gasket question

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  • anthonygs1000
    • Feb 2026

    #1

    gasket question

    hey guys


    what are the best gaskets to use and the best place to get them from I have two gs 1000 motors apart and factory gaskets are not cheep. I know cheep and good should not be used in the same sentence . anthony
  • bwringer
    Forum LongTimer
    Bard Award Winner
    GSResource Superstar
    Past Site Supporter
    Super Site Supporter
    • Oct 2003
    • 17066
    • Indianapolis

    #2
    Vesrah gaskets used to be good, but I had a very bad experience with my last set (multiple material failures), so factory gaskets are the only way to go.
    1983 GS850G, Cosmos Blue.
    2005 KLR685, Aztec Pink - Turd II.3, the ReReReTurdening
    2015 Yamaha FJ-09, Magma Red Power Corrupts...
    Eat more venison.

    Please provide details. The GSR Hive Mind is nearly omniscient, but not yet clairvoyant.

    Celeriter equita, converteque saepe.

    SUPPORT THIS SITE! DONATE TODAY!

    Co-host of "The Riding Obsession" sport-touring motorcycling podcast at tro.bike!

    Comment

    • Larry D
      Forum Sage
      Past Site Supporter
      • Jul 2008
      • 4926
      • Indianapolis,IN

      #3
      I just got a oil pan gasket +-$16.00. And my valve cover gasket was also purchased at the local Suzuki dealership. It was a little more expensive...like $35, if I remember right.

      I would say any gasket that has oil pressure behind it should be stock gaskets.

      The stator and clutch cover gaskets I made out of some gasket material. There's very little pressure behind those two. I've had no leaks at all.
      Larry D
      1980 GS450S
      1981 GS450S
      2003 Heritage Softtail

      Comment

      • Skyboy8950

        #4


        Good for valve cover gaskets. I had a leak, bought one of these, stopped the leak, looks kinda cool, and it's reusable! Will save you money in the long run. Plus, it is cheaper than OEM!!!

        Comment

        • Larry D
          Forum Sage
          Past Site Supporter
          • Jul 2008
          • 4926
          • Indianapolis,IN

          #5
          Originally posted by Skyboy8950
          http://realgaskets.com/

          Good for valve cover gaskets. I had a leak, bought one of these, stopped the leak, looks kinda cool, and it's reusable! Will save you money in the long run. Plus, it is cheaper than OEM!!!
          Very true....unless.....your tach gear sits into your valve cover. If it does, the realgaskets are thicker that stock gaskets and it may cause the tach gear to get chewed up.

          Mine does, so I went with the stock valve cover gasket.
          Larry D
          1980 GS450S
          1981 GS450S
          2003 Heritage Softtail

          Comment

          • Skyboy8950

            #6
            Just keep torquing it down. Yea, I know it asks for 15in/lbs. or something measly like that, but I don't think 85ft/lbs. is unreasonable. That should do the trick!*

            If you need advice, I'm here to help!


            *Results of advice not guaranteed. Any and all damage as a result of advice in action is not the responsibility of the adviser. Advise is to be taken; please do not try to correct my advice. It is based on years of experience, whether that experience is good or bad.

            Comment

            • mdole

              #7
              I ran a real gasket on my 750 and never had any problems but I had hear from people on the board that there could be a problem with the tac drive gears so I blued mine and found they were still pretty close and then used a c-clip type washer to shim the drive a little. I don't know if this will work in all cases but it worked for me. I blued the drive gear after shimming to make sure I had sufficient tooth engagement on the gears and it looked good.

              I got the idea of shimming the gear from an old Yamaha Virago that I used to have. If any of you are familiar with old Viragos they had starters that sounded like they were pumping marbles. Mine was a wrecked 81 that I put back together and as I hadn't heard the starter operate before I assumed it had a major problem so I check the engagement by blocking the starter gear in the forward (energized) position and checked it for thread engagement and found it was very minimal and side loaded. I ended up trimming the case on a lath to correct for the axial misalignment and then shimmed the starter gear slightly. It didn't sound like a Yamaha starter after that and never failed in the 100+k miles that I put on it. I have seen it a couple of times since and the kid that bought it had put another 25k on the bike with no starter problems or any other problems other than loosing a side cover.

              Comment

              • chuckycheese
                Forum Sage
                Charter Member
                Past Site Supporter
                • May 2002
                • 3869
                • The Gulf Coast of south Florida in the winter and northern Nevada in the summer

                #8
                Sounds great!

                Originally posted by Skyboy8950
                Just keep torquing it down. Yea, I know it asks for 15in/lbs. or something measly like that, but I don't think 85ft/lbs. is unreasonable. That should do the trick!*

                If you need advice, I'm here to help!


                *Results of advice not guaranteed. Any and all damage as a result of advice in action is not the responsibility of the adviser. Advise is to be taken; please do not try to correct my advice. It is based on years of experience, whether that experience is good or bad.
                The next time I want to shear off some of the bolts and/or warp my valve cover, I'm gonna follow your advice!!
                1980 GS1100E....Number 15!

