About the gasket- last time i did this i used a vesrah set. Despite hearing everyone say oem is the only way, i figured a gasket is a gasket, and went ahead with it anyway. A few months later my base gasket started weeping. Should have listened. So i made it a point this time to use only oem stuff. I got what i could off ebay and went to the dealership for the rest. Made friends with the parts guy and now i get a discount there (woo woo, i wonder if i can apply that toward a new v-strom? Hehe) Anyways the head gasket was one of the ebay items. It was listed as NOS OEM, part #11141-49410. First thing i noticed was the plastic bag it came in (with SGP label) looked older than the gasket itself but i thought okay maybe it's just been sitting in some dusty warehouse for like 20 years or whatever, no biggie. Then on closer inspection i realize the gasket is made up of 5 layers of metal, and appears to be held together by crimps at a few of the stud holes. Aren't OEM gaskets orangeish fiber? I've read about MLS gaskets a bit and as long as it works without leaking i'm happy, but my big concern really is the lack of a place for the rectangular o-ring. Thought that was kind of a big deal. And what about the seals around the studs? My bike didn't come with them when i got it but i've seen them in my research.
Bottom line, is this gasket really SGP and if so do i not need the rectangular o-ring on account of it being an MLS gasket? Also does the fact that it's MLS effect the re-torquing?
Comment