Warning... crap quality of Forsetti base gaskets...

[Guest]

G'day all,

Did the top end of my GS1000 motor the other month. Used a 'Forsetti' engine gasket kit. In a nutshell, AVOID THEM.

After only a few thousand clicks, the base gasket -- which is a greenie sort of colour -- has started squishing out from between the crankcases and the cylinder block. In other words, it can't hack the heat and the pressure, and is basically extruding its way to the outside.

I had seen a post on the GSR here a few years ago, where one of our punters had a base gasket which suffered the same fate. Can't remember the brand of gasket, but I do remember it was a greenie colour.

Nothing but Cometic gaskets for me, from now on.

Mike.

[Nessism]

The guy that posted the photos and warning about those green base gaskets was me. You saw the warning and ignored it, buying the gasket(s) anyway? Can't say I didn't try.

[bwringer]

Careful there... the last several Cometic gaskets I've seen have been shoddy, leaking crap. They sent me a head gasket that was warped around the cylinders so that it stood up over an inch, and the reply was "well, it should flatten out under pressure..." Over on the KLR650 forum, Cometic case and base gaskets are well-known leakers.

Vesrah used to work OK (like, ten years ago), but they've turned to peddling shonky crap made of cheaper materials to make a few more pennies per unit.

"Athena" is crap as well.

No matter what name they make up this week, it's crap unless it's Suzuki OEM.


I learned this the hard way. Here's one of the reasons Vesrah gaskets suck -- leaking, crumbling base gasket, plus the o-ring in the oil passage was swollen and crumbling. This was taken about two weeks after the install. The base gasket and o-ring were made of inferior materials that failed quickly. Installed OEM and haven't had a problem since.

[DimitriT]

The gasket is especially narrow at that spot. I've always applied a layer of permatex sealer on both sides of the gasket right there.

[rapidray]

WHEN will you guys listen to us that have been doing this for so long?!! STOCK SUZUKI for gaskets on stock rebuilds!! No exceptions!! I use Cometic on all my performance builds but those are a different animal & they go together differently!
Ray.

[mrbill5491]

WHEN will you guys listen to us that have been doing this for so long?!! STOCK SUZUKI for gaskets on stock rebuilds!! No exceptions!! I use Cometic on all my performance builds but those are a different animal & they go together differently!
Ray.

Economics 101 Ray, some just shop for price rather then quality. I learned that with the Motion Pro clutch cable and I should know better with two minors in economics lol.

[tfb]

Chaps, chaps, chaps... a little less passion and a little more cucumber coolness, please!!

The guy that posted the photos and warning about those green base gaskets was me. You saw the warning and ignored it, buying the gasket(s) anyway? Can't say I didn't try.

Well I couldn't remember the brand of gasket much less go through the palaver of looking up a post I'd seen years ago! Just thought, "Poor bloke, isolated problem, the gasket folks will prob. fix it pronto once they get that bad publicity" etc. etc. Then years later I happen to buy the same dud thing -- who would have known?!!

No matter what name they make up this week, it's crap unless it's Suzuki OEM.

I'd largely agree with that, except that time Suzuki sent me a MLS (multi-layer steel) head gasket for my last GS1000. Could not get that thing to seal the oilways. Others may have had good experiences with the MLS things... but not me. Maybe it's just me. And then there was that time the OEM Suzuki base gasket on my Katana cracked and piddled oil everywhere.

Careful there... the last several Cometic gaskets I've seen have been shoddy, leaking crap.

Sorry to hear that. I've never had a problem with a Cometic gasket (yet), but I do put a smudge of grey bond around the parts where the oil goes through.

Economics 101 Ray, some just shop for price rather then quality.

Peace, brother -- you're not suggesting I'm a cheap-skate are you?! People buy aftermarket stuff for other reasons, too... like the overpowering impression that Suzuki OEM is probably twice the price it should reasonably be. Seen the cost of piston rings lately? That sort of rorting is what creates a market for aftermarket gear. And most of it is fine. Just that once in a while it's crap -- and when it is, I post a warning. Hence my first post. And way before that, Nessism's!

ANYWAY, I thought I would try to find a copper base gasket for the GS1000, but can't find them on eBay (only the Cometic items for big-bore donks). So does anyone know where original-spec. copper base gaskets for the GS1000 can be found?

Bat on.

[posplayr]

The guy that posted the photos and warning about those green base gaskets was me. You saw the warning and ignored it, buying the gasket(s) anyway? Can't say I didn't try.

Ed must not have provided a sufficent sample size to make a conclusive decision.

[Nessism]

Here are the photos I posted. Reposting again in case someone takes notice and reconsiders a possible purchase.

[tfb]

Ed must not have provided a sufficent sample size to make a conclusive decision.

Well there's a dandy sample size there now!
Thanks for reposting them, Ed -- a sad lot of photos indeed. And at least I have some idea of the sight that will greet me when I get around to lifting the cylinder block off...
Bat on,
Mike.

[c&c]

I agree that if you try something, against all warnings and if fails, to post your findings and that should be the end of that without the need to post a " I told you so " comment. Same goes when you try something, against all warnings, and if succeeds to post your success so other can take advantage of your findings and if along the way we save money... why the hell not!

[knotscott]

I appreciate the warning(s). Some of us are new enough here that may have missed earlier threads about problematic brands/parts, and might not even know to search for them. Reposting stuff may get old to the seasoned vets, but it's not wasted on us newbies!

[BlackStar]

Been there, done that. Working on a Honda 750 SOHC now. Honda has discontinued many significant parts for these bikes, including base gaskets. I got the base gasket from cycle-X after questioning them about quality and durability. We'll see.

[chuck hahn]

I agree with the thin smear of sealer on the faces of the base gaskets. I use Threebond 1184 ( 1194 is supposedly NLA ). Never had one leak yet with this method. Just s thin thin smear does the trick.

[Sandy]

I agree, stock all the way for top end stuff and probably everything else. I don't know, are they really that much that more? I just used stock on my top end rebuild a couple of years ago and didn't shop around. After a couple of short test rides and heat cycles for retorquing I had enough confidence in them for 2,000 mile ride. After investing probably about 8 hours in the job as well as a couple of hundred dollars for various other stuff such as rings and seals it's really a false sense of economy to cheap out on the parts that's the hardesr to replace.