                Comment

                • Big T
                  Forum LongTimer
                  Past Site Supporter
                  Super Site Supporter
                  • Mar 2005
                  • 12392
                  • West Slope, OR

                  #9
                  Originally posted by anthonygs1000
                  hey guys


                  what are the best gaskets to use and the best place to get them from I have two gs 1000 motors apart and factory gaskets are not cheep. I know cheep and good should not be used in the same sentence . anthony
                  I had good luck with Cometic

                  Cometic Gasket supplies hi-performance gaskets for a variety of motorsports markets: ATV, Drag Race, Domestic Automotive, Harley-Davidson®, MX/Dirt, Off-Road, PWC, Road Race, Snowmobile, Sport Compact and Street.


                  When I rebuilt my 1000
                  1978 GS 1000 (since new)
                  1979 GS 1000 (The Fridge, superbike replica project)
                  1978 GS 1000 (parts)
                  1981 GS 850 (anyone want a project?)
                  1981 GPZ 550 (backroad screamer)
                  1970 450 Mk IIID (THUMP!)
                  2007 DRz 400S
                  1999 ATK 490ES
                  1994 DR 350SES

                  Comment

                  • first timer
                    Forum Sage
                    • Aug 2002
                    • 3429
                    • Tucson, Arizona

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Big T
                    I had good luck with Cometic

                    Cometic Gasket supplies hi-performance gaskets for a variety of motorsports markets: ATV, Drag Race, Domestic Automotive, Harley-Davidson®, MX/Dirt, Off-Road, PWC, Road Race, Snowmobile, Sport Compact and Street.


                    When I rebuilt my 1000

                    I have heard good things about cometic as well but they don't carry complete kits.

                    either you can go vesrah complete kit and take your chances or buy all oem stuff piece by piece, the complete kits don't cover everything you need if you split the engine and you will need to dig into the fiche to get all of that stuff. Hope your memory is good and you remember where all those little gaskets and orings went .

                    Don't feel bad i am in the same boat and need all new engine seals, gaskets, and whatever else that keeps the oil in.
                    78 GS1000 Yosh replica racer project, 82 Kat 1000, 10 990 ADV-R, Some dirt bikes

                    Comment

                    • rapidray
                      Forum Guru
                      GSResource Superstar
                      • Oct 2006
                      • 8195
                      • So Cal

                      #11
                      I build LOTS of GS motors each year & only use STOCK gaskets on stock block motors. On RACE motors I use all Cometic. For Cometic I ONLY use copper head gaskets. The fiber Cometics are garbage for long term. Ray.

                      Comment

                      • Guest

                        #12
                        Originally posted by rapidray
                        I build LOTS of GS motors each year & only use STOCK gaskets on stock block motors. On RACE motors I use all Cometic. For Cometic I ONLY use copper head gaskets. The fiber Cometics are garbage for long term. Ray.
                        Now you tell me about the Cometic.
                        That's what I have on my bike. Stock on the base and the bad bad Cometic on the head. Is THAT why I blew the first head gasket? I thought it was because I was too lean and almost melted my head down. Live and learn.

                        Comment

                        • ianralph

                          #13
                          I used Athena gaskets from a kit for an engine re-build on my '79 GS1000S. All were OK except for the head gasket - developed an oil leak around the 2 6mm bolts at each end of the head almost immediately. I've replaced it with a genuine layered aluminium gasket and the leak has stopped. It was a pain to have to remove the head again - I'd use genuine for the head gasket!

                          Comment

                          • anthonygs1000

                            #14
                            gaskets gaskets DAM gaskets

                            Hey I have a idea what would it cost to turn this forum into a club so we could get parts for cost Or wholesale ?
                            I would be more than happy to spend 10 to 20 dollars a year to save 1000?s on parts
                            You would have the regular forum members if they don?t want to buy parts
                            And you would have club members for 10 to 20 if they do
                            Just a thought anthony

                            Comment

                            • bwringer
                              Forum LongTimer
                              Bard Award Winner
                              GSResource Superstar
                              Past Site Supporter
                              Super Site Supporter
                              • Oct 2003
                              • 17066
                              • Indianapolis

                              #15
                              Originally posted by rapidray
                              The fiber Cometics are garbage for long term. Ray.
                              The Cometic head gasket I ordered for my 850 was obviously low-rent garbage from the get-go...

                              It's OEM only for me from here on out.
                              1983 GS850G, Cosmos Blue.
                              2005 KLR685, Aztec Pink - Turd II.3, the ReReReTurdening
                              2015 Yamaha FJ-09, Magma Red Power Corrupts...
                              Eat more venison.

                              Please provide details. The GSR Hive Mind is nearly omniscient, but not yet clairvoyant.

                              Celeriter equita, converteque saepe.

                              SUPPORT THIS SITE! DONATE TODAY!

                              Co-host of "The Riding Obsession" sport-touring motorcycling podcast at tro.bike!

                              Comment

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