That's how mine were - they had literally been eaten away and disintegrated! That was on a '94 3YF, which I bought in '99 when it was five years old. Your gaskets would be 22 years old!

FYI - There always used to be a choice of copper or aluminium (OE) composite gaskets. The aluminium ones seal better, but fall apart and the copper ones last longer but are more difficult to compress tightly.

Quick check on Wemoto and both types are still available...

Aluminium: http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/yamaha/x...uminium_fibre/

Copper: http://http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/y...ront_-_copper/

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