Replacing head gasket..what else?? More power?

[heyblue46]

Hey everybody,
I have a '80 GS1100ET and it has started leaking on the left side of the engine from the head gasket. I'm about to order the gasket set and was just wondering....is there anything else that I should do while I'm going into the top end of my engine? It seems to be running fine and I use it daily, other than I need to synch my carbs which I will do when I'm getting it back together.

Also, I would love to have a little more power \\/ (who wouldn't??). What is the first thing I should/could do for that? Simplest thing I can think of is to get larger jets for the carbs. Is that the best thing for just a little more? or is there something else that I can do that is relatively cheap and quick?

Thanks guys,
Steve

[mark]

Just replacing the jets in your carbs won't automatically give you more power at all.....you'll probably end up with less and your motor won't run as well. Jets would be a part of a modification that included a performance exhaust and a less restrictive air filtration system (like pods), and raising your needles at the very least.

Unless you want to get into major expense and time consuming tuning (which is O.K. of course) I'd leave it the way it is.

[Hap Call]

Probably the cheapest performance upgrade would be a 1166 cc over bore kit. If you do all the work (except the boreing of the cylinders) it will come to about $500 to $600. You get a 8 or 9% increase in displacement and the compression ration goes from 9 to 10.25...a very liveable increase. This can be done by only the addition of pulling the jugs and having them bored. Replace the base gasket and the base o-rings while you are at it.

BUT...and this is very important..you do not have a welded crank. It is best to have the crank welded to prevent twisting. Also, the clutch basket would benefit from a upgrade to a heavy duty basket.

Hap

[koolaid_kid]

Be sure and reseat your valves while you have the head off. If you can get the springs off you can do the reseating yourself; just some compound and the suction cup from your local auto parts. Very inexpensive- I think I spent $15 on materials and an afternoon of hand labor.

[BikeNut]

While you have the head off it might not be a bad idea to clean up your intake and exhaust ports. Removing the carbon deposits in the exhaust and removing casting marks on the intake ports can usually increase power slightly, while making everything run smoother. I wouldn't expect a huge increase in power, but I've seen older heads on various bikes with at least an 1/8th inch of crud caked around the exhaust ports.