I assume this happened to the previous owner as there is no evidence of heat on the new motor I put in the bike (bought from Noland), but I didn't see it when I swapped motors. Had a gas line leak so I was tearing it down to change the hose and found it is melted and distorted near the front cylinder TB mating surface, and even has a hole!:








Is this normal? Well I know it isn't normal, but a search yeilded no other results... has this happened to anyone else?

Would it be prudent to replace with a new part? Item #1... $72, ouch.