Sorry all. I just noticed the clock on my home computer is out by a day. :(
Some of them are very silly money indeed. E.g., it was in the $35 range for my CB900C, IIRC. That said, if neoprene cam cover gaskets are correctly installed, without sealant, they should last a long time. In my experience, they get wrecked when someone who doesn't understand how they work, uses some sort of sealant (which is not necessary) to glue the gasket down, and it gets ripped when taking the cover off. Install the gasket without any sealer and it should last through many removals of the cam cover. You might even want to oil it slightly to make sure it doesn't stick to the cover or the head.
Thanks for the input, guys. I was really afraid it was going to be a "special order, wait 3 weeks" kind of thing. I found one in town for $27 so I'm going with that. Yup, always grease your gaskets before installing them and they never stick (much).
I am getting a mist of oil from the top of the engine. It is collecting on the top cooling fins of the cylinders so I am assuming it's the rocker cover gaskets that are gone. Has anyone used liquid gasket to fix these or do I need to use the real gasket?
heh, at first I thought you were talking about www.realgaskets.com I've got one of those for my 1100 but won't be running that bike until November when I head south for 4 months or whenever it's warm enough to ride back. I've reused my 400s gasket over and over again, over a dozen times but didn't want to risk breaking my 1100s gasket in Panama or Nicaragua so I opted to go silicone for it. On my 400 the stock gasket didn't start leaking until I seperated it from the valve cover and lost track of its origional orientation. ps. Thanks for offering me to use your workshop. I'll be hacking up a 4x8 sheet of aluminum so the radial arm saw won't be big enough. Cheers, Steve
Thanks for the "bike specific" answers, Dan. I checked the tach drive and it's dry. I had to order the breather gasket but I did that when I picked up the cover gasket. I intend to apply a light coat of grease to the gasket so I can reuse it.
