A lesson in how to pack a head for shipping.

Word-of-mouth led us to a good Z1 head on the other side of the country.

During our discussions, the seller indicated he was very experienced with shipping delicate items.

He was spot on, and we were truly impressed with the fine packaging job he did!

After he shipped the head, he sent a message indicating the easiest way to open the box, as he had hot-glued it shut. Without that piece of advice, we'd have struggled to open the box, likely destroying it's usefulness in the process.

What we found upon opening was a very precise, form-fitting arrangement of cardboard and stiff foam packing that was both soft enough to prevent damage, and also snug enough to prevent movement, such that even automated package handling equipment and human package handlers would be unlikely to cause damage.

What follows are pics representative of the excellent packing job, presented in order of opening & removal.

The non-descript plain brown box.


Lid cut open, avoiding the hot-glued flaps. A large piece of the foam board packing is seen on top.


Removing the topmost foam board reveals the surrounding foam packing and folded cardboard shims used as fillers. The top of the valve cover is just peeking through




The foam board pieces sitting on the box lid had been cut to fit the profile of the head, and were placed between the cam towers and inside the outer, large inner foam board packing that was in direct contact with the fins. The small amount of remaining space was filled with the folded cardboard shims.


We'll be keeping this box & packing for future use if we ever need to ship a head ourselves.

Kudos to the seller!


Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Wow, it's almost a shame to pull the head out of there. It looks very comfy.

Wow, that's a really nice job. I've had good luck in recent years with [that auction site]: items tend to be packed pretty well.


Semi-funny story: I was in China years ago (for work) and was gifted a beautiful framed piece of handicraft, complete with a pane of glass in the frame. I couldn't carry it everywhere so I shipped it home via DHL. Some time went by and there were no updates from the shipping company. Eventually the package arrived. I opened it to find that someone had simply placed the framed item in a too-big box - with no padding whatsoever, not even a packing peanut - and sent it on its way.

The glass was unbroken. :blink: I have no idea how that happened.

For some reason the movie Seven came to mind when I read the title

I have been shipping motorcycle motor parts since back in the 70's. I have seen some real bad packaging in my life. I once got a crankshaft shipped to me, and when it got to my door, two of the rods were sticking out of the box!!!! Its amazing how some people pack up their items for shipping. I am surprised that some even make it out of the post office they dropped them off at!!!!

Kawasaki had some real nice shipping boxes and packing for certain motor parts. Their Kz900/1000 crank boxes are one of the best I have even seen. The internal styrofoam pieces are cut out so the crank throws and rods sit in these nice recesses so there is no chance of any movement during shipping. Same with their box and internal styrofoam that they ship their cylinder blocks in. Now their box and internal packaging for cylinder heads is a real joke!!!! I remember receiving a head or two where upon opening the box there was broken fins from poor packaging. A quarter inch of styrofoam sheet on each side of the head is just not enough to stop any chance of damage.

The way slimjim + Z1 BEBE received that cylinder head is the right way to ship cylinder heads . I live near a warehouse that unpacks and assembles furniture. You would not believe the amount of styrofoam sheets that are used in the packing of furniture from china!!! For a six pack, they will let me fill my car up with all different thickness' of styrofoam sheets. That is what I use to pack on all six sides of the cylinder heads I ship out. Two inches is about the minimal amount I would use on all the sides of the head inside of shipping box. I like to make sure what I ship will arrive without ANY chance of shipping damage.

The last box I shipped a Kz1000 head in. I was in too much of a hurry to take any photos of the internal styrofoam packaging.