Hello gentlemen

[Scotty Bates]

I had posted a problem awhile back concerning oil and water coming out of the breather tube, and after further investgation, found that i indeed have a failed head gasket. Due to the damage the coolant caused to the head, ive decided to find a used head to remedy the situation. If it was any other bike, i wouldve cut my losses, and parted her out, but i brought her back from the dead, and only got to ride her about 1000 miles after 2 years work. If you guys have any tips as far as reassembly n such, please feel free to shoot some advice my way. Ive formed an attachment to this bike, and refuse to give it up, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[shanered6]

I would check the barrels and the second hand head and make sure there not warped ..... and if you can afford it i would have them skimmed to make sure there perfectly flat .
I would reseat the valves and and maybe new rings (depending on milage ) use a good quality top end gasket set , if you like the bike and want it wright its worth doing it properly and if you dont have the budget just do as much as you can .

 

[CarlS]

Scotty, welcome to TT from Florida.

 

[Scotty Bates]

I would check the barrels and the second hand head and make sure there not warped ..... and if you can afford it i would have them skimmed to make sure there perfectly flat .
I would reseat the valves and and maybe new rings (depending on milage ) use a good quality top end gasket set , if you like the bike and want it wright its worth doing it properly and if you dont have the budget just do as much as you can .

Thank you for your input, and yes, im on a tight budget because i just bought a 2015 Indian Roadmaster to fill in for my Trophy.

 

[Qship]

Welcome to TT. Hope you are successful in getting your Trophy running great again. Let us know how you make out.

 

[Scotty Bates]

Hello, gentlemen. I finally found a cylinder head in decent condition, with the cams and everything still in it. It came off a salvage bike with a little over 20k miles, and looks a helluva lot better than the one that came off it. I will take yalls advice, and check the piece out thoroughly before i install it. Theres a few questions i have though. I live in the desert- Arizona, and although ive had the motor wrapped up, should i flush it out somehow before starting this whole project, and if so, with what? Also, when i put the cam chain back on, whats the best way to make positive its in the correct spot? I have a service manual, but im a plumber, if you understand what im getting at
.

 

[CarlS]

That is a good find.

 

[Scotty Bates]

Oh, i forgot to mention that i paid a little less than$200 for the part, with free shipping. I want to give a big shout out to The Motorcycle Guys in California for hookin me up righteous. The only thing ive done to a bike that was close to this, is change timing belts out on my 83 Goldwing, so ill spend the next couple of weeks with my nose in the service manual, and checkin to see if you guys have anything i need to know. Thanks Yall, and ill let you know how its going, and post a few pics while im at it.

 

[Patchez]

Welcome aboard. You'll get great advice from this group. Lots of knowledge floating around the hive mind.

 

[Scotty Bates]

Im almost 60, and i can never get enough of that- knowledge that is. My father was an auto mechanic, and he always told me that if i can read,and use some common sense, i will usually prevail( he also used to tell me as long as i was 2% smarter than what i was working on, id be fine.. smartass) lol. I miss him dearly...

 

[shanered6]

Good to hear you got the parts and if the K’s are correct it’s a steal .... if you’ve had the motor wrapped up well you should be ok I would just give everything a good inspection and clean .
when you put it back together give everything a good lubing in oil making sure to fill the cam boxes ... good luck

 

[brooke]

Welcome and best wishes with your project ....

 

[Scotty Bates]

Yyou guys are awsome, and thanks a bunch . Ill let yall know, as it goes. Out of all the bikes ive owned in my life, and its been a few(dozen,) for some reason i wont let this one die. Maybe because i saved it from the scrapyard- i bought it from some boys who were gonna pull the motor and put it on a go cart,or somethin, and i told them ya cant do that, cause its a Triumph, and theyre still hand built, so theyve got a soul( i didnt know it at the time, but the VIN number has 666 in it, but im Athiest), so they sold it to me for$200. Honestly, ive only owned 1 other bike thats been as beat up, and neglected as this thing was(1975 Kawi Z-1), but it is the last one. I wont be finished with this bike until ive turned every last nut and bolt on it, i can see that now, and will never be able to get the time and money back out of it that ive put in it, but as i think you guys will understand, it aint about that. In the end, ill be 2% smarter than that motorcycle...

 

[shanered6]

You won’t get your time or money back but you will have the pleasure of bringing it back to life and the pride of doing it .
Not to mention all your hours back in riding fun and trips out

 

[CarlS]

Shane is spot on!

 

[Scotty Bates]

Yes sir, i surely will. It took me 2 years to build that 75 Z-1 900 Kawi, but i did it right, and rode it like i stole it for years afterwards. This Trophy has class, and i have no intentions of selling her, cause this is my last build. Id never put this much time, and effort into something i was gonna sell, unless it was a Vincent, or Brough. Thanks Gentlemen, keep em under a hunerd and on 2 wheels like i always say.

 

[Scotty Bates]

Good evening gentlemen. I have a rather goofy question for yall.. This head that i got is a '96, and my bike is a '98, is there any differences at all in these 2 motors as far as the heads are concerned- cams are both the same etc?

 

[shanered6]

No im pretty sure there all the same at that age i think there may have been a bit of tweaking for the daytona ( higher state of tune ) and the trophy ( slightly more low end grunt ) but most of that was done with ECU, fueling and timing .

 

[Scotty Bates]

Thank you. I had read that the 1st gen of Trophys were more performance oriented ie bigger cams n such. It should be interesting to ride, because apparently the head gasket was failing when i bought it. I couldnt get the carbs to dial in quite rite, but the spark plug on that cylinder didnt really show much until rite at the end when my breather seal failed, and then everything showed itself. Thats when i knew something was up, and pulled the motor to get a better look at things. One glance at the exhaust port and i knew rite then what had happened.