Leaking front rocker covers

I use standard gaskets. Flatted the covers. Did not trim or relieve the gaskets.
There are no leaks at all.
Fullauto head. No doubt it has not been over torqued and generally abused so everything is flat and tight.

tomspro said:

Mine leak pretty consistently too.
I have a roll of cork that I am thinking about cutting for custom gaskets.
Would that work, or is there a temp limitation for cork?

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The cork you have maybe is used for under hardwood floors?
Automotive cork is rubberized.
Yours maybe porous.
One way to find out.

Fast Eddie said:

RGM sell neoprene rocker cover gaskets see:

http://www.rgmnorton.co.uk/buy/neoprene ... et_111.htm

Has anyone tried these?

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I tried a neoprene type a while back and since they were pretty soft I didn't want to crush flat so didn't tighten down too hard.
Riding a while later I looked down to find my left boot and leg getting oiled.
Pulled over and was relieved to see it was just a serious flow coming from the left valve cover gasket.
Checked oil in tank, tightend cover nuts and went home to clean up the mess.
Maybe it was the squishyness of the neoprene that allowed nuts to back off, but I didn't want to tighten them down so hard to crush to the point where re-using was no longer possible.
I figured the safest thing was to use standard gaskets from OldBritts, W/O any gasket sealer.
No leaks and they are really cheap to replace each time covers off.

rx7171 said:

Fast Eddie said:

RGM sell neoprene rocker cover gaskets see:

http://www.rgmnorton.co.uk/buy/neoprene ... et_111.htm

Has anyone tried these?

Click to expand...

I tried a neoprene type a while back and since they were pretty soft I didn't want to crush flat so didn't tighten down too hard.
Riding a while later I looked down to find my left boot and leg getting oiled.
Pulled over and was relieved to see it was just a serious flow coming from the left valve cover gasket.
Checked oil in tank, tightend cover nuts and went home to clean up the mess.
Maybe it was the squishyness of the neoprene that allowed nuts to back off, but I didn't want to tighten them down so hard to crush to the point where re-using was no longer possible.
I figured the safest thing was to use standard gaskets from OldBritts, W/O any gasket sealer.
No leaks and they are really cheap to replace each time covers off.

Click to expand...

That was exactly what I suspected may happen!

Always put a little RTV on the valve cover bolt. Oil wicks up the treads.

Always put a little RTV on the valve cover bolt. Oil wicks up the treads.

I also tried the neoprene gaskets though I don't recall the supplier. I found them to be too soft to allow the rocker cover nuts to be torqued enough to stay tight without damaging the gaskets. One of them failed & I replaced it with a homemade silicone gasket. It seals well, is stiff enough to torque down without damage, and is re-useable. I had been meaning to replace the other neoprene gaskets but didn't get around to it.

Just yesterday during a test ride and mild thrashing of my 73 850, I felt a hot tingly sensation was on my shins, turned out to be hot oil. Both rocker nuts came loose on the side that still had the neoprene gasket and fell off. Luckily I did not loose the cover too, but I did loose a nice pair of SS domed cover nuts. (please no comments about my lost nuts, I have a spare pair anyway)

Anyway, I bought some extreme temp silicone rubber from McMaster Carr to make the new gaskets. You can get a 12" x12' sheet of 1/32 material for about $6.00, enough to make several sets. You can even get it with an adhesive backing so it stays on your rocker cover for a few $ more. Or you can get them ready made from a couple of sources.

I think this is where most of them come from:
http://www.realgaskets.com/files/motorcycle.htm#norton

There are a lot of other good points & viable solutions described in this thread and others. I like the silicone as it's relatively bulletproof, re-useable, and no goop required.

Best regards,
Don

Hay htown16,
What is a 1974 Triumph Trident like yours worth. I found a 1974 that looks like your but has three into one exhaust with emgo turn signals. He said the engine was started a year ago and didn't smoke. He is asking $5000 for it.

