buy a cheap bike. (1) Spend at least $2000 and get a bike that is turn key, or (2) spend $500 on  bike that "ran when parked" and then spend another $1500 to get it on the road. It almost always works out to 1500-2000 unless youre a complete cheap ass willing to neglect certain aspects like tires and chain.

Sometimes you can get lucky and get a sweet deal. but Ive given up on wishful thinking in regards to vintage bikes.

 

I got my KZ305 with 5k on it for $350 bucks and all it needed was new tires and a brake flush. I don't expect to find too many more sweet deals like that, and would gladly pay 2-3 times that for a running bike that needs some work. But unfortunately I'm poor and can't afford $2000 "cheap" bikes.


 

I've bought five bikes in the last 7 years.  The nearest one was about 3 hours and a ferry ride away.  The first one was over 2,000 miles.  One thing I've learned is that the price of a vintage bike in poor shape is actually a very small part of the eventual total cost when restored.  The people making the most money from restos is the shippers and ebay.

Lots of cheap bikes around here but not necessarily Kawasakis.  (Yamahas are dirt cheap.)  I haven't found too many bikes that couldn't be restored.  The one I'm working on now...I started with a frame and an engine.  And I had to scrap the cases.  My goal is to see how little it costs me to put it back on the road, and I plan to use a lot of stuff I already have, just to keep the cost down.  But I still expect it to cost more than a similar bike in good condition.

When I started "investing" in old bikes I had never taken one apart.  But as a mechanical engineer I have some basic knowledge of mechanical things, which helps when trying to sort out the logic.  And I was looking for something to putter with in retirement.  So far I haven't damaged anything so badly that I had to throw it out.  The good news is I'm having fun, but I'll never expect this to be a revenue positive experience.