Do motorcycle head gaskets burn ?

Head gaskets won't burn as in combust, but heat can erode them making them appear to be burned. The idiots who said they won't burn are full of bovine feces. I've yet to see a stainless steel gasket although I guess there could be one. The gasket used on most engine applications has a thick, flexible non-combustable material sandwiched between two thin metal sheets. As long as the gasket is squeezed tightly between the head and the block, the metal skin of the gasket conducts heat to the head or block and doesn't melt. If the head isn't torqued down tight enough, heat has a hard time being transfered to the head or block and the thin metal can melt or burn, exposing the soft inner gasket material. This is then quickly "burned" away. If this burned area happens to be next to the water jacket, compression can be forced into the cooling system, frothing up the coolant or swelling up the radiator like a poisoned pup. On the intake stroke, coolant can be pulled into the cylinder, creating ...  more