J
jrobert94
Guest
I finally got my 1000g head machined the other day. That's been hanging over my head for months (no pun intended) which is about as long as i've had this pile of gaskets, o-rings etc sitting on the table waiting. Today i found some time and decided to get this job rolling again. Installed cylinders with new oem base gasket and o-rings (cyl rings and teardrops). Check, no issues there. Got out my new head gasket, put it over the studs, and quickly realized there's no space for the rectangular o-ring around the cam chain galley! What gives?
About the gasket- last time i did this i used a vesrah set. Despite hearing everyone say oem is the only way, i figured a gasket is a gasket, and went ahead with it anyway. A few months later my base gasket started weeping. Should have listened. So i made it a point this time to use only oem stuff. I got what i could off ebay and went to the dealership for the rest. Made friends with the parts guy and now i get a discount there (woo woo, i wonder if i can apply that toward a new v-strom? Hehe) Anyways the head gasket was one of the ebay items. It was listed as NOS OEM, part #11141-49410. First thing i noticed was the plastic bag it came in (with SGP label) looked older than the gasket itself but i thought okay maybe it's just been sitting in some dusty warehouse for like 20 years or whatever, no biggie. Then on closer inspection i realize the gasket is made up of 5 layers of metal, and appears to be held together by crimps at a few of the stud holes. Aren't OEM gaskets orangeish fiber? I've read about MLS gaskets a bit and as long as it works without leaking i'm happy, but my big concern really is the lack of a place for the rectangular o-ring. Thought that was kind of a big deal. And what about the seals around the studs? My bike didn't come with them when i got it but i've seen them in my research.
Bottom line, is this gasket really SGP and if so do i not need the rectangular o-ring on account of it being an MLS gasket? Also does the fact that it's MLS effect the re-torquing?
About the gasket- last time i did this i used a vesrah set. Despite hearing everyone say oem is the only way, i figured a gasket is a gasket, and went ahead with it anyway. A few months later my base gasket started weeping. Should have listened. So i made it a point this time to use only oem stuff. I got what i could off ebay and went to the dealership for the rest. Made friends with the parts guy and now i get a discount there (woo woo, i wonder if i can apply that toward a new v-strom? Hehe) Anyways the head gasket was one of the ebay items. It was listed as NOS OEM, part #11141-49410. First thing i noticed was the plastic bag it came in (with SGP label) looked older than the gasket itself but i thought okay maybe it's just been sitting in some dusty warehouse for like 20 years or whatever, no biggie. Then on closer inspection i realize the gasket is made up of 5 layers of metal, and appears to be held together by crimps at a few of the stud holes. Aren't OEM gaskets orangeish fiber? I've read about MLS gaskets a bit and as long as it works without leaking i'm happy, but my big concern really is the lack of a place for the rectangular o-ring. Thought that was kind of a big deal. And what about the seals around the studs? My bike didn't come with them when i got it but i've seen them in my research.
Bottom line, is this gasket really SGP and if so do i not need the rectangular o-ring on account of it being an MLS gasket? Also does the fact that it's MLS effect the re-torquing?
