• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

7k miles GS650g - Valve clearance adjustment?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tino
  • Start date Start date
T

Tino

Guest
Hello all.
Could someone tell me if a 1982 GS650g with only 7000 miles should need a valve clearance adjustment. I will be rebuilding/tuning the carburetor and need to know if I should be checking/adjusting the valve clearances first.
If I have to check the valves I will have to buy a gasket to replace the old one after done.
Also not very clear of how to measure the clearances. Are there any directions out there on the web on how to do this. I have seen one on the BassCliff web site but doesn't exactly show what to measure.

thanks in advance.
 
Yes, check the valves. Valve checks are due every 4,000 miles, and it's more than likely they've never been checked.

Sounds like a nice bike, too!
 
Yes, check your valves. If you look at the Suzuki specified maintainance interval, you are over due.

Basscliff's tutorial is excellent in my opinion. The clearance is measured between the cam lobe and the valve shim on top the shim bucket. Very simple.
 
Hard to say. It is recommended to do it at the 6000- mile interval. I guess I would at least check them, as then you'll know. On the other hand, if it starts good cold, has no major vibrations in the 4-8K RPM range and is easy to set up (carbs & sync)...then you may choose not to. Me...Id check them.
 
Hi - I think the service interval on checking valve clearances is 3000 miles in distance and probably somewhat less than 26 years in time! So yes, you should really check those clearances.

I thought BassCliff's site showed the operation pretty clearly but if you can't see it you need to set the cam lobes up as per pics and push a feeler gauge between the cam lobe and the shim. Less than .03 mm (I'd say less than 0.04mm to be safer) or greater than 0.08mm (or 0.1mm really) and you need to change the shim.

I bet you won't get the valve cover off without damaging the gasket if this is the first time in 26 years it's been off. On the other and, you might win the lottery on the same day.
 
Thanks for the replies.
The fact is that the previous owner complained about being very hard to start it when cold.
The other this is the bike has a heck of a vibration. It is my very first bike and don't have much experience but the fact that I feel like I am connected to 1000 vibrating phones, tells me something is wrong.
 
And one more thing, in the BassCliff presentation he was mentioning about a tool used in the removal of the shim. I guess to push down the bucket to pull the shim.
Any idea what type of tool is that?
 
Tino said:
And one more thing, in the BassCliff presentation he was mentioning about a tool used in the removal of the shim. I guess to push down the bucket to pull the shim.
Any idea what type of tool is that?
Click to expand...

Yes, to push down the shim. Z1 Enterprises sells the tool, and shims, for reasonable prices.
 
You'll see it when you get there

You'll see it when you get there

Hi Mr. Tino,

Do you see the cam lobe pointing forward in the picture below?

exhaustposition.jpg


What you are measuring is the amount of space between that cam lobe and the shim under it. Put your feeler gauge in there. It should measure between .03mm and .08mm (closer to .08mm, if you can). I like using millimeters instead of inches. I should have taken a picture of the feeler gauge in use. I'll update my guide when I get a chance.

Here's the tool you want. Click on the picture to go to Z1 Enterprises.



Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Last edited:
Definitely work in mm instead of inches. 1/100th of a mm is much smaller than 1/1000th of an inch, and if you confuse the two, it can get ugly and noisy.

A set of metric feeler gauges is maybe $6 at the corner auto parts store. Get yourself a set muy pronto.
 
Hi Mr. Tino,

Here's a couple more pictures to help show you what you're measuring.

Here you see the shim in the bucket and the lobe. Measure between them. Slide your feeler gauge on top of the shim where #1 is pointing.

lobe_shim.jpg


This is not a great picture, but it shows feeler gauges in the right spots (#1).

feelergauge_shim.jpg


Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Last edited:
Man, somebody needs to make a video of a shim valve check.

I just did mine a couple of weeks ago, though...

Who's:

1) next

2) knows what they're doing

3) has a reasonably sober pal and a video camera

4) can post a vid on teh interweb tubes

???????
 
Sounds like a plan...

Sounds like a plan...

I'm about due again and Arnie is great with the vid-cam. I'll invite him and the wife out for dinner some night and get er done (lest someone else beats me to it) :-k
 
Hi Mr. bwringer,

I've got a valve check coming up in less than 1000 miles. I'll try to remember to shoot a little video of this crucial step.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Hope you don't mind me asking on this thread but is it normal/possible that a valve adjustment can go "out" after only about 800 miles? Also could bad intake o-rings cause vibrations?

Thanks for your help!
 
gadang said:
Hope you don't mind me asking on this thread but is it normal/possible that a valve adjustment can go "out" after only about 800 miles? Also could bad intake o-rings cause vibrations?

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

Hi Mr. gadang,

In addition to maladjusted valves, unsynchronized carburetors can also cause vibration. If it was done correctly, I would be surprised that valve clearances could get so bad so soon. Hopefully you're using a Real Gasket.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
bwringer said:
Man, somebody needs to make a video of a shim valve check.

I just did mine a couple of weeks ago, though...

Who's:

1) next

2) knows what they're doing

3) has a reasonably sober pal and a video camera

4) can post a vid on teh interweb tubes
Click to expand...
I'll be due for a 3k mile check when i return from Red River Gorge on Monday. Crazy, it seems like i just did one a month ago or less. Oh wait. I did! heh. Steve is pretty darn good with that camera of his, if anyone has seen his valve instalation vid ( i do believe its on BassCliff's site) So perhaps I will have to get that done for everyone. I KNOW that i have at least ONE shim that will be tight, as i didnt have the exact shim to replace the last time i was in there, and used an X shim to get it close. It WILL need a new one this time around, im sure.
 
Last edited:
BassCliff said:
Hi Mr. gadang,

In addition to maladjusted valves, unsynchronized carburetors can also cause vibration. If it was done correctly, I would be surprised that valve clearances could get so bad so soon. Hopefully you're using a Real Gasket.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
Click to expand...

BassCliff
I had the valves adjusted at a shop along with a carb sync so I hope it would have been done correctly. I know that it seems different after I took it on a little 70 mile trip at 65 mph. I would be at that speed and roll on the throttle and I thought I could hear a little sputter but it wouldn't slow down it would just sound like it was sucking air or something or maybe it was the wind.

I did get an O-Ring set from mr barr and thought maybe I could replace the intake rings for now until I can do a rebuild this winter.

Thanks for your help!
 
gadang said:
I had the valves adjusted at a shop along with a carb sync so I hope it would have been done correctly.
Click to expand...

Hi Mr. gadang,

Perhaps you may be experiencing why we all encourage each other to do our own work. It's very difficult to find a "professional" mechanic who loves these classic bikes and really knows how to work on them. I'm sure we can get your valves adjusted properly over the winter if you like. But if any are too tight, especially an exhaust valve, riding it like that could result in a burned valve.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top