blown head gasket x2

[beerme]

Fired up my '06 Blast this spring to wash it and heard a chirping noise on the left side of the engine... blown head gasket. Changed the head gasket. Everything looked good. Ran it and got two chirps last time I parked it. 1730 miles on the bike.

I think it had been wheelied and landed hard since the pegs were bent inward. I'm wondering if the head/cylinder studs can stretch to where the head won't torque down properly. I did the work on the new head gasket by the book and the head nuts seemed to bottom out during the last 27(?)degree tightening. Searched a bit and couldn't find if this was common.

It's been a fun errand bike. Hate the choke system and the rev limiter. Has anyone fitted a manual choke?

[pierce]

Are you certain that its the head gasket? Generally you will start to get some oil leaking out, and loss of compression if bad enough. What are the compression #'s?

No on the stretched bolts. However you can certainly warp your cylinder if not torqued properly.

Yes on the manual choke.

http://buellridersonline.com/forum/modifications/5576-creating-manual-choke-blast-carb.html

[beerme]

Didn't do a compression check since I could see and feel air blowing out the left side of the engine at the head gasket every thump. No oil leakage. Went through the whole torquing sequence by the book and I'm pretty sure it had never been gone into before. Hate to do the whole job again with the same results. Haven't ridden it for awhile to recheck the 'chirp' due to weather and a noodled up arm. Twisted an arm muscle fishing and it's still sore at me.

Thanks for the info Pierce. Headed to the choke link you sent me next. It's a little flooder on short trips due to the choke performing as designed.

[konarider94]

buy a mls(multi-layer steel) head gasket. the ones from cometic are nice. i think maybe james gaskets has them as well. they also come with real torque specs. the final torque ends up being 42 ft lbs i think. you dont have to bother with that degree garbage.

[uly luigi]

if you have been blowing hot gas by the gaskets, you need to have the jug and head resurfaced, the hot gas will cut "Micro Channels" thru the sealing surfaces and you won't ever get them to seal

[beerme]

Thanks for the info. It would be nice to forgo the 'degree garbage' torqueing method. That just seems goofy and vague to me. I don't think 'micro channels' are a problem since the bike hasn't been run much in 'chirp/leak' mode. I'll give it a hard look next time it's apart and do the resurfacing if it needs it. Never heard the term 'micro channels' before but I'm aware that escaping gasses can erode a groove in the affected parts. Only about 20 miles on the bike since the new head gasket and 1700 miles on the old one.

Fun little bike to flog around on when it works. I have a '99 BMW that can't be flogged about without instantly getting into the astonomical ticket range.

Thanks again for the info and tips.