Hey guys, quick question. My shifter has been leaking on the dyna and I plan on taking the primary cover off to replace the gasket. I recall reading this was a common fail point & to get the Cometic gasket for the shifter which should fix the problem. This is the 1st time I'll be taking off the primary (just bought the bike used). Question is, are there certain primary gaskets out there that work better than others? I'm thinking since I'm going with a cometic for this shifter I was gonna get a cometic primary gasket as well, any thoughts? Are they all basically the same?? Cyco, James, Cometic...Thx

 

Cometic is good. Price difference in the others isn't enough to make me want to economize. The gasket is relatively cheap, but the labor is enough to make me not want to skimp and have to do it over again.
I've found Cometic to be the best ones for head gaskets.

 

Cometic gaskets are GTG but the important thing is to torque the primary cover bolts according to your HD shop manual.

 

Not sure if it shoulda been that hard, but I ended up ordering the primary & shifter gaskets needed, but I looked at like 10 different websites and couldn't seem to find a site that offered both gaskets at a decent price. I'd definitely pay attention to the Torque settings of the bolt pattern when putting it back together. Thx I ended up ordering these:


C9145F1Cometic Gaskets Replacement Gaskets/seals/o-rings Gasket Primary 06-13 Dyna $23.601$23.60C9259Cometic Gaskets Replacement Gaskets/seals/o-rings Seal Shifter Shaft 5pk $8.301$8.30

 

When you put it back together:

Be sure to torque it down little by little in the bolt order provided in the manual.
If you tweak the case, it will likely leak if you don't.

 

I had that happen a few years ago on a Superglide. It was the tower gasket which is a paper thin gasket that is located between the inner and out covers. It has a sticky coating on one side. Make sure to degrease the contact areas and then center that gasket carefully. It stopped my leak immediately. Just wanted to share.

 

I get Cometic and James....and both have worked well for me.

Primary cover is mere minutes to pull, and put back on again. Sometimes I've had mine off several times in a month, and re-used it throughout the summer. Leak free.

As mentioned above....the tightening pattern, and how tight you crank down, is important. Don't do ends first, work from center...going out. Also wipe the surfaces first...don't want grit/sand/whatever where the gasket will be touching.

 

OK thanks. I did see in the manual the pattern you're supposed to go in when torquing down the primary cover. I'll start by putting them all on hand tight then start torquing one by one. Had her out today rippin' Can't wait for the first round of street sweepers to come out. It's still a gravel slick track on all the twisties!