my 2000 m750 horizontal  gasket is leaking pretty bad. was wondering if you can use a liquid gasket instead of waiting week for those flimsy steel ones?

The parts catalogue shows that there's an O-ring, so that's likely all that needs to be replaced.

The steel base gasket is really more of a shim, it doesn't need to be replaced, IMO.

Quote from: grinningevildeath on July 08, 2008, 08:17:43 AM
my 2000 m750 horizontal  gasket is leaking pretty bad. was wondering if you can use a liquid gasket instead of waiting week for those flimsy steel ones?

I've seen people make gaskets out of silicone sealants, use silicone with fiber gaskets, use only the steel gaskets, and use only fiber gaskets without any problems. It generally depends on surface prep or irregularities in the surdace if you get a leaker.

Generally, you can reuse the gaskets without too much problem with them leaking. To play it safe, especially since it always has oil setting in the cover, I replace the horizontal exhaust valve cover gasket almost every time I take it off. If you don't like the steel gaskets, keep an eye on eBay. There was a guy selling fiber gaskets on there. I bought a set a year or two ago and they are on my ST2, now. I generally prefer fiber gaskets, but that's only because I've had limited experience with the steel ones over the year.

Note - If you use silicone, use it very sparingly. If you use too much, it can squeeze out when you torque the cover down and can get in the engine......which can possibly clog an oil valley/hole and take out your engine.

Okay, question #1
what  gasket are you referring to ?
head?            o-rings only.
base?            metal shim, also sets the squish clearance (no o-ring on horiz.)
valve cover?   coating over a sheet metal gasket.

You can certainly use sealer on the metal gaskets, just remember that more is not always better. Just a thin spear like you are finger painting. use a non-hardening sealer like threebond 1104 or ducati-bond,yamabond.

Next time you are in there you will want to clean it all real good and re-apply. This + more time and for a shop scraping gaskets is the worst. doing it your self is no problem because you have all the time you need.
good luck

+1 on ducvet's questions, I was coffee-deficient when i posted...