Hi guys, pulled my 88 motor out to replace starter clutch, decided to do a partial rebuild, bearings,rings, hone cylinders ect, when pulling the cylinder block off, i discovered i had no head gasket. I had a small oil stain between the crankcase and cylinder block which caused me to investigate. Would there be any gain by leaving the head gasket out? Also has any one here had to replace their starter clutch? I have had starting problems for a while(as in a horrible "grinding" noise when trying to start,the bike does start and runs without fault) i replaced the alternater damper with a new one but this only fixed the problem short term. The clutch moves in one direction but not the other, but this is in my hand, not under compession pressure from the engine, my point is, can i test the clutch in another way?

 

Having no headgasket would make the compression go up a good bit. Stupid move IMO.
If you have to replace the starter clutch you need to remove the stator as you did for removal of the damper, only easier.As for testing it............?
I will have a new starter clutch in my bike (nothing wrong with my present one) in a week or two. I bought one on e-may for $49 US.

 

Does the seller have two shadow? that's cheap as! i'm looking at $132 us new.

 

I don't know, but maybe you can persuade me to part with the one in my bike which is as good as new - I need to replace my damper unit. It will be at least two weeks before I can get to changing it though.

 

The headgasket on these bikes is nothing more than a single layer steel gasket. You are 100% sure there was nothing between the head and the cylinders? Also the gasket has many restrictor holes to control coolant flow in the head and around the cylinders. Besides the thermostst the gasket is keeps the engine poperly cooled (no hot or cold spots). I would recomend gettting one.