DIY O-Rings

[wirespokes]

I'm replacing the clutch in a 77R100RS and decided to replace the rear main seal while I'm at it. Did you know those things are something like $38? Ouch! Gone are the days of a $12 seal.

Anyway, while in there, I might as well check on the oil pump and replace that cover seal as well - just a 60x2 O-ring. That was going to be another eight bucks. I passed. Eight bucks for an o-ring? Well, the cheapest I found on ebay was four or five bucks for one o-ring. And it wasn't viton either, just regular old nitrile. I'm not sure if the OEM is viton, which for the money, it should be. I'm sure nitrile will do.

I've made o-rings before and they worked fine. But I wasn't always pleased with getting a square cut, though they still worked fine. There are o-ring making kits but there really isn't much to them, I'd probably make my own fixture to cut and join the rubber.

And then I read that water can soften the superglue bond holding the two ends of the o-ring together. I'd never heard of that before and don't recall that ever happening to me either. But now I was a little concerned about installing a home made oring that might not hold up, buried deep inside the bike like that - and sealing the oil pump besides!

A little more searching and I located some 60x2 o-rings I'd collected a while back just for this application. Problem solved.

But I am curious how many of you make your own o-rings and if you've ever had them come apart in a damp location.

[jrt]

I've done a lot of things in my life, but I can't say I have made my own o-rings.  I just bought a big indexed box of o-rings.  They have most all I've needed so far.
But good on you- cool idea.

[fotoguzzi]

$38 sounds like cheap insurance to me.. oh wait, this is a Guzzi forum.

[John A]

It at least would give you something besides tires to think about as you ease down a deserted county road after an 800 mile day looking for a place to get out of the cold rain, having missed the turn to East Bad Gulch as the sun goes down. Was that the oil light that just flickered? If you were in a car, you wouldn’t even remember it..

[Dukedesmo]

Never made an 'O' ring but, we have a domestic air-conditioning unit on which the fan is driven from the pump motor by a rubber 'band' which to all intents and purposes is like an 'O' ring in section but much longer and this rubber band is not available as a one-piece item and so requires the purchase of a length of the rubber which you then cut to length and glue together using 'superglue'. Apparently, according to the manufacturer that is how they do it.


I was very skeptical that this would work but I gave it a try and it still works 3 years later (at least it did last summer - not tried it this year yet) and this on an 'O' ring than runs as a drive belt so, strength and flexing at speed is obviously good though not sure how superglue would hold under chemical exposure?


The tricky part is getting a clean, square cut but can be done with care and a sharp blade. 

[SIR REAL ED]

$38 sounds like cheap insurance to me.. oh wait, this is a Guzzi forum.

 

Yep!  This sounds like the prelude to a really great story to told over a few beers or around a campfire a couple years down the line.

And one of the listeners will reply, "Well as my Daddy used to say, that's why stupid is supposed to hurt!"

Life is short, take chances.  His heirs will find a better use for that $38!

[SIR REAL ED]

This thread takes me back to building our barn out of used lumber and used corrugated steel when I was about 10 years old.

My Dad made my brothers and I spend hours pulling nails and hammering them straight.  Just so they could be thrown away when 3 out of 4 of them proved impossible to drive into the wood.

My Dad never owned a Guzzi as far as i knew, but he should have.....

[Moparnut72]

My old barn/shop was built out of old used rough sawed cedar. When it caught fire it would have made a Roman candle proud. I couldn't get anything out it went up so quickly, my beautiful pristine Harley Deuce was one of the victims.
kk

[Vagrant]

Don't worry honey, I glued the rubber with super glue!