Shim kits for valves?

[Nessism]

Gotta be careful when ordering shims. GS shims are 29.5mm, but some suppliers provide 29mm instead.

Z1 seems to be out of 29.5mm shims. eBay sellers want almost $10 each these days.

I think if the shim club started up again, whoever drives it should charge $5/each, and charge a $5 core charge. That would make it worthwhile for all the effort.

[gustovh]

Like I said…what sizes do you need? I have a well supplied set.

V

[Who Dat?]

I should see Steve and Brian bwringer at BC rally. Will ask both if they mind putting it up on BikeCliffs. I’ve been sending it to people if the PM me with an email address.

Last time I checked with Steve, he was maintaining a list of users, so he could send out updates if/when they happened.
There have been no updates refinements for quite a while that I know of.

[seinwave]

Z1 now has 29.5mm shims back in stock after a couple months of them being out, $5.25. Chapmoto sells them in specific sizes in packs of 5 for $43 (so about $8.60 each). Just before Z1 restocked I took a punt on ordering some from this Italian place for approximately the same price as Z1.

[Big T]

Gotta be careful when ordering shims. GS shims are 29.5mm, but some suppliers provide 29mm instead.

Z1 seems to be out of 29.5mm shims. eBay sellers want almost $10 each these days.

I think if the shim club started up again, whoever drives it should charge $5/each, and charge a $5 core charge. That would make it worthwhile for all the effort.

I discussed this with my machinist and the cheapest surface grinder we could find was $3,000
Plus, Ray way charging nothing for labor
It would cost more than $10.00 to set up a shim for grinding, much less the grinding time

[VGplay]

I've seen that advice multiple times and keep wondering why this spreadsheet is not on the GSR archive.

Is the spreadsheet just an interactive version of the chart that's in the shop manuals? Looks like the 2-valve bikes all have the same chart, this is from my 450 manual but it is identical to the 650 and 1000 manuals I looked at.

GS_Shim_Chart.jpg

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Last week, I met with Steve. bwringer Brian has the file. He will get it up on BikeClffs Website when he gets a chance. Til then if someone wants it, here’s a link.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/1BlnpkzI-ltx1FzDjOQzJ-A387dUfAeWW/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msexcel

[JMHJ]

I had one of the blue metal box Suzuki sets when I had my 850. I think I got if from eBay for $150?? That woulda been like 15 years ago or more. There's one on there now just doing a quick search for $250/best offer, but it's about half empty.

I wanted a couple hundred bucks extra for it when I sold the bike in 2014, but the guy didn't want to pay for it (couldn't quite understand that). I sold it to somebody in Canada I think, for less than $100, and the transaction was kind of a pain.

Looks like there's slots in one of those for 120 shims. $600 at $5 each...

[grcamna2]

I think a 'shim club' is excellent.
I was glad to have met member 'Rusty Bronco' for the first time in Jul. 18' and he Really pulled me out of a jamb;he's in Marysville,MI. and I rode to his place.
He Really 'got me on the road' for the long trip West;even had a spare 29.5mm size shim I bought from him which I needed because I adjusted the 4 valves while I was there.

[Nessism]

The 2V valvetrain on GS bikes is super stable. The adjustment holds a long time. Commonly, you will only need a handful of different sizes for the entire engine, for the life of the bike. With a shim kit, you won't use 75% of the sizes, so they just go to waste.

[850 Combat]

Z1 do a 20 piece kit for around $100

I bought one of these kits some decades ago. It seems like as it is used the old shims I put ack into the box tend to be very similar in thickness.

[jdub6092]

Need help re-shimming my valves. I had sizes from 2.55 to 2.70 mm. I moved a 2.55 and 2.55X to locations where there were 2.70's. Cannot fit a 0.04 feeler into either, so I will need a kit with 2.50 and below. It looks like kits don't come in specific sizes from a cursory search.
What is the best way to go about this without buying a bunch of shims that will go to waste? Maybe buy a single 2.30 and measure the gaps so I know what I'll need?

[Rijko]

Like Ed said,

The 2V valvetrain on GS bikes is super stable. The adjustment holds a long time.

So going from 270 to 255 is a big step, hope the valves are undamaged.

If you have 255 or 255x in there now, and (with the cam lobes positioned correctly) you can turn the bucket with your fingers, there's play.
Which should mean with 1 or max 2 sizes smaller, you should be ok.

[jdub6092]

Thanks for the great tip Rijko. I knew the shims would be smaller due to my machist's blunder in decking the top of the head. I tried a trick to save the head and lapped the cam bearings and journals to lower the camshafts by up to 0.1 mm to allow the cams to spin without binding.
I am able to freely spin a few of the buckets that already have reduced sizes with my fingers. A couple others a little tighter that I can move with fingers, and the remaining ones that i increased shim size, dont move. So it looks like I'll be doing a lot of shim swapping, but that will eventually narrow down my purchase of individual shims.