Can I really not use this Tennessee gasket?

[salty_monk]

Yeah OEM is best for gaskets for sure… unfortunately most important in your model, when the tach drive is in the head you can get away with the aftermarket ones

[bwringer]

Another issue I've seen is when the teeth in the tach drive and the camshaft don't mesh properly when you put the valve cover on. 99% of the time, the teeth just sort of move out of the way, but there was a case where the tips of the teeth met, and the valve cover ended up cracked from the strain. Since you've been for a ride, this is not likely to be your issue.



There's nothing at all wrong with the concept of cut gaskets, but every one I've seen was way too thin. One guy showed up for a valve check with something the thickness of a grocery bag, and many others I've seen have been little more than card stock, or the thickness of cereal box cardboard.

I'll need to measure the real thickness when I get home. I think it's around 1.5mm, going from memory.



On a related note, these too-thin gaskets can also cause trouble with stator and clutch covers. If the clutch gasket is too thin, the shifter shaft can bind against the spacer peg inside the clutch cover. (Basically, the shifter shaft crosses the engine, and is kept in place by a peg inside the clutch cover, and is supposed to have a generous clearance.)

[bobgroger]

Never heard of that company. They have such a few gaskets, I wonder how they stay in business?

They mainly do Aircraft gaskets

[NCGS]

Another issue I've seen is when the teeth in the tach drive and the camshaft don't mesh properly when you put the valve cover on. 99% of the time, the teeth just sort of move out of the way, but there was a case where the tips of the teeth met, and the valve cover ended up cracked from the strain. Since you've been for a ride, this is not likely to be your issue

Right. When I installed the cover, I carefully turned the tach drive just a hair until the cover settled into place. When I rode the bike the tach worked fine.

Well, the OEM gasket won’t be here until next Friday the 17th which is just fine since I’ll be away on vacation all next week. When I get back I’ll report thickness of the OEM and Cometic gaskets for comparison. I’ll also measure the one I installed but I don’t know if that’s a truly fair comparison since it’s already been compressed.

[NCGS]

Ok I finally got the OEM gasket in the mail and installed it. I think it’s going to work out fine. I went for a short ride and no leaks so far. I took some videos to show the OEM vs. Cometic vs. thin paper gasket. The Cometic is actually a tad thicker than OEM but it’s clearly not the right gasket as you can see in the videos. It doesn’t have bolt holes in the corners. There are 3 short videos.

https://youtu.be/Y0Mli5fZII8

https://youtu.be/5FekVw_lk6o

https://youtu.be/OlRl9tkSVRg

[NCGS]

In other news, I am going to sell this bike. I’ll post about it in the “for sale” forum. Long story short, this bike is a good specimen but I have 6 other bikes and could use a break from wrenching! I’m gonna find me another GS that needs less work.