Yea Hippo, I know James Gaskets are a good product, I'm just pissed off right now. Mainly because I had purchased
2 complete engine sets . One was to use for assembly to check the valve clearance, the other was for final assembly.
Both boxes of gaskets were sealed and looked to be in excellent condition.Both cam cover gaskets were the same. I originally used the first one when I changed out the cams. I used the second one when I had everything apart the
second time trying to figure this out...check the oil galley,pinion gear,oil pump gear,key, etc...
Now to discover that it would appear that this is not an isolated incident. The mere fact that now James Gaskets has a new part for '00-02 Sportys tells me they are aware of the change. The kit they sold me was supposed to be for
91-02 Sportys.

My bike is a 2001. When the factory made the change in 2000 I think James Gaskets should have corrected the advertised years they say the kit will work on. Dennis Kirk should have set up some kinda red flag when that part number came up when I placed the order over the phone. They ask you what year bike the parts are for when you order.It was their Tech guy that said their records showed that they were aware of the change and that I was not the first to report a problem.
I will admit that I may have spoken before I know if this is actually the problem.Kinda late now to say that I guess,huh? But I haven't actually gotten to take it out and ride it to see.Damn Rain !!
This is all that is left to check Hippo.You are aware of all the details of this build, all the questions that I asked you. Like I keep telling you, the motor will sound excellent one minute, then the "tick from hell" will start. This has
got to be the problem...I've checked everything else...twice !! Who knows, either Dennis Kirk or James Gaskets might come through to help make it right. You can be assured that I sent them both a letter expressing my situation.
I would still use both the James gaskets and Dennis Kirk. I just want somebody from either place to answer why they haven't done something about this. Maybe they just recently figured out there was a problem.That would explain the new part number. To borrow a quote from you ...
"have to wait & see ..." LOL. Oh, and you were dead on once again when you referred to guys like me who don't deal with this stuff for a livin', after all, I'm the guy that put not one, but two of these gaskets on, and I could not see that there was a problem. It's hell to get old...at least my eyesight is the first thing to go instead of some other parts further south.He-he
I'll keep ya informed about how it turns out.