Ok so the NC30 A gasket set is no longer available from Honda and to buy the parts individiually if extortionate. I know that people stay to keep clear of the ebay ones but what other options are there? This is in preperation for getting the SS/SP race bike over and fully stripped at some point next year

Rick o has not long got some Versah full gasket sets in from japan, he says they are better than the ones he had before from a different manufactuerer.

Pardon my ignorance but what is the A gasket set? And cant you just buy each gasket seperately?

Look on the parts fiche. There's an 'A' and 'B' gasket set, which combined are every gasket, seal and o-ring needed to rebuild the engine. Set A is valve stem seals, heads, breather, cam cover, water pump, water pipe caps and other bits basically for the top end, set B is sump gasket, clutch, genny and water pump covers, and about a zillion o-rings for the water pipes, gearbox shaft and everything else. Much cheaper to buy in one hit that by their own.

Ah i thought thats what it was, its a shame because an A set would of been very useful for me too!

Yeah I managed to pick up a full B set but cant find an A set, Ok thanks may speak to Rick O then

I saw wemoto have pattern sets but I have heard before that their pattern stuff isnt always up to spec

Does it worry you using Rick o's aftermarket gaskets on critical bits like the stem seals/headgaskets? Personally im not sure i can put much faith in them even if they are good quality Versah stuff, but im beggining to think im being a fool paying all the extra money buying seperate OEM head gaskets and stem seals if Ricks ones are just as good...

I havent had any prior experience with wemoto's pattern stuff but i have heard the same rumour.

I would be interested in knowing this, I'd like a full A+B set but they're hard to come by and buying individually is extortionate for some shaped cork!

I have a vesrah kit from rick and although I havent fitted it yet visually it looks good. I bought the complete kit to try as I think buying all OEM gaskets isn't necessary, if the head gaskets fail ill just replace them with OEM and then we know there shit.

iDemonix wrote:I would be interested in knowing this, I'd like a full A+B set but they're hard to come by and buying individually is extortionate for some shaped cork!

The problem is that while the price is extortion, the other option is buying a pattern one and praying it bucks the trend of a lot of them being very suspect. I detest paying silly prices for genuine spares, but with some things I'd rather have my wallet damaged than the bike when something lets go and the engine is wrecked, or I end up with the contents of the sump over the rear tyre at the next corner....

On one occasion I picked my bike up from a bike shop I used to frequent, and while chatting with one of the owners, as you do, he was bemoaning another bike owner's choice of gasket kit. I don't know what the bike was, but he'd bought a kit from a popular source of aftermarket gaskets. I forget who it was now, but it was well-known at the time. After spending the morning putting the thing back together, he filled it with oil and didn't even bother to start it as it came back out almost as fast as it went in. OK, that's bound to be an exaggeration, but the net result was that a genuine gasket set was ordered, it came apart again, and the owner ended up with twice as much labour and an extra gasket set on the bill. We've also seen the relatively recent tale of the person on this forum who did his heads and used pattern gaskets and they leaked from the very start despite having been installed correctly.

I've not got any aftermarket gaskets on my bike, and I plan to stay that way as long as is possible. However, I guess the time will come when Honda call time on making them, in which case it would make sense to have found out which are the most reliable aftermarket ones.... Is there even scope to approach a manufacturer about producing pattern ones if necessary?

Drunkn Munky wrote:if the head gaskets fail ill just replace them with OEM and then we know there shit.

Or, er, NOT?