Opinion on Head Gasket

[Guest]

It seems there are two different allegedly oem suzuki head gaskets floating aroung on ebay. One is closer to $100 and the other is closer to $30.00. One has what appears to be orings built into it on the 4 corners the other does not.

The part number on PartShark shows the one with the orings being part of the gasket. There is no separate part number for the o-rings.

Just interested in knowing what you all think about which one I should purchase. There is a big price difference and I don't want to redo anything.

[bbjumper]

I can see the one on the left is an OEM part but don't know about the other one. Generally speaking the OEM is the way to go, ordering from someone like Boulevard Suzuki should ensure you get not only the correct one but also the latest version. I know on my 850G there was an earlier part that was metal and asbestos, the later one looked very similar to the one on the left, all metal.

If I were you I'd get an OEM part, the only thing worse than having to do this kind of work is doing it twice.

Cheers

[mike_of_bbg]

Hmmm... did anyone make an aftermarket 550 head gasket with built-in crush washers? My original Athena set did not have those.

In any case, if you get a head gasket without built-in crush washers, you will have to get the separate ones. I don't see those listed on the fiche - that alone would lean me toward the one with built-in crush washers. Also, you'll need to get a cam chain tunnel o-ring with either gasket. Boulevard Suzuki (regularly at or near the lowest price on OEM parts) sells the head gasket for $92, and the cam chain tunnel o-ring for about $18 (before S/H of course).

Whether or not you get an OEM head gasket, you're going to be best off if you get an OEM cylinder gasket (yeah, you have to replace that one, too). That plus the two o-rings is about $14. With Athena head gaskets the head gasket itself was not usually the problem: the problem was that the Athena base gasket was too soft and would release the clamping pressure from the head.

You have to calculate the potential cost savings now versus the risk of having to do it again in a few months or a year...