bandit pains

[rolandogval]

so the bandit's in the shop, finally being put into working order, getting the carbs cleaned...finally it seems to be working. when i go to pick it up, however, the $400 carb job has potentially turned into a $900 job. seems the head gasket needs replacing. While i don't recall seeing clouds of coolant coming from the exhaust, the mechanic says i'll need to have him replace it (for potentially more than the total worth the bike!) i mean, in an ideal world, i'd happily spend the money to repair the gasket on this great bike. in this world though, i'm a grad student in debt way past his eyeballs...and nine hundred clams is a few too many.

that being said,

i'd like to put forth three questions to the experience of the board:

has anyone ever tried using head gasket sealer?

if i'm intimidated by the carbs, will replacing the head gasket seem like brain surgery?

is $500 too much for a gasket and labor?


thanks guys
-rolando

ps- will the engine explode if i do the ol' ostrich-with-the-head-in-the-sand, ignore the mechanic and drive this thing across a couple of states?

[Maniac]

How did he find the gasket?

Was it showing low compression? If the compression is good and your not getting water in the oil or oil in the water, and coolant isn't disappearing into thin air, I don't think you'd need a new head gasket.

[Red01]

i'd like to put forth three questions to the experience of the board:

has anyone ever tried using head gasket sealer?

if i'm intimidated by the carbs, will replacing the head gasket seem like brain surgery?

is $500 too much for a gasket and labor?


thanks guys
-rolando

ps- will the engine explode if i do the ol' ostrich-with-the-head-in-the-sand, ignore the mechanic and drive this thing across a couple of states?

1. Not as a fix for a bad one, I have used head gasket sealers on NEW gaskets. And recommend the products unless the new gasket or manual tells you not to.

2. Yes

3. Probably not. You'll need to make the decision as to if it is worth the investment for the repair or if you should cut your losses now and get rid of it and go with something else.

As to the 'ps' - if it really does have a bad head gasket, I wouldn't ride it very far, probably not at all. You're risking hydrolock (which is generally a catastrophic failure), overheating, and/or oil starvation - which can cause siezure. If the head gasket failure is very minor, you may be able to nurse it on short little trips for a little while, but it will only get worse, and that could happen suddenly. It's one thing to risk something like this in a car where you'll probably just be a PIA to traffic with a dead cage, but if it fails in a bike, it could put you down, and that's never fun, even if you don't get hurt.