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I'm 99% certain that my head gasket has gone. I get white smoke out the exhaust when trying to start it, creamy white in the glass gauge and oil filler cap, coolant system pressurizing too much causing coolant to be expelled from the overflow and the oil level has risen giving the indication of water in the system.

I'm going to be ordering my parts from Cradley; the previous owner had rebuilt the engine with all new gaskets but as far as i can tell they were from wemoto. I'm not taking any risks and going genuine parts.

I've never done one on a bike before, i've got the workshop manual printed off here with torques, timing marks etc and i have a haynes manual for my 750 so I can always reference that.

Question is what parts do I need? Going to be ordering a new head gasket and exhaust gaskets too, but do you have to replace anything else? Can the head bolts be re-used or are they similar to car one's where they are 1 time use only being stretch bolts?

Correctly torqued head bolts can be reused equally it's reasonable to consider replacing them.....................don't forget the sneaky M6 one

And two of the head bolts are slightly longer.............I just put the all bolts back in the exact same position.

ALL bolts are stretch bolts correct torque ensures they do not over stretch...............checking the bolts for stretch is easy you'll see the damage if its there and the bolts will be longer than quoted in the manual/microfiche

It would be worth considering a new cam chain while your in there and I'd be checking and lapping in the valves/valve seats

Checking valve clearances would be a good idea too.
The rubber seal for the rocker cover can be reused as can the seals on the spark plug access tunnels.............however replace if damaged.

O rings on the oil feed can be reused if undamaged

What out for dowels....................do not rebuild without them


The manual is excellent and if it says something needs to be replaced it says so for good reason.