I am in the process of removing the cat from a 2010 head pipe for my 2010 Ultra. I am keeping my original head pipe in case inspections ever tighten up. I have 12,000 miles on my bike can I reuse the head pipe gaskets or do they need to be replaced? Thanks for your comments.

 

There will be a ton of replys telling you to replace them. It's like the derby cover gasket that HD says to replace every time you remove it.

That being said, I didn't replace mine. I don't replace the O rings every time I change oil either. I've never had an oil leak from the derby cover or the drain plugs. If I see a problem with the O ring or gasket, I'll replace them, but otherwise I reuse them.

The worst that can happen is you get an exhaust leak and you have to replace them later. Not really much of a chance of that IMO.

There are a lot of people on this forum that will do everything by the book. That's fine, it's their money, but I personally don't like to buy parts unless there is a good reason.

 

I just changed my headpipe and replaced them. $14 at the Dealer. I didn't replace the clamps which is also required in the service manual.

 

So you know that it's recommended to replace them, along with the muffler clamps, all of which are single use items. On the practical side, we've all re-used them from time to time with no problems. I would say that since you are going back with the same pipe, you will be fine to leave the old ones in there...just follow proper tightening and torquing procedure for each port. If you buy yourself some wobble extensions for your socket driver, it will make this job much easier..especially for the front stud nuts.

 

I reused mine without issues in 20K miles so far......

 

you got the good old 50% thing going on. For me I would replace with new. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck.

 

For the small cost of new gaskets and to avoid the chance of having to go through the whole process again of pulling and replacing the pipes because of a leak, I go with new ones. That's just me.

 

I have reused them countless times in the last 100000 miles and to date have not had any exhaust leaks. If it makes you feel warm and fuzzy replace them if you are doing the work for yourself it is not that big of a risk. If I were getting paid to do work for someone else I would replace them but for my self I will continue to reuse and if I get an exhaust leak then I will deal with replacing them. So far I have had the headers off and on many times and no issues.

 

I think you run the risk of an improper seal if you re-use them because they compress with use. You could use them but you could have a noisy leak!

 

I say $14 is small price to pay for saving another 1 to 1.5 hours tearing off your pipes to fix leak. Your $$$, but I'd replace...JMO.