Exhaust Gasket ?

This is a really dumb question but I have to ask.  Just been putting stuff back on the bike in readiness for the exhaust returning after being ceramic coated.  Just realised that the pipes had no gaskets - they're Highway Hawk Double Walls as seen here.  Should they be fitted with a Suzuki original gasket - or any gasket?

Cheers

My opinion is, any gasket that'll fit. Not forgetting a thin smear of gasket seal or silicon on all faces.

to the above.

I tend to use the Suzuki ones although that's just me other makes are cheaper and probably the right size although I think I read somewhere it's easy to get cheap ones but they might be slightly thinner than the originals

I agree with the others regarding gaskets Dave, are you sure there's none in though? They usually crush up and stay tight in the head, if they're in there? Just a bit of sealer will do the job.

Had a look round this morning with a torch - there's defo one in there.  That's what happens when you try to work on the bike at 2 in the morning !!  What threw me was that I was looking for some sealant residue - all I can see is what looks like copper slip.  What would you recommend?  I was going to pop down Halfords & pick up some of this stuff - Loctite 5920 Silicone Copper Gasket Sealant - found an old tube of gasket sealant in the garage, but it well past it's life expectancy

Yeah that stuff looks fine to me 

Cheers Sim

Ordinary silicon sealer will do as well Dave as that's what I use.

Genuine ones aint gunna be dear enough to worry about getting cheaper ones

About £10.50 each & the hassle of going into town to collect them vs £4.96 for a tube of  silicone copper gasket sealant - I feel a trip to Halfords coming up !!

I have no idea the cost difference, didnt think it would much but I am a tight bugger. I would probably save that much if I knew but I dont realy research I just buy, bit silly really

I can be like that sometimes, but hate shelling out for unseen parts so always do a check first

Just for future reference, Exhaust gaskets from wemoto are £2.32 each 61mm od, I ordered 4 for the shelf to cut down on postage. 
http://www.wemoto.com/components/GasketsandSealants/ExhaustGaskets/picture/hl-220061_10/

Bugger - at that price I may as well order some in anyway !!!!

I tried about 4 pairs of cheap gaskets (from Ebay, a garage and i think wemoto), only the 3rd set sealed. All of them looked the same quality. None of them were anywhere near as beefy as the originals. Sealant leaves a right mess as well and takes ages to scratch off if you ever need to.
On myC800 when i changed the pipes i reused what looked like the factory gaskets and it sealed up just fine.
Copper slip on the bolts and on the gasket itself can help hold it in place when tightening up and make future removal easier.
Re-tighten bolts after a few trips as they can loosen with hot/cold cycles

Dilemma !!!!  The ones that are in at the moment look in good nick, & are squashy (ie not hard), but are well in, I'll have to prise them out, possibly destroying them in the attempt.  So do I leave them in - smearing them with either copper grease OR copper silicone sealant?  or do I order a pair of originals or a pair from Wemoto ?  Opinion anyone - I don't mind paying out for originals if they're going to be that much better - but am I just wasting money when the current ones seem OK.  I'm not aware of any leakage from the head / exhaust area

Why prise them out? If they are stuck tight that is a good thing.
When i put the Cruzers on i tightened all bolts just enough that the pipes were snug, just incase i needed to take them off again if the gaskets were leaking.
Easiest way to tell is to grasp the pipes right where they meet the head and fire it up, they will get hot quickly though so you wont have much time to feel for a leak.
A lit flame also works well, if it flickers near the join you got a leak. Others have used incense and watched the smoke, or soapy water and watch for bubbles

Leave them in Dave and use a bit of that sealer you posted, only a minimal amount though, just enough to seal the 2 mating surfaces, if you use copper grease on the flange bolts? back off a little on the torque value as to not strip the threads, just check them after a couple of rides 

As Sim said!

The last time I fitted a set of pipes was on the Katana in '91 & I honestly can't remember what gasket protocol is.  I know you always have to fit new circlips, crush washers, split pins etc & I don't know at what I'm supposed to replace the gaskets.  I'll go for a bit of silicone & a dab of copper grease on the flange & bolts.

Thanks for the advice lads

By using the sealer Dave your effectively creating a silicone gasket between the two surfaces, as long as you square the two mating surfaces together as much as possible there's minimal chance of a leak, I've changed my pipes about 5 times now without renewing the gaskets or using sealer lol, I had to use silicone on the Bandit link pipe though, that bloody thing wouldn't seal up otherwise 

Cheers Sim