5 grand is probably fair price if it runs well and doesn't have any major issues. Seems like the price on triples has gone up quite a bit the last few years. I gave 4800 for mine last year. It's nonmatching numbers, and had a fuel tank and carb full of rust, possibly a slipping clutch and needs tires but cosmetically looks good and has great compression. I figured I overpaid by about a grand, but it was local so no shipping, had a clear Texas title and the owner was very straight forward to deal with and I could inspect the bike in person compared to an unkown ebay bike.

I have never had much success using neoprene or silicone gaskets for the reasons given above....too much squish and not enough torque on the fasteners.

To solve that problem, I have considered, but never did, using a spacer of length equal to the flange (or part) thickness plus 1/2 the gasket thickness. The spacer placed in the bolt hole, would limit the squish and allow the fastener to be torqued down. Another remedy might be to use a NyLok type nut and tighten down just enough to compress the gasket to about 50% thickness.

I never tried the spacer method because I could not bring myself to drill out a vintage part to make room for the spacer.

Anyone tried either of these approaches?

Slick

texasSlick said:

I have never had much success using neoprene or silicone gaskets for the reasons given above....too much squish and not enough torque on the fasteners.

To solve that problem, I have considered, but never did, using a spacer of length equal to the flange (or part) thickness plus 1/2 the gasket thickness. The spacer placed in the bolt hole, would limit the squish and allow the fastener to be torqued down. Another remedy might be to use a NyLok type nut and tighten down just enough to compress the gasket to about 50% thickness.

I never tried the spacer method because I could not bring myself to drill out a vintage part to make room for the spacer.

Anyone tried either of these approaches?

Slick

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Nyloc nuts seem like a very effective and simple solution... they would also seal the threads! Any reason not to do this?

Oil weeps and leaks are like hammer blows ... When does a weep become a leak and when is an oil leak validated to actually be oil leak.. A drip on the floor or dust sticking to a wet area????

Pictures would have been nice so we could make better assessments as to what you consider a leak/weep is..

Both my motors have 1mm oil/petrol gasket material and DIY expertise at valve cover areas... The only oil drip i have is from that stupid stupid "OIL FILLED" swing arm reservour.. Another really dumb, cheap and lazy idea to reuse steam engine technology/lubrication..

[/quote]

Nyloc nuts seem like a very effective and simple solution... they would also seal the threads! Any reason not to do this?[/quote]


I would think removeable loctite would do the same thing.

olChris said:

The only oil drip i have is from that stupid stupid "OIL FILLED" swing arm reservour.. Another really dumb, cheap and lazy idea to reuse steam engine technology/lubrication..

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Thanks for that Monday morning laugh! Feel fortunate NIV didn't make you have to pour lead babbitt bearings back there!

Nyloc nuts seem like a very effective and simple solution... they would also seal the threads! Any reason not to do this?[/quote]


I would think removeable loctite would do the same thing.[/quote]

In my experience, blue LocTite should do the same thing when properly applied, but I have found a NyLok to always grip while LockTite may fail, probably due to trace oil on the threads.

NyLoks should only be used once, but I have cheated, but never on aircraft.

Slick

Nice thinking, thats an engeneers approach.

texasSlick said:

I have never had much success using neoprene or silicone gaskets for the reasons given above....too much squish and not enough torque on the fasteners.

To solve that problem, I have considered, but never did, using a spacer of length equal to the flange (or part) thickness plus 1/2 the gasket thickness. The spacer placed in the bolt hole, would limit the squish and allow the fastener to be torqued down. Another remedy might be to use a NyLok type nut and tighten down just enough to compress the gasket to about 50% thickness.

I never tried the spacer method because I could not bring myself to drill out a vintage part to make room for the spacer.

Anyone tried either of these approaches?

Slick

Click to expand...

I've had good results from silicone gaskets but agree with the comments above that it is difficult to judge how much torque to apply.