I bought a used 02 XX last year with 29K on it. The Bird had been reasonably well cared for and had all the service receipts showing it had all it's scheduled maintenance done.
The engine had oil leaking all over it, and after some investigation I found that the boobs at the dealership had pinched the valve cover gasket at the 25K valve service.

I'm a little intimidated by the chore of changing the gasket, but don't trust any local dealers to do it either. Tonight I pulled it apart enough to replace the air filter, and before I put it back together was looking for advice: While I have it this far dis-assembled, should I suck it up and go for the gasket, or wait for winter when I can take a month or so to reassemble it? How hard a job is this anyway?

I replaced mine a few years ago just after I bought the bike. Like yours, someone had the cover off and messed up the gasket on the reinstall.

I took mine out from the bottom side and it really wasn't too bad. I just followed the instructions in the maintenance manual.

It's a royal pain in the arse,done it a couple times now,and every time I have to use sealant on the entire gasket because the clearance is so tight the gasket always touches the the cam towers or somewhere and a little section comes off.I curse the designers who put that frame rail right over it every time.
But it doesn't take long and when it goes in on the 8-9th try you wonder why it didn't go like that the first time.
If you can change a spark plug,you can change a v.c. gasket.

Thanks muchly both of you. It was a pain to do, but it's all back together now and meets my test for a successful mechanicing job: The original problem is gone, no new ones seem to have shown up, and no spare parts are left over.

Any recommndations on what to "glue" the gasket in place with? Hondabond?

Originally Posted by CBRRich

Any recommndations on what to "glue" the gasket in place with? Hondabond?

I sparingly used Silicone Sealer Red (Hi-temp) to hold the gasket in place in the cover and let it cure for about an hour before putting the cover back in place. Let me know if there is something better PartsGuy.

Also I discovered a trick to getting the valve cover back into place alot easier. Disconnecting the temperature switch connector at the radiator and then removing the plastic air duct that is between the valve cover and radiator. This makes getting the cover on easier. Once the cover is in place and bolts in place you can then slide the plastic air duct piece back in from the left side of the bike. It's a bit tricky, but, it can be done if you use your fingers to push on it where it hangs up. I will post some pics of this when I do my valve clearance check in this month of September, 2010

-mike-

Any decent silicone sealer,Threebond,Permatex,whatever,never used the Hondabond-too expensive .The silicone has higher heat resistance which isn't really neccessary on the valve cover but it stays soft and gives you lots of time to install.

Thanks guys, I actually ended up using Permatex Super Hi tack which was OK but not great, it's basically contact cement in a tube, kind of gooey which made application a pain and it did not "glue" the gasket in, mearly held it in place enough to get it in. I checked all the eges before tightening the bolts so hopefully that is done correctly.
Now the bad news, I also removed what videomike called the "air duct", the panel that keeps air/water from comming over the valve cover. I was able to pry the panel straight back once I took those 2 breather covers off the valve cover and it came off easily and did help getting the valve cover off. However, trying to get it back in place the same way was not so fortunate. Not sure how it is suppossed to go back in there but I broke it, it's hung up in an odd position, and the fan will not turn (shoot me now).
How is it supposed to fit? Is the lower part supposed to be in front or on top of the valve cover? How about the top part? I can't remember how it looked before.