I've just about had it...

So since it is so nice out today I figure I'll go start the maxim up and let it circulate for a bit just to make me feel better. Drain the float bowl and let some fresh gas enter the carb and she starts right up. Great. Then with a bit of throttle she lean surges and stays high revved so I kill it. Then I notice some oil seeping from the head gasket area. Start it again holds at idle and i see some bubbling from where the head meets the cylinders. So I spray a bit of ether at it and off she revs again. That is what I get for using an Athena gasket kit instead of OEM parts. This is got me really pissed off now and I feel absolutely defeated and then I go inside and look on bikebandit.com and see that the OEM head gasket is over $70!!!! the base gasket is another $28...WTF!!! I really want to keep this bike as I have too much time and effort into it that I would never recoup my money and time by selling it, especially if it is not even rideable. I have no desire to pull this motor and do what needs to be done and I know if I have to pay someone else to do it I will take it in the rectum as far as money goes. What do I do?

On another note, I sold my DT250 BBO bike today to a guy who has several DT's and really wanted it. I am not upset one bit about that because I'm not even sure it would even run if I finished it with my current MC luck.

I know some of the guys here can relate to this shit. Dan (choppersprocket) did some amazing things with the intake on the Maxim and I am anxious as hell to ride the piss outta this bike this year but I am just sick of wrenching right now and want to just ride.

Oh and I am on my fourth day of antibiotics for a freaking sinus infection that seems to be getting worse not better.

 

I know exactly how you feel.

My bike had far more wrong with it than i reaslised , And a PO who told out and out lies. (He got his comeuppance, he crashed one of the bikes he was trading!).

I am on a tight budget and as fast as I fix things, something else goes wrong. It should have had its MOT test last week but one of the wires fell out of the ignition switch. I managed to repair it (In company time!) but I have had enough to!

Can you re-torque the head or do you thing the gasket itself is no good?

 

I may pull it apart and copper RTV the piss out it.

 

I have successfully reused a Head Gasket without a problem.
Both the 900 and the 750 had the Head Gasket ... "Treated"

I hang the Gasket and spray it with Permatex High-Tac Spray-a-Gasket.

I coat the Gasket twice.

I shoot the stufff in a clean Tuna Can and use and brush on the Sealant to the Mating Surfaces and let it get Tacky.

Then, I assemble the Parts.
Clean and Lube the Stud and Nut threads.
Torque the Head down incrementally until its at Specs.

Unless the Head is Warped ... It shouldn't leak.

 

Just letting you know, it was standard practice to re-torque SOME head gaskets after an initial run, on some cars in years gone by, so you have nothing to lose with a careful re-torque.

Best of luck to you

 

Dont give up on your bike. It will be well worth it when you get it fixed.

 

Had the same thing happen recently after a rebuild on a Seca 750. Re-Torqued it and all was fine.

 

Hmmmm I'm gonna take a few weeks and compile a bunch of Rick's pearls of wisdom into a PDF for reference........

 

I have to agree with the previous post, you can re-torque the gasket, just be carefull, and its too good a bike to give up on. We all get "wrench sickness" this time of year, but if you persevere you will have a great fun running machine that will make up for the aggravation that your feeling now.

 

Oh, yea ...

There's nothing like the thrill of Spring Time riding. Looking at the last mounds of snow hiding in the shade, sand and gravel accumulated in the lines of sweeping turns that won't get swept-up for a month, getting a face full of mist from the car ahead of you that just went through the run-off from a mountain of snow plowed high in a corner of a parking lot, ... and hitting a water-filled pot-hole that is so deep you almost start-off the Season hooked-up to life support in the ICU of the local hospital.

It's a magic time of year!

 

pleasant thought rick...

 

I'm surprised, the roads are actually really clean around here. Don't have to worry about sand or anything for the most part.

Of course, I still look at every corner for it lol.

 

i just had that problem with oem part partsnmore.com has it for $20 i just installed mine today ...........but after careful checking and rechecking i tightened it down and ooops a small lip folded out it looks tight and no oil but is it safe? what will happen if it opens a little bit can i ride once ? there is a rally tomorrow iwant to take the 25-40 mile ride can i make it ????HELP!!!!!!!

 

tried to start the bike tonite after getting it all back together. ran for a few seconds and started spitting tons of air out of the head/cylinder mating area. she must be warped. I'm done with it now, unless I find a new motor for it close to home, I am gonna let it sit and rot. I put too much time and effort into this bike to let someone else claim it as their own, and I just feel so deflated with this thing that I would enjoy seeing it burn to the ground actually. So NO, it will not be for sale, as I won't get half of what I FEEL that it is worth, and YES it will just sit there until I come into some $$$ to have someone do it all for me with a warranty on their work or until I come across a motor that is close enough to go pickup and bolt in.

 

that's rterrible, you've been working on the thing forever..

 

oh well. Eff it. It figures this would happen really.

 

I know what you mean- i spent 4 months and god only knows how much money on my cb750c bobber, to find out the motor i bought for the broken one was seized was a kick in the sack... and so it sits in the barn..

 

The thing is, I don't have much money into this at all. I just have the ideas and design of the whole thing, and I'm proud of it. Too proud to let some slackjaw claim it as his own. To me that's like the losers who buy Big Dogs and American IronHorse bikes because they are too stupid/lazy/poser to just get a wrecked Harley or Metric V twin and design their own. It just ain't gonna happen, call me stupid, I deserve it...