Broke a cam bearing cap, now what?!?

[Anonymous]

I was tightening down the cap, evenly, and it just cracked. I went to the dealership to see if they could get me one, but they said i had to buy a whole cylinder head to get them. Anyone know what i can do, or where i can get one?. MY bike is a 81 gs1000l.

[mcycle-nut]

They're right. The cam caps are line bored in the head. That's why it's imparative each cap goes in the proper place. You can't switch them.

[focus frenzy]

discontinued!!! no longer available from Suzuki.
E-bay is your best bet.

[argonsagas]

Do some visiting at local welding shops.

With luck, you can get someone to set it up and weld it for you. Be prepared to pay what seems like an exhorbitant price.

The welding is the easy part. The expense rises because it is imperative that they make up a jig to support it and keep the pieces in accurate alignment for the weld.

No matter how good the welder may be, it is NOT possible to get a true alignment by eyeball, as the heat will cause distortion. As you have already seen accurate alignment is essential, and making the jig will not only take some time for the weld shop, it will ensure that your finished cap works.

[Don Lobacz]

If it was me, I would find some caps from some junk heads (old drag racers have them, lol) and plastigage them as I tried them. The reading would have to be consistent across the whole bearing surface. Use a plastigage reading from one of your good bearings as a baseline to check it against. Chances are good that you will find a reasonable match, if not, you're not out much. Send me the head if it doesn't work, I could use a big port head .

[duaneage]

Get another couple of caps and take it to a machine shop. they may be able to line bore the replacement cap so they line up again.