Need Oil filler plug O-ring

[Rich82GS750TZ]

One more trip to the hardware store for the right size o-ring (or the close enough English equivalent) got me sorted. No more weeping. Case closed. (Pun intended )

[bwringer]

32 x 2.2 mm. Picked one up at the local hydraulic/farm/eng supplier for a few cents.
https://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gs850g-...32_0928032005/

You've inadvertently touched on a very weird little cultural difference. Here in the US, the vast majority of vehicles and machinery are metric, and have been for decades.

Inch stuff is still found in some agricultural equipment, some heavy equipment, and is used in construction. But the vast majority of the bolts most people turn are metric; the domestic car manufacturers switched to metric decades ago.

However, when you enter a hardware or farm store, you'll find gleaming, untouched rows upon rows of inch hardware. It stays neatly sorted because no one over needs it. Way in the back, if you're lucky, you might find a few jumbled, mostly empty drawers of desperately pawed-through metric hardware at eye-popping prices.

As far as metric o-rings, forget about it. All you'll find on the shelf in the US of A is inch o-rings (sold using an irritating number system instead of actual dimensions, but that's another rant for another day...) At least in the larger sizes of o-rings, you can usually find something close enough to work.

To get metric stuff like fasteners, o-rings, e-clips, etc. at reasonable prices, I usually have to order from an industrial supplier like McMaster-Carr. (But they usually only sell in large-ish quantities -- 25, 50 or 100). There's also a thriving little industrial supplier not far from my house called "Metric Seals, Inc." They also sell o-rings, and they've saved the day a few times with a desperately needed seal, but they're not really set up to sell by ones and twos very efficiently.

I keep several diameters of o-ring cord "in stock" in case I have to fabricate an o-ring or o-ring type seal, as well as several commonly needed sizes of o-rings.

I have the Harbor Freight o-ring assortments, but they're not always very helpful; I checked and neither the metric or inch assortments have an o-ring skinny enough for this application.

[Brendan W]

A lot of the so called metric stuff is actually inch with a different type of number attached. In spite of the passage of time plumbing is still resolutely inch and I can't see it changing anytime soon.

[fastbysuzuki]

If push comes to shove and you can't find the exact size, you could take two of the larger ones that fit the groove and lengthen one by splicing in a short piece of the other. Superglue (cyanoacrylate) works well to join o-rings end to end if the ends are cut square-on.

Not wanting to be contentious in an engineering workshop making and joining orings the joint is cut at 45 degree's to give a larger contact area. (Increased strength)

[Grimly]

Not wanting to be contentious in an engineering workshop making and joining orings the joint is cut at 45 degree's to give a larger contact area. (Increased strength)

Oh yes, I can see that, same as splicing a tape - who remembers that?
First o-ring making kit I had, had a jig for cutting and glueing the cord that was a simple straight cut at 90degrees.

[Rob S.]

If push comes to shove...

Afew years ago I broke the "handle" on my Suzi's oil filler plug. (I used to use a hammer to tighten and loosen it.) When I ordered a new one, around $10, I seem to recall that it came with a new O-ring. But my memory could be faulty, and I might have just used the old one.

No need to thank me, glad to be of help.