After the restoration: 9600-mile service
Thursday, Nov 18, 2004
At about 9200 miles I finally tracked down the pfffftttt, pfffftttt, pfffftttt sound that had been coming from the left hand side of the bike for the last thousand miles or so. I'd looked for it earlier without luck. Maybe the 5 months the bike sat while I was waiting for the licence plate to be restored instilled some patience in me as I looked for the source this time around. In any case, this time I felt puffs of air as I ran my hand between the cylinder and the exhaust. Guess: blown head gasket.
Not really much to see, but I can sure feel the leak. It's directly below
the bottom head screw. Perhaps it contributed to the dirt that can be
seen on the head. I know it'd been contributing to the spooge that'd
been showing up on the toe of my left boot.
The plug doesn't look too bad. I pulled the slide out of the carb and
then removed the carb body, destroying part of the gasket that stuck to the
head. So it goes. The exhaust header nut was removed, but I didn't
pull the exhaust. The head can come off without having to go that far.
I removed the rocker arm assemblies and the head screws that held them.
The bottom short screw was then removed, followed by the top screw. Slight
pressure on the exhaust header gave me enough clearance to remove the head.
Yep, the gasket needs replacing.
These three images show the path of the leak. The head will need some
dressing before I stick it back on the bike with a new gasket.
A very fine file followed by some crocus cloth got the head ready. It went
on the bike with a new gasket. Head screws were torqued in steps in a
crossed pattern, 15 ft-lbs, 20 ft-lbs, then 25 ft-lbs. I'll check the
torque again when I do the 9600 mile service. Valves were adjusted.
I found a spare gasket for the carburator in OK condition. I think I'd
better order some new ones to have on hand, though. The bike is ready
to run. Now back to my spare rear end project.