I have an RT3 and just took off the carb and pulled it apart to clean it all. I need a new gasket that goes between the float bowl and the carb body. They are still available thru my local yamaha dealer but it is $30.00. Can I use something else or is it best to pay the money and get this gasket?

suggestion would be to get part no. from Partzilla and check out eBay
often times Partzilla is way cheaper than eBay sometimes the other way around
I have also scored certain parts on Amazon, but way less frequently 

congrats on 2 stroke

Thanks, iI'll check Partzilla right now. I just took my carb parts out of my ultra sonic cleaner and am ready to reassemble. they look great. I'll go find the gaskets and o rings i need now. Maybe I should just buy a rebuild kit instead of a couple of gaskets and o rings. Your thoughts.

i learned the hard way to make sure all jets are the correct size as much can change in 30 to 50 yrs and to only use jets that have the microscopic Mikuni logo which i can only see with backwards binoculars!  you can probably look stuff up on this website

good luck getting it started

Aftermarket Carb kits are fine for sourcing float bowl gaskets , and
float valves . However resist using the other brassware as they usually
don't equate to the OEM Mikuni parts closely . Better to go Genuine Mikuni
or OEM Yamaha parts for those .

Great info, I did not know all that. will do. Thanks.

More stuff I didn't know,. thanks for the heads up. Taking a lot of notes. Dan.