Virago 750 cylinder gasket replacement

[Andrewlm97]

New to this forum, I have a leak coming from the cylinder gasket on cylinder number one. I was thinking about jumping into it on my own. I have never done anything like this I was hoping for some tips on how to get it done right and easily. Thank you!

[Eaglearm]

Hi & welcome to the forum Andrewlm97.

Gr8 to hear you are trying this yourself.... Well done.

Maybe the best advice I could offer is to get an icecream container or similar for the screws & bolts your about to remove, clean rags & a dedicated attitude to getting it done.

Take photos or a video of everything, the petcock & lines, of the air cleaner/petrol/vacuum connections & any electrical connections you will encounter... You might say "Oh I'll remember where that came from, its just the thing that goes there" BUT you wont. That little tube with a curve in it... well which way did it go???

Personally I get a bit of stickytape or that white masking tape, write what it is & where it goes, then attach it to the electrical wire & its connector. Even colour code them if you have a few. Most everyone has a black blue & red highlighter/texta/pen/ nail polish colour somewhere around to use.

So get started. Disconnect the battery There is nothing worse than having a spark fly when you accidentally touch an earth with an active electrical connection.
If you dont have enough room for tools to remove the head bolts, take the tank off.... & all those connections I told you about... Label them.

The rest of it is just undo all the bits, the covers, bugseyes & bolts holding the head down. Clean the surfaces, inspect the pistons, valves, timing chain, surfaces of the head, etc & installation is reversal of procedure. Well maybe not quite that easy but close enough.

When you get that far into it Andrewlm97, youve got 2nd & maybe 3rd yr year apprentice rating my friend, & at $120.00/hr for a mechanic, well, just take you time & all should go well.

Andrewlm97 there is always someone here that will be able to help you along the way if you get stuck.

Go get em.
Eaglearm.

[Flyingdog]

When you get that far into it Andrewlm97, youve got 2nd & maybe 3rd yr year apprentice rating my friend, & at $120.00/hr for a mechanic, well, just take you time & all should go well.

Oh..No Doubt! Best piece of advice that's always stuck with me since I was ten, given to me by my Grandfather, going back together is always the easiest/hardest part. Hardest, cuz you start to get little overly anxious and can miss something really, really stupid. Only drawback, it was a lawnmower and worked to well when done, I had to use it.

[Eaglearm]

Hahaha. thats great. Looks like your mechanical skills are well & truely instilled via Granddad.

I think you'll do fine. If you have any hiccups, feel free to ask for assistance through the forum.

Cheers Eaglearm.

[Andrewlm97]

Went ahead with the project feeling pretty confident. I’m a full time employee and a full time student so it has taken me a while to finish. Just got everything back together and when I started it I hear a loud knock from the cylinder I worked on. Cylinder is now not firing. I have no clue what I did wrong. I had a good manual and followed it step by step from start to finish. Any advice would be great, thank you.