GS750 running hot

[hannibal]

I've made some progress and found some scary things. I totally butchered the installation of the cams. My Craftsman torque wrench broke in the middle of the installing the cam holders so I just guessed at torquing them down. It turns out they were not tight enough and when I removed the valve cover, the 3 of the 4 holders were loose. The 4th holder was being held on by 2 bolts. What I thought was cam end float noise was actually that the bolts that came loose had started to hammer into the valve cover. I have no idea how I didn't destroy the head running it like this.

I got the holders torqued down properly and rechecked valve clearance. 3 valves had closed under .038mm. I'm going to swap out shims today at my local dealer and I'm hoping to put it back together tomorrow. I'll vacuum sync the carbs again and adjust mixture screws for highest idle/vacuum. Then I'll do a compression test and some plug chops. I ordered new carb boots, but upon closer inspection of my current boots, they don't look too bad. I'm hoping the new clamps will eliminate any leaks. I've gotten pretty good at pulling and installing the carbs, so if I have to swap out the boots next week, it shouldn't be too bad. I just want to take advantage of temps in the 70's this weekend.

Thanks to you guys for all your help. I have no idea what a well running GS feels/sounds like, but I knew something wasn't right with mine. Just glad I caught it before I destroyed my motor.
Valve cover 1.jpg

[hannibal]

Close up of what the bolts did to the cover...


This also explains why I started to get an oil leak at the valve cover gasket.