Gonna rebuild the motor which gasket set?

[MellowMoodz]

Short version of my woe's...

Moved to Florida and had to use the bike for a daily driver after I got in accident and wrecked my daily driver, started leaking really bad from base gasket, didn't have any tools down here yet or a place to work on it (was staying with family) took the bike to a local shop who took my 660 bucks for labor and 150 for parts to basically slow the leak for two weeks. Been driving it that way till I finally now have a new truck to drive and a place of my own to work on my bike. I'm gonna tear down the motor and fix it right as with the weather down here i love the fact that I can ride everyday. I want to use the best gasket set I can as I believe since the douche bag that did the job the first time used the Versha set and I know from this forum that those are really bad gaskets. So let me hear em....what do you guys suggest. BTW the bike is in the sig....although now it's got 21k miles on it!

[rapidray]

NOTHING but factory Suzuki for what you want!!! Ray.

[bwringer]

NOTHING but factory Suzuki for what you want!!! Ray.

Agreed 100%.

OEM only. I learned this lesson the hard way.

[7981GS]

Or Cometic at half the price for the same gaskets.

Daniel

[rapidray]

Or Cometic at half the price for the same gaskets.

Daniel

Sorry Eric but you are wrong. They are NOT the same! I will use Cometic stuff in a race engine but not in a street bike that I want a lot of miles out of with no leaks. Ray.

[bwringer]

Sorry Eric but you are wrong. They are NOT the same! I will use Cometic stuff in a race engine but not in a street bike that I want a lot of miles out of with no leaks. Ray.

Agreed. Another lesson I learned the hard way...

Cometic gaskets are nowhere near the quality of OEM Suzuki, and they don't look or feel anything alike.

And IF they fit, they WILL leak.

The only advantage of Cometic head gaskets is that they are available in non-stock configurations, for big-bore race engines and the like.

[bwringer]

This is how much Vesrah gasket sets suck:


There's an o-ring AND a gasket here. Both failed within a few hundred miles. I replaced them with OEM and have had no problems in many thousands of miles since.

I wish I had a photo of the wobbly junk Cometic sent me and called a head gasket. Didn't think to get a pic, I was so damn mad.

I do have some fuzzy, wonky Cometic case gaskets for my KLR hanging on the wall -- I'll try to get some photos up soon. Schnitz Racing sells them, but doesn't tell you they're Cometic up-front (probably wouldn't sell any if they did).


One other thing: the Vesrah and the even worse Athena gasket sets are incomplete -- they only contain whatever major gaskets they felt like throwing in that day. You'll have to spend quite a bit of time and money to get everything else you need from Suzuki. The sets from Suzuki are actually complete -- every last o-ring, washer, and gasket you'll need to keep oil in your engine (everything but the shaft seals for the crank, transmission, etc.). When you look at the cost to get a low-rent imitation set and then fill it out with the needed parts from Suzuki, they actually end up costing you more.

To find the Suzuki gasket set for most models, look under the "Optional" fiche.

[hampshirehog]

Head and base gasket go OEM. Doesn't matter about the others though.

[bwringer]

Head and base gasket go OEM. Doesn't matter about the others though.

You have a point -- the clutch cover, for example, is easy enough to get to if there's a problem, and it's not under much stress.

However, there are lots of aftermarket valve cover and case gaskets out there that are computer-cut from a very thin, brittle material. These will move out of place, crack, and leak. OEM case gaskets are fairly substantial, and the material is tough and flexible. I've seen a few aftermarket gaskets that are pretty good, but most are too thin and brittle. Understand what you're getting.

You can also have issues with stator gaskets that are too thin -- depending on exactly how your bike's stator cover and engine were machined that long-ago day in Hamamatsu, the intermediate starter gear could bind if you use a gasket that's too thin, or if you try to substitute (ew) RTV, a substance that belongs in the trash can and not on your bike.