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Valve shim adjustment problem

Steve said:
If they don't have the Suzuki shims, don't let him talk you into using Kawasaki or Yamaha shims. :shock:

Suzuki shims are 29.5 mm in diameter, Kawasaki and Yamaha shims are only 29.0 mm. Might be the same thickness, but are not as wide.
I don't know about Honda shims, as I have never adjusted a Honda with shims.


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Click to expand...
OK, so my motorcycle mechanic friend who works on Kawasaki police bikes is actually going to be hooking me up with 29.0 mm shims? :shock: I told him mine were 29.5mm - you think he just doesn't know because most of his experience is with Kawasakis, Yamahas, and Hondas?

I mean, I believe you, but I guess I'll just bring my digital caliper when I see him tomorrow. Drat - my masterful plan to fix my airbox issues and adjust my valves and replace my fuel petcock without losing a days commute just fell apart cause I have no local source for two out of the four sizes I need.

Any GSr's in Phoenix, AZ have a 2.55mm and a 2.50X (two 2.55's would be OK) hanging around that I can pick up on Monday and bring my plan back to life? :)

BTW, Steve, I'm using your spreadsheet. Awesome! Very helpful - especially for a first-timer. I'm no Excel expert, but I wonder if there's a way for the thing to produce a shopping list. You know - this one needs a 2.50, but you're taking a 2.50 out of another valve that needs a 2.45, so that one's not on the shopping list... just an idea I had after figuring that out manually.
 
Roostabunny said:
... but I wonder if there's a way for the thing to produce a shopping list. You know - this one needs a 2.50, but you're taking a 2.50 out of another valve that needs a 2.45, so that one's not on the shopping list... just an idea I had after figuring that out manually.
Click to expand...
I thought about that, but it's only a problem the first time you do it. After that, your shim changes will be minimal, so the shuffling part is much easier.

One thing I have found that helps is to print out the sheet for use at the bike. You can scribble in the appropriate values, then go back to your computer, enter your measurements and let it do the math for you. Once you have all your measurements and suggestions for 'proper' shim size, it's not that hard to look at the paper to see what you can move around.


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BassCliff, Thank you. I had already downloaded you proceedure and it has been helpful. I'm comfortable with the proceedure itself, but I kinda got knocked off track when I realized I had all 8 valves with zero or less clearance.

Steve, Cafe, Nessism, tconroy & everyone else - thanks for the pointers. Everyone's advice is helpful to me. It is obvious I need to locate a measuring device that goes smaller than what I have. That's my next step.

I couldn't get to the bike today, but did manage to get another dozen Suzuki shims. I stopped over & talked to my Pastor Suzuki today. He had a box full of shims and everything else I would ever need short of an extra set of feeler gauges. lol.... The range in size from 2.35 to 2.60, so with nearly 40 shims, I think I can approach this with confidence.

He has dispensed a wealth of knowledge during my time working on this bike, and helped clarify some of your suggestions to me. As well, I think he enjoys taking a few minutes to give me pointers. Kinda one of the old time racer types that enjoys passing on his knowledge. Sure am glad he lives close!
 
dardoonk said:
It is obvious I need to locate a measuring device that goes smaller than what I have. That's my next step.
Click to expand...
I don't think you will find anything smaller than your current smallest feeler. Keep in mind that is only 1/3 the thickness of a sheet of paper. :shock:

I think my thinnest feeler is 0.0015 and it bends too easily, I can't imagine going thinner and even more fragile. Having the 0.0012 feeler is actually rather nice. Since that is the smallest that your valve clearance should be, you can be assured that if that feeler won't go in, you will need to change the shim. Unfortunately, you will not know how many sizes to change. The difference in the shim sizes is about 0.002, which is greater than the thickness of the feeler gauge. Unless your valves are being held open, one shim size difference should be enough to bring it back into range. If the valves are being held open, hope they have not gotten burned, and two shim sizes might get it back into range.

Let us know what you find.


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By the way, one good tip I got was to use the tappet tool to make extra space for the really thin gauges. Then remove the tappet tool and pull out the gauge and judge the resistance that way. If it doesn't move, it's too big - use the tappet tool again to release it and try the next size down.

Getting an .0015 or the .002 into the space (even when it fits) is sometimes like trying to get a crumpled dollar into a Coke machine. This tip saved me some time.
 
Roostabunny said:
By the way, one good tip I got was to use the tappet tool to make extra space for the really thin gauges. Then remove the tappet tool and pull out the gauge and judge the resistance that way. If it doesn't move, it's too big - use the tappet tool again to release it and try the next size down.

Getting an .0015 or the .002 into the space (even when it fits) is sometimes like trying to get a crumpled dollar into a Coke machine. This tip saved me some time.
Click to expand...

Are you talking inches???? My smallest one is 0.03mm which is thin as a hair! or 0.001inches!
 
tconroy said:
Are you talking inches???? My smallest one is 0.03mm which is thin as a hair! or 0.001inches!
Click to expand...
Yes, we are talking inches here. If you do the math, 0.03 mm translates to 0.00118110236 inches, or, rounded off, 0.0012". 8-[


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Steve said:
Yes, we are talking inches here. If you do the math, 0.03 mm translates to 0.00118110236 inches, or, rounded off, 0.0012". 8-[
Mine are set at 0.03mm to 0.08mm for clearance on the 650. I go by mm cause it makes it easier to use for me.That's the way my bikemaster feeler gauge is marked. I work with mm all day and inches confuses me anymore.I work on german made machinery so i dont ever use SAE measurements anymore The guy that helped me do my adjustment used inches but did it in the mm measurement and i had to do it all over again.Instead of (example) 0.03mm he set them at 0.0003 inches which is way to big.0.0003 inches is about 0.08mm. which is the high side for my clearance, that's why I asked.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
tconroy said:
Steve said:
Yes, we are talking inches here. If you do the math, 0.03 mm translates to 0.00118110236 inches, or, rounded off, 0.0012". 8-[
Mine are set at 0.03mm to 0.08mm for clearance on the 650. I go by mm cause it makes it easier to use for me.That's the way my bikemaster feeler gauge is marked. I work with mm all day and inches confuses me anymore.I work on german made machinery so i dont ever use SAE measurements anymore
Click to expand...

Yeah - that would make it a little easier. I'll probably get a set like that eventually. But for now my SAE ones work, especially with the help of Steve's spreadsheet to do the conversion to Metric for me.

Guess it would have helped to clarify units on that post. This thread has been a little confusing that way - sorry to add to it. :)
Click to expand...
 
Roostabunny said:
tconroy said:
Yeah - that would make it a little easier. I'll probably get a set like that eventually. But for now my SAE ones work, especially with the help of Steve's spreadsheet to do the conversion to Metric for me.

Guess it would have helped to clarify units on that post. This thread has been a little confusing that way - sorry to add to it. :)
Click to expand...

As long as you go by the book for what the clearance is it's fine to use whatever you want.Just dont get them mixed up like my buddy did!!
Click to expand...
 
82Shafty said:
Did you grind the valves or cut the seats?

By doing so you increase the stem height.
Click to expand...

Valves were lapped when I did the head. Everything went back in its original location, but I wasn't smart enough then to write down all my shim sizes.
Probably, the motor was way tight when I tore it down. This has been my first resto-ish job, and frankly I was too dumb & too excited to check everything when I tore it apart. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have gotten into this mess.

Everyone's help here has once again assisted in solving one of my problems.
 
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