New guy, 850 cam chain noise and leaking carb

[psycoreefer]

Hey everyone, I hope I'm not wasting everyones time but I would really like a little feed back on a 81 gs850gl my girl friend is looking at. We are thinking of trading our honda shadow for it but it has a few issues. First they guy that owns it now said he had to replace the head gasket on it last year, how common is it for these bikes to "blow" a head gasket? Thinking maybe he either let it get really really hot or was abusing it somehow. Second it has a lot of cam chain noise, I've done a search and I understand their noisy engines and the likely cause is a stuck tensioner but he claims that the noise is because he put the "idler/guide" on the top in backwards by accident and that he did it once before and flipping it solved the noise problem. Is it possible to put this part in backwards and if so would doing it cause damage? Third the #2 carb leaks and he told me it has low compression on #2 cylinder because the gas has washed all the oil out of the cylinder, makes sense to me but I plan to check the compression and then add a little spray oil and check again, before I make any deals but I don't know whats normal for a 850 with about 25000 miles on it. I'm not really woried about the leaky carb, probably just a stuck float and I'm not afraid of carbs.

Finally I've read the what to look for articale and plan to check the stator/regulator before things get finalized and also teh above mentioned things but are there any other "gotchas" particular to the 81 gs850gl I should watch out for?

Thanks!

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. psycoreefer,

Here is your very own mega-welcome (I wrote it myself). Pay particular attention to the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Stator Papers, and the Carb Rebuild series. You'll be glad you did. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[feelergaugephil]

If your doubting the bike at this stage, leave it alone and keep your own bike.
Head gaskets common at blowing.
With the engine running, reach under the carbs, turn the camchain tensioner wheel clockwise slightly, if the noise/clatter goes away, it needs a camchain, or the tensioner is stuck.

[Pacman]

Personally, I wouldn't pay very much for a bike in that condition. Sounds like the guy didn't know what he was doing when he did the head gasket and didn't put the top end back together right.

I'd say offer $300 and be prepared to walk away if they say no. If they take the $300 then either swap in a new motor or do the top end yourself.

Chris

[Zooks]

Buy it cheap and rebuild the top end. Easy peasy and you should have a good bike.