I just got done putting the bike back together after checking my cam chain adjuster for the first time. I bought my 06 last July (2008) with 2800 miles on it. I have 7900 now and thought it was time. I also was hearing some funky noises at low throttle that I didn't like.

The adjuster was at 17-18mm so I'm going to let it go the rest of the season. I just didn't want to lose a few weeks of the best part of the season to the repair. I had to wait until today to get the new exhaust and clutch cover gaskets. I think I actually had an exhaust leak now that I hear the bike running with the new gasket in there. I get no backfiring on rapid deceleration when I snap the throttle shut. I'm going to have to get used to how the bike sounds now, and that I won't be able to scare high school girls holding up car wash signs on the side of the road.  

I had a little smoke coming from the right side of the engine after my test ride but I think that might just be some old oil burning off. I have it parked in the garage so I'll check it in the morning for any drops. Hopefully I won't have any. My 2 concerns are:

1. The clutch cover gasket didn't seat well enough and i'll have to tear the whole thing apart again.

2. The guy at the dealership gave me 3 crush washers but he gave me the wrong ones and I didn't check before I left. The ones he gave me are too big so I had to reuse the one that was on there. At least I'll be able to tell the difference between the clutch cover leaking and the drain plug leaking.

they're for the oil plug.

The three washer/seals go under the 3 specified cover screws that have oil pressure by them. i had one on the wrong screw on my sidecar tug and it did leak. I now buy them in a package of 20 at a time as the same ones are used on the specified head cover screws. The parts guys don't have a check list that they can suggest to the customer the other related gaskets that should be changed when you do a certain job. If you are going to R&R the clutch cover then you will need a new exhaust gasket and the three washers besides the clutch cover gasket.  I've been fighting leaks on the tug since getting it almost a year ago and think I've got most of the issues under control now. There were a couple misplaced cover screws in the generator side which I think lead to the leaks there, and then the speedo cable leaks with the OE seal still in place so now it has a o ring glued in place to fill the space some in the OE (non-servicable ) seal. On our last trip I could actually see the oil oozing out from the speedo drive area. Max

Bulletproof bolt locator, draw the outline of the  clutch cover( Not to scale or perfect, just kinda sorta) on a piece of cardboard, slice thru it at every place a bolt goes & poke each bolt into its respective spot. Going back together is a no brainer, which I qualify for.

Yeah, we're talking about 2 different kinds of washers. The crush washer on the oil drain plug is what i bought but was the wrong size. The 3 seal washers on the clutch cover are what Max says you have to replace when you remove the clutch cover.

Also make sure this bolt is tight.

verslagen1 wrote on 06/22/09 at 21:45:53:


Ver,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you need seven of the washer gaskets for the head cover (at least that's what my FSM shows).

verslagen1 wrote on 07/05/09 at 22:03:27:


Ver,

Sorry....I'm an idiot.

You probably need to replace only five of the seven, since two of the washer gaskets are used on bolts you don't need to remove to take off the cylinder head cover.

However, you may want to have a few extras on hand.  I noticed that the gasket washer on one of the "don't have to remove" bolts is leaking on my bike (see signature), so I'll be replacing it.