Rivets on 3 piece metal head gasket? Should I remove these before installing?

[WildCoast]

Got an aftermarket Vertex gasket kit for the Honda XR650L; wondering if I somehow have the wrong gasket or if I'm misunderstanding how it works?

The 3 piece metal head gasket appears to be a bit different from the OEM Honda in that it has copper/brass rivets holding the 3 metal gasket sheets together. The rivets do line up with cavities in the cylinder side, but on the opposite cylinder head surface where those rivets would sit against is just flat/smooth so I'm confused with how it will seal??

Here is a pic of my cylinder and cylinder head with the Vertex gasket install on the cylinder:

You can see the brass rivet on the head gasket (red arrow). The cylinder does have a cavity behind where each of those 4 rivets sit. However, on the other mating surface (the cylinder head) the mating surface is flat (blue arrow) - how is that supposed to seal?

Can someone confirm if the Honda OEM head gasket is the same design with rivets? I don't recall seeing those when I took the old gasket off a few months ago. I tried to search for a pic of the OEM head gasket online and looks like no rivets:

 

[Trav]

The rivets appear to be in recessed areas and outside the sealing area. If they are there is nothing to worry about, this is very common with MLS gaskets.

 

[Cujet]

Do not remove the rivets. It will work perfectly as is.