2000 Head on a 2004

[04MTBee]

 

Yes, I am a NOOB to this board.  First of all, I have spent a lot of time reading posts and searching for the answer, but I can't find a specific answer...   sorry.

I have a 2004 bike with a bad head.  It seems my bike ate an exhaust valve.  The quote from the dealership says the bike needs a new head, valves, and gaskets. (He didn't mention if I need a cylinder...)

I don't find many 04+ engines, but there are several 02 or earlier engines and parts out there.

I can see the head on a 2000 is different.  The tach set up is different- Can't I just transfer the plug from my engine to the 2000?
The oil system has me confused.  What needs to be done to a 2000 head to make it work properly on my engine? (My bike still has the full fairings...)

I do the work myself.  So if you all have any advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

04MTBee

[fred]

I believe you can just use a 2000 head on your 2004 engine. You have to plug the hole for the old tach drive and transfer the plug for your existing tach over, but other than that it should work. The oil cooler is connected to the case I believe, so changing the head shouldn't make a difference I think, but I don't have a bike with an oil cooler. If the oil cooler isn't connected to the head, you're good.

Are you sure your head is bad and not just the valve? The dealer might suggest a new head because their rate for doing work on the bike makes it way too expensive to have someone repair the head rather than just a new one. Since you're doing the work, you don't have that limitation. If I were you I'd take a good look at the head and check its specs against the service manual. You may find that you can get away with lapping the old head and installing a new valve, which would be cheaper and probably less work...

[04MTBee]

Thanks for the response.   

I WILL take a look at the head to make sure I really need a new one.

I was just going off the estimate from the cycle shop.

I am looking forward to riding this bike sometime.  I have repaired/restored 5-6 bikes so I have "some" knowledge. Most importantly, I have already acquired metric tools...

04MtBee

[Weston]

If you just have one bad exhaust valve, all you should need is one new exhaust valve, not an entire head! A valve is only like $30-40