Cagiva Canyon 500- Project going from bad to worse

I have a 98' model Canyon 500, Italian import, i've owned it 8 months and have yet to even bloody ride it, every time I fix something,something else fails before the MOT I need to even register it as a UK Bike!.

All the usual problems have been and gone, starter/sprag fixed, electrical gremlins dealt with, panels re-aligned/repaired following vibration damage, re-spray back into original Lucky Strike/Dakar colours plus many cosmetics, Carb strip & clean, Suspension overhaul, plug & lead,points,clutch,brakes etc etc.(well over £1000 spent on new or re-con bits)

Now i've got major engine oil leak from central/ lower gasket which is a bad omen as gasket kits are v.rare so I cannot strip motor fully.

My question is simple... Is there a direct replacement motor from another (or made by another) manufacturer that would be more reliable??

KTM? CCM? Yamaha? - Is the older 600 motor (as found in the River) any better?

I'd rather not alter the chassis (and do not have a welder) so this will need to be a bolt in replacement and if possible something that uses the cagiva exhaust would be good. Is this even possible?

Is it worth me just stripping it down - taking a chance - and cut my own gaskets from pattern/plain gasket sheet? - My history with fully stripped engines is'nt great they rarely ever work again and my local dealers/workshops either can't or won't touch it.

Looking at photos on the 'net, it looks like the engine is a development of a yamaha engine. The 3-bolt, round oil filter cover on the right hand side, and the blanked kick-start below & to the rear of the clutch housing look very "XT".

You might find an electric start XT600 engine goes in, or possibly the SRX600E (never made it to these shores).

But by that rationale, you might find the gaskets for those engines fit too.

Where have you tried to get hold of gaskets, spares etc? The River 600 engine also looks just like at XT600 engine, and it looks like it might go in.

West coast motorcycles are the main/only importers of Cagiva spares for the UK and they cannot supply much; another place is MME motorcycle spares in N.London.

Both have served me well especially MME (contact Kelvin) who have been superb.

The problem is scarcity of parts - West Coast importers have had people on waiting lists for certain spares for over a year and since they supply MME for many bits; everyone is restricted unless the part you need happens to be the one on the shelf.

Other than that I am limited to breakers, I have listed my required bits on spares-finder sites to no avail... found many on breaking bikes on Ebay.

Hmmm, sounds like hard work!

aybe time to try and get one of those yamaha engines in. As well as the engine mounts lining up, the final drive sprocket will need to line up, the exhaust headers might need modding. I'd expect alternator wiring to be similar, not sure about ignition wiring, but anything's possible...

That sounds like even harder work...and potentially expensive if it all goes wrong.

I'll consider it though, until then i'll just give up and build my zzr600 instead.

I find people like me amazing...Why do we do it?

Bought two bikes now, had both for over a year, have two sets of leathers and four newly custom painted helmets (by myself) and the dust on them is criminal.

I haven't ridden a bike in over 3 years yet there's two in the garage. Both to restore, neither is working. Why god why!?

No idea. I have lots of projects, but if I don't ride most days I get grouchy.

The original SRX600 was imported but is different to the later SRX600E, which wasn't. www.SRX600.net has all the info.

I believe the SRX600E had the same 600 engine as yamaha were using in their trailie at the time, tho' it's quite possible that the gear ratios were different.