Hi all - old member here. Just bought another bike after about 11 years with no road bike
I'm an engineer so I do enjoy the maintenance slightly more than the riding... so I've picked up a clapped out GSX400E to convert to a cafe style.
My question is generic about engine troubleshooting:
The engine isn't running and the seller said, quote: "it started getting harder to start, until finally i could only get it running via crash-start rolling down a hill, then eventually nothing. I did a compression test and was low compression. Pulled head off to investigate and nothing obvious. Gave up."
So the head and everything was on finger tight and I've re-disassembled and confirmed so far nothing obvious is wrong. I'm also going to remove the cylinder today and check piston rings, and do a water tightness test on the valves.
My challenge is, I want to get the engine assembled first and get her running so I can isolate all faults and price up the project (for all I know he tested compression wrong and has disassembled the engine for no reason. Might actually be a fuel or ignition issue?!)
What I don't want is to pay for an entire gasket kit and use it for 5 minutes to reveal noisy gearbox bearings etc, only to disassemble it again.
1: Would it run OK with the old head gasket for testing?
2: Should I maybe just gasket-glue the old gaskets for testing?
3: Should I bite the bullet and pay for a set, knowing I'll disassemble it soon to paint the motor anyway?
Im leaning towards 2... $20 tube of CRC gasket...
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