Cool post from a cool remained young man.
Thanks Tom. Always a fun to read you.
When I did my valves recently I changed the headcover gasket to a new one, but without urgent need. The old one looked still good and could have been reused without the shadow of a doubt.
But nevertheless I found something odd here with these gaskets. The original gasket was black in color, the new one was brown in color. I guess the black ones are better and stronger in the end. The brown ones are the older models from before 2013/2014.
And I think the brown one is a tick thinner than the black one. But didn´t measure it. So if my scooter starts leaking oil now, I know why and from where.
@beermark:
I torqued the bolts on spec (9NM) and trusted the torque wrench. All went well for the third time now (1000km/5000km/10000km).
I trust the torque wrench more than my hands. My hands tend to torque down stronger than they should, especially in the low torque aerea. I am talking from experience with some damaged thin aluminium threads in the past years.
So take care!