Suzuki head gasket no longer available, what is the best aftermarket gasket maker?

[bluesmudge]

Thanks to the resources on this forum I resurrected a 1980 GS1000G than had not been run since around 2013. I have almost everything dialed in, and it rides nice. Idles smooth without choke after a few minutes, has no problem pegging the speedo needle to the 85-mph limit, and it returns gracefully to idle. However, the bike smokes bad on startup and smells a lot more than I think it should. When my wife rides with me she says she can smell it the whole time. I've only put 500 miles on it so far, so I'm not sure how bad the oil consumption is but the smoky startups and stinky idling/riding has me wanting to fix it even if the oil consumption isn't to an annoying level so I am considering doing a full top end rebuild in the not too distant future.

This forum suggests getting OEM gaskets, but unfortunately some of the GS1000G gaskets are no longer available. I'm most concerned about getting a good cylinder head gasket and base gasket because those are the most complicated gaskets that are not available OEM and also the most expensive/most labor intensive to install and replace if they leak.

Is there any consensus for the best aftermarket gaskets or gasket kits? Or brands to stay away from? Or should I be scouring eBay for NOS Suzuki gaskets? I noticed there are maybe 3 versions of the head gasket over the years with different combinations of materials. It seems most aftermarket gaskets are impersonating the 2nd version of the Suzuki gasket. The most recent version of the Suzuki gasket seems to be made out of a single material rather than a combination of gasket material and different metals. If I can find a Suzuki version is there a best version? Are any of the versions used in lieu of the many special o-rings in the fiche or do all versions use all o-rings? Thanks for your expertise!

 

[Big T]

Cosmetic will make you a gasket. They are high quality.
Have you checked for the source of your leak?

 

[bluesmudge]

Thanks for the reply. I have not checked for the source of the leak. I'm not a super sophisticated home mechanic. I'm just assuming its valve seals since it smokes bad most of the time at startup and then clears after a few minutes but very occasionally doesn't smoke at all.

If I have it apart to do the valves, I'm just going to do all new everything since I'm better at replacing parts than actually diagnosing the exact problem. The bike has 34,000 miles on it so a fresh top end wouldn't be a total waste even if some wear parts are okay and it makes sense to me the valve seals would be dried out after those miles and then sitting in a garage for 10 years. There is a shop near me that will do the valve and seal refresh work and I can replace the piston rings and do a quick bottle brush hone myself. I replaced the head on a Suzuki GS500 once. That's the extent of my knowledge of motorcycle top ends.

Looks like Cometic will make the head gasket but they don't list any of the other gaskets like the base gasket. Should I source potentially dry OEM base gasket from ebay or is there another good aftermarket gasket maker for the base gasket? Do you know if any of the versions of head gasket replace some of the o-rings in the parts fiche, like the weird rectangular o-ring?

 

[Nessism]

What about this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/202049677488

 

[kochic]

GS850 head gasket fit too, I have used MLS head gasket on GS1000-1100 with success.
Marc

 

[chuck hahn]

What you describe is typical valve stem seal leakage symptoms

 

[Big T]

What about this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/202049677488

Doesn't say if it's an 1100 G, or 1100 E

 

[Brendan W]

Sounds like stem seals. You can replace them without taking the head off.
If you remove the exhaust headers you can get a look at the valves and see if oil is leaking down.
If the head gasket and base are not leaking I would be slow to tear into a full rebuild.

 

[Nessism]

Doesn't say if it's an 1100 G, or 1100 E

The E gasket has four holes on the ends. The 2V engine gasket has only two, like the Yosh gasket.

 

[bluesmudge]

Sounds like stem seals. You can replace them without taking the head off.
If you remove the exhaust headers you can get a look at the valves and see if oil is leaking down.
If the head gasket and base are not leaking I would be slow to tear into a full rebuild.

I've never heard of replacing stem seals without removing the head. I'll have to look into that.

 

[salty_monk]

You'll need to make a simple tool (or I think you can buy on Amazon these days).

 

[Brendan W]

There is always the rope trick

 

[uk gs nut]

There is always the rope trick, as Brendan says. Used that method a few times, it works and easier with an assistant.

 

[Suzukian]

Thick rope works great, keeps the valve from falling in, and won't break off in the hole.