So, I checked it out and found that, yes, this is a known issue with the early Oilheads. In fact, the head gasket was redesigned to address the issue. My bike is 17 years old and has 56k on it, so it made it quite a while before this reared its head. Lucky me, I learn that the new gasket isn't exactly the same thickness (slightly thinner), so you have to do both sides. At least this means that both sides should be good for a very long time.
So, I do the job, and it's not bad (even though significantly more complicated than an Airhead), and I could have easily done it in an afternoon if not for the cleaning of the heads and piston crowns, which were quite carboned up for only 56k. The cleaning turned it into a two day project, what with soaking and scraping time. After I get it all together, I go to adjust the valves, and I find they are perfect. What? If the gasket is thinner, then how come the valves aren't tighter??? Did I not really have to do both sides? Oh well, maybe the re-torque at 600 miles will squish them down a bit more...
It wasn't until the next day, while describing exactly this to a friend, that I realized - in the middle of telling him about this valve clearance issue - what an idiot I am. The cams of the Oilhead are in the head, so the cylinderhead/cylinder gasket and interface do not impact the valve clearances in any way. In fact, I could have checked the valve clearances with the head sitting on the bench, and they still would have been the same.
Like I said: it's been too long since I've worked on my Oilhead.
