I own a 07 zx-10r . I have the motor apart for cam swap. I want to put a thin haed gasket on while i am at it. I ordered a .45 from kawasaki racing. I take my motor apart [well, my mechanic did] and my factory gasket measures .45 as does the new gasket. I went to the dealership and the factory gasket has a different part# than the one i bought. I am also the only owner of my bike and it has never been apart until now. Does the facory gasket get compressed that much. Better yet how thick is the factory head gasket supposed to be on the 10 motor. And how thin can i go without piston to valve clearance I AM NOT CHANGING LIFT ON MY CAMS ONLY DURATION. My mechanic is a busa master and a nitrous pro and i talked him in to working on my 10 so although he is an ace mechanic he is still puzzled by our dillema.

 

you're certain it's not .045? .45 is almost a half an inch..

my suggestion is to putty the motor to spec out piston/valve clearance. when i do big cam builds, this give me a perfect picture of what is where in a motor and exactly how much room is available..
remember.. the thiicker the gasket (head or base gasket, for that matter) the lower the compression is gonna be..

and welcome to KF!!

 

at least you have a busa master helping ya out. He can do a squish to make sure. But I am on the .050 gasket over the the stock .065 gasket. What cam degree are you thinking about? Congrats on the ride, welcome to kf.

edit: correction: oops, mind was stuck on decimals. .50mm is what I meant.

 

Yea...
It mashes that much. Usually a third of its thicknes, stock from Japan.
Materials used varies with manufacture, but it's the final thickness thats important...