Exhaust gaskets: copper or alloy?

[Guest]

Hi folks

I'm going to be fitting a second hand Motad 4 into 1 exhaust to my GS850GG, and am wondering what's the difference between the following 2 sets of exhaust gaskets and which I should go for.

Copper:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300605023712?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm570.l2736%26_nkw%3D300605023712%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1#ht_1414wt_689

Alloy:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260972013319?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp5197.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D260972013319%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1#ht_1482wt_689

Any thoughts?
Thanks
Assaf

[Crage]

Hmm I'm curious too. Any clue what the OEM gaskets are made of?

[7981GS]

Hmm I'm curious too. Any clue what the OEM gaskets are made of?

Asbestos. (Or some newer substitute.) In what appears to be aluminum.

Eric

[Nessism]

The stock Suzuki gaskets are like those aluminum type. They work well.

[Crage]

OEMs are 5 bucks a pop, geez...

[7981GS]

$3 each at Z1 (IIRC).
And they ARE NOT solid aluminum.
The packing is held in place by a thin layer of aluminum.
Do I have to go take pictures of the 8-12 spares that I have?

BTW, the stock gaskets can be reused darn near indefinitely.
The ones on one of my bikes have been on there since '79 (new) and I have to remove the exhaust to change the oil.


Eric

[Crage]

My #2 and 3 are leaking a lot of exhaust, can feel it w/ my hand.

[7981GS]

"If" you still have gaskets in there and can get them out without destroying them,
coat all 4 of the header flange edge and both sides of the gaskets with Permatex Ultra Copper and re-install.

Eric

[7981GS]

New ones in the foreground. Reusable old ones in the background...



Close-up showing just how LITTLE of them are aluminum...



Perfectly reusable used ones (without a flash)...




Eric

[Crage]

Nice, Thank you!

[Nessism]

Those gaskets are entirely aluminum, other than the coating on them. They are made by some kind of winding process, and accordion together sort of like a spring. If you take one and pull the top layer it will pull apart like overstretching a spring.

Those gaskets are designed to crush down when compressed. You can reuse them to some extent, but only if your exhaust system comes in full contact with them, and they are not crushed down too far already.

The aftermarket version of these gaskets are fine - K&L brand is common. You can save some money by getting those.

[7981GS]

More "Myth Busters"
I took an old one apart.
Judge for yourselves but I still say that they are THIN aluminum wrapped with asbestos.



FAR FROM BEING SOLID METAL.

Eric

[ValorSolo]

I could have sworn I saw some stainless steel exhaust gaskets on eBay.
Which makes no sense, them being made out of such a hard metal.
I only glanced over them while looking for something else.
And I recall it saying stainless steel in the title.

Well I don't see them now, so I must have misread it.
There is copper, alloy, aluminum and some pretty blue gaskets there, though.