Valve adjustment shims on hand or no?

[rockhammer]

Quick question to you experienced wrenchers. Should I have shims on hand before I take apart the motor to check valves? Should I just by some shims and always have them? If so which ones.

Thanks.

[Steve]

First of all, what bike do you have? Many GSes don't use shims.

Assuming that your bike does use shims: Unless you have an unlimited budget, you won't have enough money onhand to have enough shims ready to go.

The only way to do that is to open it up, measure your clearances, then inventory your shims.
WARNING: DO NOT REMOVE MORE THAN ONE SHIM AT A TIME.
Can't emphasize that one enough, there have been a few threads lately from some newbies that have tried it.

Have you gotten BassCliff's Welcome Package? There are links in there to tutorials that will supplement a proper service manual, which is probably there, too, but once again, we have NO IDEA what bike you have.

Again, assuming you have shims in your bike, feel free to take advantage of the invite in my sig.

.

[almarconi]

On my bikes that use shims I measure my clearances, remove the shims, measure them and then figure out which shims I need. Many times it is possible to swap the shims around to get the required clearance. A complete set of shims is nice but not necessary since you won't need most of them. Steve's spreadsheet is useful for keeping your measurements organized.

[sedelen]

You would have to buy an awful lot of shims to have all that you might need.
They do sell shim kits but it'll cost you a bundle.
And you won't know what you need until you measure your clearances, then see what shims you have to work with. You may be able to move some around to save you from buying all new shims.
That being said, you need to put something in place of the shim after you remove it, so you can rotate the crank to take measurements and remove other shims.
I have not done this, but I've read that ordinary quarters, or those gold dollars will fit in place of shims so you can get that done.

You will need to record the clearance before you remove any shim, and once you remove your shim, you will need to determine it's thickness (some shims are marked) so that you can figure out which shim you need to replace it with.

The one thing you DON'T want to do is rotate the crankshaft without a shim, or something (like a quarter) in it's place. You will be very upset if you do, more than likely causing damage to the cam and shim bucket.

Shims are readily available at Z1 or any Suzuki on-line distributor for about $6 a piece.
You will probably want to get a new valve cover gasket and half moons.
Depending on what bike you have, you may not even have shims.
There are tutorials on BassCliff's site for adjusting valves.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Since I have inventoried my shims, know my clearances, and keep records, I can "guess-timate" what size shims I may need for my next valve adjustment. I order a few ahead of time if I need to. I now have a small stock of shims so that I don't have to wait for parts just for a valve check. Z1enterprises.com will have the best price on new shims. I don't know why but some of the used shims I've shopped for were twice the new price.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

Shims are readily available at Z1 or any Suzuki on-line distributor for about $6 a piece.

Be careful how you word that, shims are just over $6 each at Z1, but G&S sells them for $10.26. Bike BANDIT has them for $15.90 and Alpha Sports rips you off even worse for $16.68.

If you find a local dealer talk to the guys in the service area, not parts. There are some that will swap shims with you for a modest fee, some even do it for free. If you talk to the parts guy, you will pay full retail, which is about $15.

WARNING: if that local dealer also carries Yamaha and/or Kawasaki, measure the diameter of the shim before you leave. Yamaha and Kawasaki shims are 29.0mm, Suzuki shims are 29.5mm.

.

[rockhammer]

I have much to learn. I have an 82 gs 850 l. I will study up on this subject before getting into it. This shim thing sounds kinda scary.

[Ghostgs1]

Or you can join the Shim Club.

[Dogma]

I didn't see anyone mention buying a thin shim before the first check. Valve clearance is usually neglected, so you can assume that some valves are too tight to measure. Put a thin shim in there so you can calculate proper shim size based on the excess clearance the thin one will give you. The thin shim also gives you an extra shim for use when swapping shims around.

[sedelen]

Be careful how you word that, shims are just over $6 each at Z1, but G&S sells them for $10.26. Bike BANDIT has them for $15.90 and Alpha Sports rips you off even worse for $16.68.

If you find a local dealer talk to the guys in the service area, not parts. There are some that will swap shims with you for a modest fee, some even do it for free. If you talk to the parts guy, you will pay full retail, which is about $15.

WARNING: if that local dealer also carries Yamaha and/or Kawasaki, measure the diameter of the shim before you leave. Yamaha and Kawasaki shims are 29.0mm, Suzuki shims are 29.5mm.

.

Good Advice!
I checked and those shims have gone up! Faster and higher percentage wise than the stock market.
$10 and change at Boulevard Suzuki.
However, you can find them on E-bay cheaper.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=GS850+Shim&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=GS850+Valve+Shim&_sacat=0

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=GS1000+Shim&_pgn=2&_skc=50&rt=nc

[tkent02]

I have much to learn. I have an 82 gs 850 l. I will study up on this subject before getting into it. This shim thing sounds kinda scary.

It's not scary at all, but if you put up a location, there is probably someone local who is on this forum, willing to work with you, with a stack of shims and the experience to go with it.

[sedelen]

Here's an idea what you'll be getting into,
First download the owners manual, tappet adjustments start on page 3-5.

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS850_Manual_HiRes.pdf

You'll probably need the little bucket depressing shim tool.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motion-Pro-Valve-Shim-Tool-Suzuki-Yamaha-08-0017-GS550-GS750-GS850-GS1100-/170898655914?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27ca5a8aaa&vxp=mtr

Here's a 850 valve tappet adjustment tutorial.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/gs850valve_adjust.pdf

If you want to try it without the little shim tool you can try the zip-tie method.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/valve_tool_zip_tie.pdf

And a few notes.
Make a template of the valve cover gasket that you can put the valve cover bolts into because the bolts are sometimes different lengths.
Cover the area around the cam chain channel so little parts and tools don't drop into the channel down into your engine.

[bwringer]

I have shown several people how to do a valve check and adjustment on their GS.

I'm pretty sure every one of them told me it was simpler than they expected.

As noted above -- see if you can find a GS-er with experience in these matters in your area. They may also have a collection of shims.

Very few Suzuki dealers, if any, stock GS shims any more (even though they're still in use on the GS500) -- I know there are none in Indiana or bordering states that do.

I get my shims from a little independent shoppe downtown that specializes in older Japanese bikes. http://www.newmotorcycleparts.com/mo...lve_shims.html

[Steve]

I didn't see anyone mention buying a thin shim before the first check. Valve clearance is usually neglected, so you can assume that some valves are too tight to measure. Put a thin shim in there so you can calculate proper shim size based on the excess clearance the thin one will give you. The thin shim also gives you an extra shim for use when swapping shims around.

The thin shim works well with my spreadsheet, too. Put it in, measure a BUNCH of extra clearance, enter both numbers in the 'sheet, it will tell you what you need.

Spreadsheet info down there.

.

[sedelen]

Z1 Enterprises,
Valve Shims,

http://www.z1enterprises.com/ShopByCategory.aspx?name=Shims&description=29.5mm+Valve+Shims&category=0101040502040401