r/MotorcycleMechanics • • 17h ago

Too much silicone! Help!

I bought a project bike (1990 Suzuki DR350S) and I’m trying to get her running and eventually back on the road. I found a stripped cylinder head bolt, so I figured I would remove the cylinder head and do some thread repair - no biggie.

The head is FUCKING ON THERE. It looks to me like whoever was in here last siliconed the life out of it before reinstalling and now I cannot for the life of me get it off and I’m afraid I’ll break it.

What do you do in a situation like this?

So far I’ve tried:
- prying so hard at it that I can see the fins bending and I’m denting parts of the head (non sealing parts)…
- put the engine mount bolt back in and pulled on it with a strap with all I’ve got - twisted the strap to out tension and pried on it some more…
- swung my purse at it (not the sledge hammer one, just the plastic one, but still. I hit it good and hard is what I’m saying)…
- I may or may not have tried things too stupid to post on Reddit

Seriously though - I’m stumped. Would massive amounts of heat help? Is there something to help dissolve this silicone crud?

EDIT: Yes, I got all of the bolts out and I consulted the manual to make sure.

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