• 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.

Shims for valve ajustment

jon

jon

Forum Apprentice
I have an 1983 gs850L .Can anyone tell me what shims are the most likely shims I may need when checking and adjusting the valve clearance. I would like to have an assortment on hand before taking it apart. Also where can I purchase these. Aside from z1. Thanks.
 
There is a "shim club" here where you might be able to get supply. What I would suggest is that you buy one of the thinner shims such as a 2.35 or something as a spare. You can then use it to calculate the shims you'll actually need by rotating that shim in and back out of any valves that are tight.

There is no "normal". The most likely range is 2.45-2.65 in my experience but I've also seen valves outside of that in both directions.

Other than Z1 you really only have dealer supply or Ebay. Every now & again a full dealer "shim kit" comes up but usually for $250+

:)
 
Given that the bike is going on 40 years old, it is impossible to predict even within a range of several sizes what shims you should need. Although a given bike will need progressively thinner shims as the valves mash up into the head with use, anything could have happened between 1983 and now. For example, if the head has been off for service, a machinist who does not have a stockpile of Suzuki shims will just grind the tips of the valve stems down until he reaches the correct lash.

On top of that, there is no telling the sizes of the shims that the bike left the factory with or how much the valves have mashed into the head.

Anything anybody could say would be a blind guess. You just have to measure your lash, pull the shims, do the arithmetic, and get the shims you need.
 
Most of these bikes left the factory with shims in the 2.65 to 2.80 range. As the valves and seats wear, the clearance will go down, requiring thinner shims. The number of miles the engine has been run might give you an idea how many sizes down from original, but since you don't have any idea what "original" was, you simply need to open it up, measure your clearances, then remove each shim ONE AT A TIME, record its size, then order replacements as necessary.

AND, ... to help you keep track of what is in your engine and also give you an idea what shims you will need, feel free to take advantage of the offer in my signature.

.
 
jon said:
I have an 1983 gs850L .Can anyone tell me what shims are the most likely shims I may need when checking and adjusting the valve clearance. I would like to have an assortment on hand before taking it apart. Also where can I purchase these. Aside from z1. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Another option (which I have used) is to see if a local shop will swap shims with you. Bring in what you won't be using, and swap for the sizes you need. Usually, you can move some shims around. Then you'll find you may only need 1 or 2. The times that I have swapped shims with the shop, they just blew the dust off their kit (they never have a need for it anymore) and made the swap at no charge. As stated, never rotate the motor without a shim in every bucket.
 
I called a big multi-line shop to ask if they stock the shims for 82 Suzuki, he said, "Yah, we got all kinds of them for all bikes".
So I went in, guy at the counter says "oh, those old quarter sized ones, naw, we dont stock those."

Other thing to be aware of, if a shop does have a supply of the "quarter sized ones", be sure it is the old Suzuki ones not the old kawasaki ones, they are about half millimeter diameter different, but would look a lot alike.
 
Suzuki's are 29.5 MM. Another option is ....if you have access to a surface grinder they can be skimmed. They are fully hardened. BUT.....they must be ground with coolant flowing on them.

I have a bunch of thicker ones I was gonna send to Ray but he doesn't have a surface grinder. Would be nice to have someone grind me some "off" sizes like 263, 252,267,268.
 
Why go for the "off" sizes? :-k

They are going to change, anyway, so stick with stock sizing.
dunno.gif


.
 
Some times you drop one size and your past the prescribed .08 mm. So an off size will be optimal. Don't tell me you haven't had it happen .lol
 
OK, it's happened, but I'm not going to tell you about it. :-\\\

That is one reason that many of us willingly go up to 0.10mm.

It also helps to have a few "X" shims in stock. :encouragement:

The only 'bad' thing about the "X" shims is that you can't order them, you have to find them.
I have bought shims on eBay only because they had a few "X" shims in the bunch.

.
 
Steve said:
Why go for the "off" sizes? :-k

They are going to change, anyway, so stick with stock sizing.
dunno.gif


.
Click to expand...
I dont understand what that means. I was under the impression that I would need to change them as needed or when the gas closes.
 
jon said:
I dont understand what that means. I was under the impression that I would need to change them as needed or when the gas closes.
Click to expand...
That was a response to Chuck Hahn, who was suggesting grinding them to custom thicknesses.

Yes, you will need to change shims occasionally.

Have you opened up your engine yet to measure clearances and inventory your shims?

.
 
No I haven't. I am planning to ride the rest of the season then do the job . Possibly have the whole motor gone threw. I was just hoping there was a kit or a certain number of shims I could purchase that would cover most cases. Also I did try my local dealer and they dont have any. In fact they brought out 4 boxes of very small in diameter shims like 7.3 or something and when I questioned the sizes said shims are shims. After a a quick conversation we came to agree that they just didn't have what I needed.
 
Also is hitting quick reply the best way to reply to specific people ,as in these replys?
 
jon said:
Also is hitting quick reply the best way to reply to specific people ,as in these replys?
Click to expand...

Quick Reply keeps the conversation going, but if you want to be specific about whom you are addressing, it sometimes help to use the Reply with quote on the bottom of the post you want to respond to. That's what I did here.
 
jon said:
Also is hitting quick reply the best way to reply to specific people ,as in these replys?
Click to expand...
Hitting the "Reply" button is pretty much the only way to respond. However, if the thread is really busy, with many different posters, you might want to go back to the post you are replying to and hit the "Reply With Quote" button. That will copy their post, then you can enter your reply. NOTE: if the quoted post is very long, possibly with several other points, you can edit out the irrelevant stuff and leave just the point to which you are replying.

Back to your valve shims: go back and re-read the replies in posts 2, 3, 4 and 5. There were no "standard" shims in the engine when it left the factory. Due to production tolerances, there were variations in the clearances, which required different shim thicknesses. It was common to find shims in the 2.65 to 2.80 range, but there is also no way to know if they have been changed since new. As an engine wears, the required shim thickness will decrease, but until you open up your engine, measure your clearance, then remove the shim to see its size, you will have no way to know what shim needs to be in there.

.

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