Looking for head gaskets

[bitzz]

I have found OEM and Cometic.
Anything cheaper?

[rpcraft]

I would not focus on the price unless you like doing them twice...

Maybe since I made that rhyme it will make sense.

[Captain 80s]

I would not focus on the price unless you like doing them twice...

Maybe since I made that rhyme it will make sense.

It could take some thyme.

[rpcraft]

I seem to have created another monster

[bitzz]

Does that mean there are brands to avoid?

[squirrelman]

nothing better than OEM

[bitzz]

nothing better than OEM

Sorry... pet peeve:
"Nothing better than...", "Nobody beats...", "No battery lasts longer..."
WEASEL SPEAK.
Everyready batteries used to advertise they were the longest lasting dry cell battery, till someone took them to court about it. Seems one dry cell battery is the same as every other dry cell battery... so they changed their advertising to "Nobody outperforms...". Which is true, but advertising 'We're the same as everyone else" doesn't get the ad exec a new contract.
I know nothing is better than OEM (usually... Cometic is twice the price of OEM. They cost more, so they HAVE TO BE better... right?... isn't that how it works? /s) but the question is: Is the third party stuff worse? I just wanna fix this bike and sell it.
I'm in Canada, so OEM head gaskets, cover gaskets, valve seals and exhaust gaskets is about $350
I found an Athena (complete) set for a xl650V for $130 shipped... is that BAD?

[rpcraft]

Does that mean there are brands to avoid?

Cheap ones specifically. I would buy OEM or Cometic personally.

[Tripleman]

Well speaking as a weasel, I’d use OEM.

[69Falcon]

There are a few critical components, and head gaskets are certainly among them. I would only trust brands I know or I have used in the past. If I was a buyer of this bike you’re flipping, I’d certainly factor in the cost of having to redo the cheap gaskets if they should fail.

[Captain 80s]

You asked. You didn't get the answers you wanted to hear. Sucks when that happens.

[rpcraft]

Sorry... pet peeve:
"Nothing better than...", "Nobody beats...", "No battery lasts longer..."
WEASEL SPEAK.
Everyready batteries used to advertise they were the longest lasting dry cell battery, till someone took them to court about it. Seems one dry cell battery is the same as every other dry cell battery... so they changed their advertising to "Nobody outperforms...". Which is true, but advertising 'We're the same as everyone else" doesn't get the ad exec a new contract.
I know nothing is better than OEM (usually... Cometic is twice the price of OEM. They cost more, so they HAVE TO BE better... right?... isn't that how it works? /s) but the question is: Is the third party stuff worse? I just wanna fix this bike and sell it.
I'm in Canada, so OEM head gaskets, cover gaskets, valve seals and exhaust gaskets is about $350
I found an Athena (complete) set for a xl650V for $130 shipped... is that BAD?

The bitterness of low quality lingers long after the thrill of a low price has gone.

I wouldn't skimp on an internal engine gasket for a flip bike, but that is just my intent to ensure I am not passing on misery to the next guy. Do as you wish. Advice has been offered. Nothing is gauranteed to work well if done in half measures.

[bitzz]

Ok....I'm not "flipping" a bike. I've ridden this bike for three years. It's my second last of 6 Hawks, only one left.
I over heated the bike, so it's getting head gaskets and valve seals, for the new owner (the bike is 32 yrs old) . I COULD just fill it up and sell it... but I'm not like that. Someone that "flips" bikes would do stuff like that, not me. I'm trying to NOT pass on "misery".
This bike has a metal multiple layer steel gasket that are pretty hard to screw up. They are cheap and easy to make... so what I was asking was "are there any BAD gaskets?"
I raced CB450s for years and if you run the OEM gasket, you replace it every couple outings, if you run a copper gasket, you have to re-anneal it every couple of outings.
I currently have a 12 1/2 to 1 compression Norton Commando, and the only way to keep it sealed is to Oring the head.
I've raced Yamaha 2stroke twins and the only way is Orings. OEM lasts... till the first redline. (I like redline. Red is my favourite colour of line... hence... I replace head gaskets)
I have used Athena and Winderosa gaskets on other stuff without issue, so I asked if anyone else had experience in using non OEM gaskets on a Honda Hawk (you DO all realize Honda doesn't make gaskets... so no gasket is really OEM, just OEM spec, and 99.9% of time the seals are standard, off the shelf seals)(the valve seals on your hawk are shared with more than 500 other bikes... not all of them Honda... so they're nothin' special).

I've used lots of Cometic multi layer gaskets, and I don't think they are any better than (<WEASEL SPEAK, I didn't say they were BETTER, just not worse) Athena multi layer steel gaskets, and they are 5x the price
I have actually had lots of problems with Cometic gaskets, but that is mostly because I end up at Cometic when I'm trying to do something stupid, where I can't use an OEM spec gasket... like my Norton, or my GS1000 that EATS head gaskets, like every big bore GS, The GS runs a Cometic copper gasket with fire rings and I made custom HSS tool steel 11mm head bolts and redirected and Oringed every oil passage in the head. WHhheeeeee.
Old Ducati bevels have the answer: NO head gasket. They seal with a spigot. WORKS FLAWLESSLY.... but kinda expensive to make.

I asked for advice, and, it seems to me, the response I got was "spend as much as you can on head gaskets"... with no reasons given.
OH ....

Well... I bought the CHEAPEST gaskets I could find, a full NOS Athena set for a XL650V (I'm not sure the side cover gaskets will work, but the top end is the same. I've spent the last couple of evenings cross referencing part numbers of gaskets and seals). I'll let you know how it works out. The complete set (every gasket and seal in the motor) cost me a bit more than two OEM head gaskets. For future reference: the Athena kit for the XL650V is NLA, so there's that, but there' still a Vesrah top end kit that is a valid part number as of yesterday (Vesrah DOES make some dicey gaskets... I don't know about their Hawk gaskets... so I ask)

Not to worry, the bike will be thoroughly tested before it is passed on.... I'll take it out and rev the snot out of it... at least twice... might even do a cooling system leak down test... we'll see.

OK: now I'll give yall some free advice: If you have a head gasket problem with a multiple layer steel gasket; the gasket probably wasn't the problem, it's a symptom. You've most likely got a warped head and/or stretched head bolts. So if you take the aluminum head off a 30 year old bike; lap the mating surfaces and replace the head bolts.
Here's some more cheap advice: 99% of anybodies OEM head gaskets won't tolerate redline for long... again, it's not the gasket that's the problem, it's designed that way.

... but I appreciate the fact you guys assumed I am trying to rip people off with my flipped bike and half measure repairs, cuz I asked if there were cheaper gaskets than OEM.
Thanks. Makes me feel warm inside

[Forcerouge]

Well I can't say which brand or which type would be best, but I tried a cheap one and it didn't even fit.
So I'd stick with the original ones, if you have the possibility to get them wherever you live don't bother.

Would suck to do all the hard work only to discover that it doesn't work well or that it leaks.

[Captain 80s]

I just wanna fix this bike and sell it.

That was the extent of information that you provided regarding the bike's history and your intentions up until your last post.

I think the only thing people were trying to say is that on such an important, hard to get to part, nobody has had issues with OEM and they wouldn't take a chance on an unknown cheaper alternative.

If we were talking about a clutch cover gasket, use a damn cereal box if you want.

You could have just said, "thanks for the input" and bought and installed whatever the fuck you want.