Suzuki GS400 valves clearances

[Andy24]

Hi Andy, Have you checked your shims sizes? If they have never been changed previously, I think they would be between 2.70 - 2.95. If you have very, very thin shims you could have that much clearance on a low mileage engine. What are the miles or kilometers on the bike? Any chance the valve seats are new?

the bike have 35000km the shims sizes are 3x 2.60 and 2.65

[Guest]

Andy, I think 8ball must be right. I've never heard of those kind of clearances before. Double check your clearance readings, with the mileage on your bike these sizes would be likely. Surely you are only just slightly low in the clearance range? Ray

[Andy24]

now that you mentioned about your r6 i remembered that the bike was at a yamaha service before i got it,the previous owner said that this service was terrible they returned the bike running on 1cil(fortunately just a bad contact from the coil),they destroyed the gear of the start motor and carbs out of sync...maybe they changed the shims for bigger clearances(i would not be surprised).
when i removed the shims only 2 shims had numbers on it the others didnt.
if it matters the bike is for german market (20 kW) the modification to restrict the bike is in the head, camshaft profile i think...
today i remeasured the clearances and i have the same results...
at the end of the next week i should have the new shims i ordered,i will put them in,recheck the clearance and if its all good i will start the bike and see if sounds better...

[Guest]

Thanks for the update, looking forward to hear what your results are like. I'll bet it is much quieter! Ray

[Andy24]

hey guys,i finally got the parts i needed,after i changed the shims when installing the cam caps i needed to do some other work to the head cause all the exhaust threads of the cam caps were damaged,i put some helicoils in it and changed all the bolts,hell of a work cause i broke one of the bolt in the head(at low torque),all the old bolts was stretching,the cam caps looks a bit scratched but i can feel only a few scratches,after that i wanted to change the gaskets on the engine when its already open,the valve seats are good,the top of the valves looked a bit demaged but in specs(not less than 4mm) im guessing that maybe because of that the valve clearance was loose (http://postimg.org/image/mieaaiwhp/), the engine started after maybe 10-13 good kicks (before i changed the clutch plates i didnt start the engine for 6-7 days and then i needed to kick a lot more,im pretty sure because of the loose valves),the engine sounded really good with a perfect idle,ill take it today for a ride.
ill maybe try to find another head from some different market so i will have 26kW and not 20kW,and in better shape :P