oem or aftermarket gaskets?

[Guest]

On a budget but if I have to wait I will ,hopefully just cylinder base, rings, valve seals and all gaskets.after market would be less money.Last motorcycle I had- kaw-bought after market stator and it did not charge well at all,so dealer said you almost always had to go with o.e.m parts?That was long time ago though any suggestions on what to try. If any thing other than o.e.m what?1981 GS11000 almost forgot that one/

[Turtleface]

I'm a big fan of OEM gaskets myself.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. feder1100,

The Athena gasket sets are spoken of highly by people I trust. I think they can be had at www.partsnmore.com. Vesrah is recommended by others I trust. Seems QC for both has been inconsistent lately. But OEM is always best. Let me welcome you to the forum.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[almarconi]

OEM is the way to go unless you like redoing the job.

[sam78gs750]

OEM is the way to go unless you like redoing the job.

Ditto... I'm waiting on a new valve cover gasket to replace the Athena one I put in 3 weeks ago....it's leaking like a sieve.

Hi Mr. feder1100,

The Athena gasket sets are spoken of highly by people I trust. I think they can be had at www.partsnmore.com. Vesrah is recommended by others I trust. Seems QC for both has been inconsistent lately.
BassCliff

Some of the folks on here have had nothing but problems with Athena, others have had no problems at all with their gaskets. Like Basscliff said, it seems their QC is very inconsistent. Feel like rolling the dice?

[Nessism]

Ditto... I'm waiting on a new valve cover gasket to replace the Athena one I put in 3 weeks ago....it's leaking like a sieve.



Some of the folks on here have had nothing but problems with Athena, others have had no problems at all with their gaskets. Like Basscliff said, it seems their QC is very inconsistent. Feel like rolling the dice?

I don't understand how a valve cover gasket can cause a leak like you suggest. Cheap gaskets often don't align properly with the bolt holes, and sometimes they don't survive repeated usage, such as if you need to do a valve adjustment, but other than this it should seal. Heck, you could make a gasket out of a pizza box and it will seal if the gasket surfaces are clean and the bolts are properly tightened.

[Suzuki_Don]

I don't understand how a valve cover gasket can cause a leak like you suggest. Cheap gaskets often don't align properly with the bolt holes, and sometimes they don't survive repeated usage, such as if you need to do a valve adjustment, but other than this it should seal. Heck, you could make a gasket out of a pizza box and it will seal of the gasket surfaces are clean and the bolts are properly tightened.

Ed is correct. I made a valve cover gasket out of some old gasket material I had lying around at home. It must have been 10 yrs old and it sealed fine. In fact their is a tutorial on Cliff's website on how I did it. Not hard, just takes a bit of time, that's all.

[Redneck]

OEM price and my head gasket is metal

I have been watching the gasket threads closely and i just looked at my head gasket for my 550L and it is metal. Is this unusual? I was originally going to use Athena gaskets for my bike based on some threads then this new debate began. So far though I have been doing some price checking and so far I am up to $149.13 for OEM. That seems to be all the gaskets and O-rings minus the valve seats from Cycle Parts Nation.

Cam Cover gasket (1) $14.11
Breather Gasket (1) $16.82
Cylinder Head Gasket (1) $80.86 (found this for 120 at another site)
Chain Well O-ring (1) $16.94
Cylinder-Crank Gask (1) $ 8.00
Piston cylinder O-ring (4) $ 2.42
Oil Port O-ring (2) $ 1.66

Total $149.73

Now this is without shipping. I a would be shipping from Michigan to Maine so I don't think it would be that bad but I did not do shopping cart to find the shipping cost. I have found both the Athena and Veshrja (sp?) for half that price but like some have said do I feel like rolling the dice.

[katman]

My 2c.

cometic make a good valve cover gasket that is rubbery like the 84/85 750/1150 and so on.
there head gaskets I wouldn't give you a dime for. I have nightmares with them. Even their multi-layer steel expensive ones. The last three I bought (3 diff engines) leaked worse then if I had no gasket. I ended up using oem and solved the leaking problems.

[Glen]

Ed is correct. I made a valve cover gasket out of some old gasket material I had lying around at home. It must have been 10 yrs old and it sealed fine. In fact their is a tutorial on Cliff's website on how I did it. Not hard, just takes a bit of time, that's all.

I agree. I've replace the stator cover, oil pan, and valve cover gaskets with my own that I made with stuff from pep boys, no problems

[bellucci]

I reused a factory gasket for my valve cover 4 times... then Trippivot and I degreed my cams and I ordered a new one. They ordered a gsxr by mistake and I got impatient. I used some stuff called FIPG. It is made to be used on oil pan gaskets. It stands for form in place gasket... No leaks but I am sure it will be a bear to remove for the next adjustment...

[Skunky]

I love pizza even more now that I know I always have a spare gasket in the trash. I eat enough Pizza that I'm going to start my own website www.pizzaboxgaskets.com what do you think.

Really Ed...a Pizza Box???

[posplayr]

Even their multi-layer steel expensive ones. The last three I bought (3 diff engines) leaked worse then if I had no gasket. I ended up using oem and solved the leaking problems.

Were these all 1100/1150 gaskets (once that would have all used the same basic oil port tooling)?

[katman]

Were these all 1100/1150 gaskets (once that would have all used the same basic oil port tooling)?

Two 1100 and one 750.... total bleeders. threw them out. I also had a big problem with Cometic with fitment of their fiber gaskets. The dowl pin holes did not line up properly. Was told after two more gaskets were shipped that they could not produce one that would fit correctly what ever that meant. That is what got me to the mls gaskets. @ 90.00 a pop I was pretty upset.

I have a brand new one here for my 1260 but won't be using it.

[gs road racer]

Pops Yoshimura used standard Suzuki head gaskets exclusively gotta say something about both them and the aftermarket ones...never had a problem with Suzuki ones.As far as the other gaskets not much difference there.