Complete motor/transmission gasket set

[arumpf09]

Good afternoon,
I am going to be doing a full rebuild of the motor and transmission of my 05 XB12R. I am looking for a full gasket set for both the motor and transmission. I have so far found the harley set 17058-02d. This appears to included every single gasket needed. The thought crossed my mind though to get some upgraded gaskets and I have read great things about the Genuine James gaskets. On the website it appears as though the kit #17047-04-x would include most of what is need but may be lacking in transmission gaskets/seals. However I called them and was told the 17047-07-x would be the appropriate kit for my bike and would include everything except the rubber seals for the pushrod tubes and the cam cover gasket. But the website lists this for 07+ motors. I am looking to get every single gasket and seal needed to do a complete a rebuild of the motor and transmission. I would also like to get the highest quality possible. If anyone could help me in finding the correct kit for this project it would be greatly appreciated. Also any input on whether or not the Genuine James gaskets are of high enough quality to go through the hassle of piecing a kit together would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for any advice offered.

[John422]

Well I'm a James dealer. I can call them and get it all for you. Message me and I'll call them today and hopefully have it all done for you. Now I will say cometic is also good. They hooked me up on my 1190 stuff I needed and I know personally I'm going to use them for that motor from now on. I'll see if they make a kit too.

[konarider94]

Cometic does make a pretty complete kit. They don't supply rubber seals like oem for the bottom of the pushrod covers but they do supply a paper gasket for them. I reused the old rubber ones for the base of the pushrods. There shouldn't be much issue with reusing them. Other than that its complete. I think I had to cut a rivet out of the mls head gaskets but that is pretty common with most any manufacturer.

[Chicknstripn]

Cometic makes a rather generic kit. The base gasket and head gasket are pretty much all you'll really want to use from them... if you get their kit. I have experience using their top end kit and I was pretty dissapointed. I had to reuse ALL my rubber seals. This included the ones for the rocker boxes, top of the push rod covers and the base of the push rod covers. DONT USE THE PAPER GASKET FOR THE BASE OF THE PUSH ROD COVERS. I thought a new paper gasket was better than an old used rubber gasket. I was wrong. The paper gasket does not allow the hardware for the pushrod covers to torque down all the way. You'll have to find alternative hardware. I tried that and wound up with a push rod cover leak after about 25 miles on a freshly rebuild engine. Since pretty much the whole top end had to come apart in order to replace the base seal, for the pushrod covers, the head and base gaskets also had to be replaced. They are a one time torque metal/rubber type gasket.
Was a pain in the ass having to rotate the engine to fix a pushrod cover leak after having rebuilt the whole thing.
So my advice would be to order the complete OEM rebuild kit from James or HD and pony up for the cometic head and base gaskets. Those are the only gaskets that cometic makes that in my opinion are worth buying.
FWI my bike is a 2007 xb12r. I may be mistaken and cometic might make something different for your model year. But as far as I can remember the kit from cometic was a generic kit that encompassed 2000 through 2007 sportsters and Buells.
Anyway, this is my advice from personal experiance.
Do what you feel is best for you specific build.

[konarider94]

I had to reuse ALL my rubber seals. This included the ones for the rocker boxes, top of the push rod covers and the base of the push rod covers.

I did not have that same experience. The cometic rocker box, valve cover gaskets, and top pushrod cover o rings worked great for me. I agree with not using the paper. I didnt think it would cause that much of an issue but Im glad i never tried. I dont think the rubber pushrod bases need to be replaced anyway. Same as you I like the head and base gaskets which is what made me go with them.

Not discounting your opinion by any means. If I were someone else and read mixed reviews like this Id be wary. I haven't heard of any issues from James but ive never used them.

[Chicknstripn]

Don't want to high jack the thread by getting into what model year bike you have, and all that back and forth, but I think you're right. You can use the rubber that comes in the cometic kit. I just remember that it wasn't exactly the same as what I had as OEM. At least for the rocker boxes. I actually felt more comfortable reusing the old ones. Being a novice, at best mechanic, it gave me little to no confidence in what I was doing to NOT be sure what gaskets worked and didn't work from the kit.
Anyway, I wasn't happy paying for something that claimed to be a top end rebuild kit and then required me to reuse some of my old gaskets. That's what gave me a bad taste for the cometic kit.
But I bought a generic kit. I have no idea if they make custom kits.
BUT I will say, as has been stated already, their base and head gaskets are pretty awesome.

[ali]

This is the kit I bought and it has everything in it.
http://www.shopengineparts.com/productdetails.aspx?emid=486&cid=61&pid=8829&vtype=V-Twin&make=Harley-Davidson&model=Buell&type=engine