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So yesterday I did a valve adjustment and a rocker adjustment. I got the valve cover off just fine and adjusted everything well enough. My issue comes when I try and put the valve cover back on. Problem is that my bike is salvaged...I know everybody cringed as soon as they read that. The guy that crashed my bike ripped of the left valve cover in his slide. The two threads on the right are snapped, as well as the threads on the top left. I can get those 3 bolts threaded in well enough once I get past the protruding part of the threads.


But the bottom left valve cover threads just got warped and stripped out. Because the hole is warped I don't have anything to work with. I don't have any place to re-tap. It looked like the guy I bought the bike from and a small spring in the hole for the bolt to grab on to.


Does anybody have any idea how I am going to get my valve cover back on?

The small "spring" may have been a "HeliCoil", a thread insert. If the cover was on before, it should go back on. You may have to get a new HeliCoil for that hole. Not a pretty situation, but if it was on before...... Good luck.

Well I went and got one of those thread replacers. Seems to have worked good enough. Got the head back on. But there is a small oil leak from the gasket. Not sure exactly what to do about the oil leak. But I do want to take care of it.

Take it to any metric bike shop and tell them you want TimeSerts installed in the holes. TimeSerts are stronger than the original! They go in like a Helicoil but are much nicer and stronger...and they cost more. Each hole will likely cost you about $20. Cyclerob installed one on my frame to fix a stripped hole. He luckily had the "Kit" shipped from his old shop and used that, costing me only the shipped charge and the TimeSert insert itself. It's a cool fix if they can be put in to your existing head holes.

Yes! excellent thanks boxer. I will go do that for sure.

I just wondering what happened to the bits and peaces that broke off. Are they still somewhere inside the cylinder head or found its way down to the oil pan.
Does anyone know?

I am pretty sure the metal bits ended up on the road with the previous valve cover. But nobody can say for sure. I have given the bike several oil changes and I haven't come up with any metal shavings or larger bits. Not to say they are just sitting in there, but I haven't run into them yet. I'm not to worried about it since I've put about 11k on the bike so far with only regular maintanence issues. Until I took off the valve cover that is
Once I got my valve cover back on thanks to that little helicoil. I found out that my cooling fins were bent and I couldn't get a seal.


So I bought some Gasket maker, and I sandwiched the gasket with a bunch of the goop and gave it another coating all the way around.

It seems to have worked out alright. I haven't started it up yet. I won't do that until tomorrow since I want the gasket goop to cure 100% before putting stress on it.


So this wasn't exactly the issues I expected to run into when I decided to adjust my rockers and valve. But adapt and overcome is all we can really do.

Thanks for the help. I will post later to let everyone know whether or not my gasket maker works out as well as I think it will.