I've heard from Tim Radley, whom I respect highly (he did a full headjob on my 1K8 1070 motor and it turned out GREAT!), that the OEM rings are really good quality.
I mean the OEM GSXR1000 rings, not necessarily rings from OTHER mfg's!
He actually thinks that a number of the OEM parts in the motor are of very good quality - like the pistons & valves - and that a lot of the aftermarket stuff isn't as good quality wise. Obviously, if you wanna do a 1070 kit or whatever, you have to use aftermarket parts... or oversize valves, etc. But he uses a lot of the stock parts when he can.
So, I would recommend the stock rings. They may not be cheap, but they should be good. And, how much money would you save over aftermarket anyways??
Btw, I do hope you are planning on at least having the block lightly honed to break the glaze on the walls so the new rings can seat. And if the walls show a lot of wear it would be worthwhile to think about having it replated.... but that starts getting into $. And at that point, I'd say to think about a 1040 or 1070 kit. These motors do like the bigger bores.
But either way, make sure you get the walls freshened up so the new rings will seal. new rings on old bore = lots of leakdown. Gonna leave a lot of power on the table
Btw, when having the block honed it would be a great time to have the block decked, and the cylinder head too. Can cut quite a bit off, (esp the head), to get higher compression, but I'd have at least a flycut / cleanup cut done (like .002 or .003") to make sure the surfaces are flat & clean. Your headgasket will thank you!
I'm curious here, what all are you planning to do with the motor?? Rebuilding a stock motor just to get it running right again, or are you looking to go further? Why the teardown/rebuild?
I'm doing a refresh strickly as a CYA. The bike has a few (light) seasons on it so I'm trying to at least do a top end rebuild with springs, cotters, retainers. I came across some cheap pistons and wrist pins, so here we are.
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