Possible valve adjustment problem

[Devart]

Hello fellow motorcycle enthusiasts. I've been lurking your forums for a few weeks now trying to absorb as much knowledge as I can and I think I'm finally ready to start wrenching on my '82 GS650G. I bought the bike last summer because a friend highly recommended it. Since at the time I knew nothing about bikes aside of which styles I prefer, I went solely on my friend’s knowledge of bikes. I quickly fell in love with the bike but realized that the previous owner/s hadn't done much for maintenance. So here I am happily picking up a wrench and doing the research into everything this bike needs. I realize this story may be a bit long but wanted people to understand where I'm coming from.


Now I'm planning on doing a valve adjustment on the bike and I realized I might have a problem (see attached pictures). Since I'm still fairly new to bikes forgive me if I use improper terms. But it looks like part of the engine block either cracked or broke off and was then epoxied back together. If I remove the valve cover it will break the seal. Should I plan ahead to re-epoxy it? Is there a better method or preferred product? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Devart]

More pictures.

[Devart]

More pictures. I have higher res versions if anyone would like me to email them.

[Steve]

I looks like the half-moons might have been leaking, and they just tried to seall them, rather than replace them.

Pop that cover off, order up a new gasket (make sure you get the right one*) and a set of half-moon gaskets, you will be good to go.


*Early '82s had a 16-bolt valve cover, later ones had a 17-bolt cover. Count your bolts before ordering the gasket.

By the way, it's possible to post more than one picture at a time.







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[Good Times]

Steve is right. Looks like a quick fix for the half moon. No sweat. Clean it up. Replace the gasket and half moons and you're good to go.

I'd suggest Real Gasket for a replacement valve cover gasket. Just be sure to get the right one.

[Ghostgs1]

Hello Devart, Looks like a dandy example of a 650, should cleanup nicely. I would not recommend the Real Gasket for your bike with the tach drive in the valve cover. They tend to damage drive gears due to incorrect gear engagement. Use a Suzuki or aftermarket and you'll be fine. Good luck with the work. Ray

[tom203]

Dive in and see what fun awaits you. #2 cylinder looks like it's been running lean- did vacuum hose from petcock get disconnected ? How many miles? There are two different valve cover/gaskets for this year, so beware ebay claims unless they show actual pic of gasket, cuz one style has extra bolt hole at cam chain nose opposite side from tach drive.

[Good Times]

Hello Devart, Looks like a dandy example of a 650, should cleanup nicely. I would not recommend the Real Gasket for your bike with the tach drive in the valve cover. They tend to damage drive gears due to incorrect gear engagement. Use a Suzuki or aftermarket and you'll be fine. Good luck with the work. Ray

Good call Ray. You are correct. Nix the real gasket suggestion.

[Devart]

Wow, I think i got a quicker and more helpful response on these forums
than from any shop! Thanks!



So in my excitment to get this work done sooner, i ordered the valve
cover gasket from a local Suzuki shop before posting my origional
question. At least if it's the wrong one i will beable to return it
for the right one.

I looks like the half-moons might have been leaking, and they just
tried to seall them, rather than replace them.

.

And here I was worried there was a crack or some other major issue
with the bike.

By the way, it's possible to post more than one picture at a time.

.

Now i see the insert image button!

Dive in and see what fun awaits you. #2 cylinder looks like it's been
running lean- did vacuum hose from petcock get disconnected ? How many
miles?

.

22,000 miles. I've only put on about 2,000 of that. I don't know what
the PO did or more so didn't do. The petcock was replaced shortly after I bought the bike.

Thanks guys for the help. I'm sure you will see me post more often as I restore the bike.

[tom203]

22,000 miles. I've only put on about 2,000 of that. I don't know what
the PO did or more so didn't do. The petcock was replaced shortly after I bought the bike.

Thanks guys for the help. I'm sure you will see me post more often as I restore the bike.

Naughty boy! 2000 miles on top of PO's neglected maintenance is inviting disaster- time to catch up and save this low mileage bike; and ride with confidence!

[Steve]

By the way, it's possible to post more than one picture at a time.

Now i see the insert image button!

That's not how to do it, either, you will end up with the same result, a small attachment that you have to click on to see the full-size picture.

You need to have an account with an online picture hosting site, like PhotoBucket, Picassa, Image Shack or whatever. Many of us use PhotoBucket. Personally, I despise Image Shack, but that's a personal thing.

Once you have your pictures uploaded there, you hover over the picture, you will see some links show up below. Go down to the IMG link, click on it, it will be copied automatically. Come back to your post on GSR, paste that link. If you are going to post more than one picture, hit the ENTER key twice to give it a space between the pictures (see my posting of your pictures above).

Another tip is to have PhotoBucket automatically re-size any uploaded picture to 800x600. This is a decent size for viewing and reduces the load on the PhotoBucket servers. Also makes for quicker load times when we open a thread with pictures.

You can see all the nitty-gritty details by clicking HERE to visit the "Posting Pictures To GSR" page on BassClliff's "little" website. If you haven't bookmarked that site yet, you had better do it NOW. You WILL be referring to it A LOT.

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