Head gasket - which way up??

[JimmyR]

I'm putting my GS1100G engine back together and thanks to you folks here I know to only use Suzuki Gaskets! But the head gasket has 3 layers with an aluminium layer in the middle and I don't quite understand what the manual means when it says "place the cylinder head gasket with it's wider side (the A side) positioned towards the cylinder head side as illustrated below." The holes all look the same to me. Has something changed since the manual was written?

Thanks!

[Seana23]

Hi babes. Maybe im missing sumat but i cant think it makes a difference either way...

either way.is better than a gasket made from a cardboard packet!!!

[JimmyR]

Well it must have made a difference when the manual was written or the manual would say "place the cylinder head gasket however you bloody like". :-)

I suspect the gaskets have changed over the years. Funny nobody here knows -- usually at least a 1/2 dozen people would have told me how it went by now.

[2BRacing]

What the manual is referring to, is the width of the metal ring or "lip" around the cylinder holes.

The gaskets used to have a wider metal "lip" around the cylinder hole on one side of the gasket, compared to the other side.

I have not seen a recent gasket, so I am not sure if that is still the case. Post photos of each side of your gasket, so that we can see.

[rustybronco]

I don't quite understand what the manual means when it says "place the cylinder head gasket with it's wider side (the A side) positioned towards the cylinder head side as illustrated below." The holes all look the same to me. Has something changed since the manual was written?

Thanks!

When that bike was made the head gaskets weren't an all metal gasket, they were a composition type gasket. If you looked around each of the holes for the cylinders, you would have noticed that on one side of the gasket the metal sealing ring around the cylinder opening was wider on one side than the other. Which should be what they are referring to.

[OLDENUFF]

If the gasket isn't marked it can go either way.