Head Gasket ?

[Slowpoke]

$24.24 sounds right. The $95 number sounds like an entire gasket set or something.
If guys are re-using them and it's working for them, well who am I to argue? But for $25-30 every few years, I'd rather use a new one.........

 

[motogo1]

Curiosity got me now. Athena piston kits are about $60 more expensive too.

 

[OlderHuskyRider]

.......your supporting examples are apples and oranges. Something that works fine for a VTEC or a Harley doesn't mean it's an acceptable procedure for a high-strung Husky motor.

You take the position that I was comparing Harleys to Huskies.

I was comparing the re-use of a multi-ply, metal head gasket in high compression, internal combustion engines with at least 170 lbs of compression, which I feel is a valid comparison, a Red Delicious to a Fuji, both crisp. I have re-used head gaskets, I offered my experience with doing it, others are free to take or not take my offered experience, I never told another user that "here's what you should do". People ask questions that they know the rote answer to ("Always use a new head gasket") because they want to hear others' experience and opinions, and they often want to hear experience and opinions that differ from the rote.

HD says to always use new head bolts, which I never have done, with now over 70,000 miles on the bike, with no head gasket or head bolt problems. Ever since the '80s when I figured out that it was a fallacy that you had to change your car oil every 3000 miles, I question everything I am told by everyone.

......Can you say that reusing the gasket is acceptable for a Harley, or a VTEC, therefore it is OK to do the same on a Husky? That is a logical fallacy known as the Non Sequitur, Latin for "doesn't follow"

I never said that. If I "said" anything it was this:
"When I pull the head on my Husky to check the rings, I will re-use the old head gasket since I have successful experience with HG re-use on another brand of motorcycle."

If you are going to go around offering logic corrections to posts on this board, you may have to quit your day job.

 

[R_Little]

I have a new 1.2mm Husky head gasket here at the house as well as some different thickness Cometic gaskets I use in my HD, they are the same "crush" type gaskets as the Husky gasket, or I wouldn't have made the comparo. ((HD also says to use new head bolts upon re-installation....I never have done that either.)) The bike has 70,000 miles on it with no head bolt or gasket problems. For torque numbers, I use the same number with the 90 degree turn at the end, here's the numbers on both bikes:

HD head bolts = 45 lbs torque plus 90 degree turn
Husky head bolt torque = 27.5 lbs torque plus 90 degrees turn

To avoid any confusion or misperceptions about what I have said on this subject, please use this quote as to what I have essentially said:

"When I pull the head on my Husky to check the rings, I will re-use the old head gasket since I have previous successful experience with similar head gasket re-use on a different motorcycle."

I think R_Little is the point man on this topic, let him get 1000 miles on his used gasket.

Craig L has 2k miles on his.
Eric Gorr reuses his.

I have to fix the seared woodruff key on mine before I can test anything.

The manual requires a complicated procedure to choose the correct gasket or I'd have ordered a new one.

 

[OlderHuskyRider]

Craig L has 2k miles on his.
Eric Gorr reuses his.

I have to fix the seared woodruff key on mine before I can test anything.

The manual requires a complicated procedure to choose the correct gasket or I'd have ordered a new one.

Here's Craigl on his re-use of HGs:

The head gasket I am using now has been torqued 3 times. I sprayed it with permatex copper gasket spray, 3 coats and dry overnight. It currently has 10 hours of racing on this usage. 140 hours total.

R_Little, I ordered the thickest HG offered for my bike, that way I have it on hand if I need it and I can afford to lose a few 10ths of a point of compression.

 

[Slowpoke]

Well - it looks like Head Gasket re-usage can be added to the list of subjects that will always lack full agreement: Tires, Oil, Chain lube- yes or no, Fast or slow break-in........

 

[R_Little]

Here's Craigl on his re-use of HGs:



R_Little, I ordered the thickest HG offered for my bike, that way I have it on hand if I need it and I can afford to lose a few 10ths of a point of compression.

Good move......someone told me they swapped a new piston on w/o measuring the clearance and bought the thin gasket and the piston hit the valves! tThey run 2 base gaskets now. That is why I reused mine. Do you think you can measure one that has been used already?

Maybe the lower compression might help the marginal starter start the bike when hot.

 

[OlderHuskyRider]

I had to wake this contentious thread up to make a clarification:

I recently changed out my leaking head gasket. I looked in my garage for the old gasket and can not find it, if I run across it and discover any more facts, I'll post up.

I would not characterize the OEM Husky head gasket as a copper gasket. I believe it is steel or aluminum with some kind of weird coating on it, that flakes and peels off, which was partially why my gasket failed. I would never re-use this type of gasket, because it is not a copper gasket in my HD experience (pic of a copper gasket is the 3rd pic)