Anyone use aftermarket cam end plugs?

OEM KAwasaki would be my first choice, but I'm having trouble locating 4 that are still in Kawasaki packages.
One of my bikes is seeping a tiny bit at all four plugs.
I see Vesrah has some out there for the 550. Anyone try them?

These are the rubber coated ones with bolt-through center, like on the 650's and 750's. Not the 900/1000 ones that need to be glued in.

I'm using the Vesrah 900/1000 version and if you can find OEM's, that's what's I recommend. The Vesrah's seem to be a thinner metal frame and softer rubber. I thought this would provide a better seal, but I haven't had good results with them. First, one blew out within 30 second of start-up. I thought it was my fault and reinstalled them paying closer attention, Next, a different one sucked in against the cam end. With OEM's, I'd use a thin coat of Yamabond 5 and never paid much attention to exact positioning. With the Vesrah's, I had to use a thicker black RTV and be very careful of the placement. It was a trial and error process. I could watch the plug being pushed out as I tightened the cover. If I started it that way, the plug would blow out. I had to let the RTV set, or at least become tacky, before I could tighten down the cover. They're holding for now, but I will be replacing them as soon as I find a set of OEM's. At this point, I'd reuse the old ones if I hadn't tossed them during tear down.

Thanks!

How can you tell if Partzilla actually has them? It says "in stock", but doesn't it say that about everything?
Also, is there a way to tell if Partzilla is selling an aftermarket part instead of a genuine OEM part?
I don't think I've dealt with them before.
(Z1 Enterprises explicitly says they are selling an "equivalent" of the OEM part, as in an aftermarket part.)

Kinda pricey at Bike Bandit, but worth it if actual Kaw part.
I hope "Genuine OEM Parts" means genuine OEM parts.

The oem on the 650 is the 1011 number and the 1111 is the revised newer model part # (got the 1111 from Partzilla 3-4 years ago)...... and the Vesrah's (from Z1) they are the same exact shape (maybe not material though ?? ) and neither have the angled part that is on the outside so they are a good .060-.070 thousands short (look for a pic on Ebay for the difference between yours and these)...... I ended up having to re use the old ones.

If you order from Parzilla you will get the OEM Kawasaki parts. I'm not sure that "in stock" means they truly have them though, rather I suspect that means they can get them quickly.

With Bike Bandit they have an OEM parts ordering method and aftermarket. They don't mix and match.

BTW, if you clean the old parts well and use silicone on the curved portion that fits into the head you can reuse the old plugs. Even if you purchase new plugs you should still seal them where they fit into the head if you value oil tightness.

Like Nessism's suggestion, I have been able to re-use leaking OEM plugs on the J - model 1000 / 1100's (bolts go through the end plugs) by coating the old part with high quality RTV sealant. One difference is that I absolutely despise cleaning RTV sealant off the engine - anywhere! So I smear on a smooth thin coat of the RTV on the cam plugs (the plugs have to be thoroughly cleaned of oil and dirt first) with my fingers and let it cure for a day or more before installing them. The RTV is stuck to the plug and not the head that way. They are then re-useable without cleaning off the old RTV and re-applying it, and it still works to seal the leaks...

Yeah the original part number for my 550 is also the 92066-1011, like on the 650's. So the -1111 is different? I'm not sure what you mean by the "angled part". I hope I didn't just waste $36 on OEM ones that won't work. I could have gotten the Vesrah plugs for $15. I'd rather have spent $15 on something that won't work, than $36. :laugh: I guess I'll see when I get them.

I don't think I've had to ever use sealer on the cam ends before (on several different motors) and haven't really had any leaks until now. This particular motor was oil tight for the last 10 years, with lash checks every several years, and just started to show signs of seepage early this year (last lash check was last year mid-season). All four started at the same time, which is odd, but the worst one is near my left knee when I ride, so I occasionally see a spot of oil on my pantleg. The leaks are all minor enough that I wouldn't even bother with it if it wasn't for the knee thing.

I polish the gasket surface on the head and valve cover, and use antisieze on the gasket so it comes off like new everytime (and I re-use the gasket each time, yes, out of cheapness), so I really don't want to use sealer on the gasket surface portion of the cam end plugs, but I like the idea of putting sealer on the plug and letting it cure before installing. Maybe if I put the sealer on the round part, it will put enough pressure on the gasket to seal on the top as well, without sealer on top.

What sealer to use? It seems there are ton of different silicone sealers now. (Don't worry, the bathtub caulk will stay in the house.) I think I have some orange permatex and maybe some blue permatex, but like I said, I almost never use any of that, so It's probably all dried out out.

I used permatex ultra grey and ultra black - black looks better on the plugs...

Looking at your valve warning link I see your plugs are like mine where as there is a 45 degree angle on the plugs on the outside of the plugs that the 1111 plugs lack......... please punch up a 1111 plug picture on Ebay and you will see that there is no angle around the outside on them and are smooth and straight.

I need to to learn how to link Ebay links on here but if you punch up the auction # 351133659549 with a picture showing a used oem plug and the 271237371841 showing the oem #1111 plug you can see the difference (angle and lack of angle) I'm talking about.

loudhvx wrote: Maybe if I put the sealer on the round part, it will put enough pressure on the gasket to seal on the top as well, without sealer on top.

This is what I do. Without sealer I get a little oil dribble, and I bought new OEM plugs too.