Do these look alright to you?

[Windjammer]

If I had a dollar for every time I was asked that... Yep, I'd still be broke.  ;)

A little background: She's an '83 with 24K on the odometer and has sat for a couple of years. I'm working on restoring her and I had some time to look a closer look at things this morning, which brought some questions to mind...

Thanks for any advice.

My intake boots has some cracks on it. I looked on the inside and it looks fine. Anything to worry about? I figured that taking them off at this point could do more harm than good.



I'm trying to determine if the starter clutch bolt problem was already taken care of on this bike or not. Looking that the bolts, it looks like there's a strike mark at the end. Anyone know if this is a sign of someone having taken care of this?



Bare with me, the list grows... :)  Looking at the head, there's some discoloration and as I looked closer on the picture, it looks like maybe a chunk of gasket is missing. At first I was wondering if anyone knew of a good product to clean this. Or is there a bigger problem than cleaning here?



And finally, I was looking at the top of the valves. There's a fair amount of gunk on them. Pretty normal stuff or is it cause for concern?

[flanker]

The starter clutch bolts are still OEM I would guess. Mine had the same marks on them when I just did them. I just used some lock-tite and it worked for me so far.

[flanker]

Forgot, just did my intake manifolds too. looked just like yours, couldn't see anything when they were on the bike but when I took them off I found 2 cracks on the inside in each closest the bolts. They run like $76 a peice and $7 for gaskets so make sure you need them.

[Night Vision]

judging by the brush strokes on the carb boots.... looks like they may have been "liquid taped" before.... if they're not cracked through... do it again and/or start looking for spares.....  you'll have to take them off of course.... if the gasket is cooked, it's easy enough to trace onto gasket material and cut out the center

punch on stater clutch bolts is OEM.... do them right

funny you mention the chunk missing on the the head gasket..... I just noticed a "little gap" in mine... I'm not worried, yet....

discoloration most likely caused by gas stains......

gunky valves? techtron  ;)

all in all, nothing out of the norm

[Rick G]

You still need to do the starter clutch up grade. You could clean up the intake rubber mounts and re coat them.  The head gasket may or my not be leaking , you will know when you fire it up, I wouldn't do anything until then.  Gunk on the valves is fairly common, If the head gasket IS leaking then you will have the head off and you can consider a valve job at that time.

[PeteXS/GS/CB/XZ]

Yes, the discoloration around the head leads me to believe your head gasket is leaking.  If the clearcoat were only corroding, it would remain the same color but look cloudy and tarnished. 

I don't like the look of the intakes either.  I'd replace them. 

The valve goo is normal.  If you take the engine apart, then wire brush the valves and lap them while you're at it.  Put each valve back in its own hole. Don't mix them up. 

Good luck.

[Windjammer]

>>brush strokes.
Damn, man, you got a good eye!  :) I hadn't noticed that.

I'll try liquid taping them & see how that goes. As for the starter clutch, yep, I'll do it right. I remember running Techtron through a 77 Porsche I had - good stuff. I'll give that a go too.

Thanks, Night.

judging by the brush strokes on the carb boots.... looks like they may have been "liquid taped" before.... if they're not cracked through... do it again and/or start looking for spares.....  you'll have to take them off of course.... if the gasket is cooked, it's easy enough to trace onto gasket material and cut out the center

punch on stater clutch bolts is OEM.... do them right

funny you mention the chunk missing on the the head gasket..... I just noticed a "little gap" in mine... I'm not worried, yet....

discoloration most likely caused by gas stains......

gunky valves? techtron  ;)

all in all, nothing out of the norm

[Windjammer]

Hey Flanker, thanks for confirming the marks as OEM. Not what I wanted to hear, but...   ;)

That's a chunk 'o change for the intake boots! Where'd you get them?

Forgot, just did my intake manifolds too. looked just like yours, couldn't see anything when they were on the bike but when I took them off I found 2 cracks on the inside in each closest the bolts. They run like $76 a peice and $7 for gaskets so make sure you need them.

[Windjammer]

Thanks, Rick. Looks like I'm gonna do the starter clutch upgrade after all. I just dipped 2 sections of the carbs today. Baby steps...  :)

Thanks for the advice on the valves. Once I get her fired up, I'll see what if the head gasket is leaking.

You still need to do the starter clutch up grade. You could clean up the intake rubber mounts and re coat them.  The head gasket may or my not be leaking , you will know when you fire it up, I wouldn't do anything until then.  Gunk on the valves is fairly common, If the head gasket IS leaking then you will have the head off and you can consider a valve job at that time.

[Windjammer]

Thanks, Pete. I'm going to try the liquid tape solution on the intake boots first to see how that goes; maybe replace them after I get a season or two of riding in. And hopefully the head gasket will cooperate for that length of time too.

Yes, the discoloration around the head leads me to believe your head gasket is leaking.  If the clearcoat were only corroding, it would remain the same color but look cloudy and tarnished. 

I don't like the look of the intakes either.  I'd replace them. 

The valve goo is normal.  If you take the engine apart, then wire brush the valves and lap them while you're at it.  Put each valve back in its own hole. Don't mix them up. 

Good luck.

[QBS]

That OEM starter clutch bolt staking is a joke.  Truely worthless.  What was idiot Yamah thinking?

[Tiger]

...What was idiot Yamah thinking?

Its a "Bean counters" way of saving money :o shock/horror, eh!!! :o

Its a cheaper "fix" than having a tech' do it properly via a recall, under warranty... ;)

                8).......TIGER....... 8)

[flanker]

Our local powersports store is a Yamaha dealer so I just had them order 'em. Hefty price but no leaks and their right from Yamaha..... so i guess it was worth it.
Incase my starter clutch bolts back out, whats the upgrade? Just new bolts cut longer?

[kwells]

if necessary...
BikeBandit does carry these as well.

[QBS]

Flanker: New bolts cut to a length that protrudes 2 to 3 threads beyond the surface of the flywheel/rotor.  After treating with Loc-Tite and stoutly tightening the bolts, use a hammer and drift to peen or mushroom the protruding theads.  This fix as proven to be permanent.  However, if future removal should prove nessessary, use a dremel tool and grind the peened/mushroomed area flush with the surface of the flywheel.

[Windjammer]

Just priced the intake boots at BikeBandit, Babbitt's and www.tntgolfcar.com (golfcar - I know, weird, but they seem to stock all yamaha stuff and are sometimes cheaper)  Anway, prices ranged from $66 to $77 a piece.

I'm using a small sanding wheel on the dremel tool to take off a little material around the most cracked spots and then plan to fill it in with the liquid tape. One question though - has anyone tried the "Plastic Coat" stuff? Sounds like about the same as liquid tape. Just wondering if there were any advantages / disadvantages or "Hell No!" thoughts on this.

Anyway, hopefully that'll get me by for this year. I'm starting to get the Barney Bad-Eye from the wife as the parts costs mount up.  :)

[Tiger]

 :-\...Or...you can take a piece of bicycle inner tube, cut to length and with a cut out for the vacuum lines, stretch it over the intake manifold and...Voila!!! Leak proof boots 8)

              8).......TIGER....... 8)

[Windjammer]

Then I'd have TWO bikes out'a commission!  ;)

:-\...Or...you can take a piece of bike inner tube, cut to length and with a cut out for the vacuum lines, stretch it over the intake manifold and...Voila!!! Leak proof boots 8)

              8).......TIGER....... 8)

[inanecathode]

I would just replace them, the parts are available.

[Lucky]

everytime i read the title of this post i think "Does this make my ass look big?" lol