Checked Valve Clearances...Advice?

[Turd Ferguson]

Firstly, I've searched. 

Nextly, I checked the valve clearances on my 2005 GS500F today.  The bike has 1,000 miles on it...yeah...I'm a little late on the valve check.

Three of the four valves are tight.  My feeler gauges only go down to 0.038mm, but three of the valves weren't even close to allowing the feeler to slide in.  The buckets/shims do, however, spin freely when turned with a screwdriver.

Bottom Line:  Valve clearances are more than likely too tight, but are not zero.  Should I go one size down on shims (i.e.  0.05mm smaller)?

Is this normal for a new bike; slightly tight tolerances?

Thanks guys.  This is my first post, the search function makes this site a wealth of knowledge.

-Turd.

[annguyen1981]

Unfortunately, I'm not as technical as you are, so I wouldn't be helpful in this subject, but I wanted to be the first to welcome you to the GSTwin Family.

[rangerbrown]

well if your late then i am screwed, i have 10k on mine and never checked it. but i am doing it this week, when the rear tire is being replaced. far as i know as long as it isn't zero your fine, for now. it should loosen up a little by the time you get 4k on it.

[Wrecent_Wryder]

dsf

[Cal Amari]

well if your late then i am screwed, i have 10k on mine and never checked it. but i am doing it this week, when the rear tire is being replaced. far as i know as long as it isn't zero your fine, for now. it should loosen up a little by the time you get 4k on it.

Actually, in my experience, exhaust valves tend to tighten up, not loosen, and you need to check your clearances before you run into problems you don't want.

[Egaeus]

far as i know as long as it isn't zero your fine, for now. it should loosen up a little by the time you get 4k on it.

I mail-ordered a special feeler gauge....

Mind if I ask where you got it?  I have an SAE set that goes down to 0.038mm and a metric set that goes down to 0.04mm, but I couldn't find anything smaller than that.  Since the tolerance is 0.02mm to 0.08mm, it would be nice to have a couple of smaller gauges.

[Ceek]

  i may be wrong here...but if it's a sae set it goes down to .038 of an inch...that's way different than .038 mm
ceek

[Wrecent_Wryder]

fd2

[Egaeus]

They seem to know they have a hard-to-find but popular item there...

Yeah, and they're not afraid to charge for it either!

[Wrecent_Wryder]

3ds

[scratch]

Welcome!

Did you turn the crank to align the marks?  Here?: http://www.gstwin.com/adjust_valves.htm

If so, great!

If you're going to be doing your own maintenace, you're going to need a collection of shims sooner or later.

I prefer to have my valves on the 'loose' side.  In my opinion, I would pull each shim, write down the number on each shim and order one size smaller shim(s).  If one is a 260, and two are 265, I would order, at least, one 255.  This way I can take out the 260, put in the 255 (check it), and use the 260 to check the other two valves with the feeler guages.

If you have shims that are odd sized (258, 262, 268, etc.), keep them!  These are factory shims and are not common.  You cannot buy or order these.

[Egaeus]

Ummm. To be honest, I don't know what the "normal" price range for feeler gauges is. Maybe they're gouging, but it was convenient, and at under $20 for a one-time purchase, I don't usually bother to compare prices.

Good quality gauges that have everything but the 0.03 mm can be bought for about $5.  I paid $4.29+tax.  I was considering the ones you pointed out, but I don't think that 0.008 mm is worth $12 more.  If they had 0.02, I might go for it.

[Budrick320]

I just did my first valve check this past saturday and I have a question. I did it in 40 degree weather. Freezing.

Should I have warmed up the engine before I checked the clearances?

[Turd Ferguson]

No, clearances should be checked with the engine cold.  The temperature you measured at is plenty fine.

Scratch:  Yeah I aligned the cams/crank as stated in the Clymer manual.  I'll probably be buying one size down on all three shims, then I'll recheck.  I'm sure that'll put in in the range.  Things might be on the loose side, but as you stated...that seems to be a safer bet than on the tight side.

Thanks again all!

-Turd.

[Mandres]

Ummm. To be honest, I don't know what the "normal" price range for feeler gauges is. Maybe they're gouging, but it was convenient, and at under $20 for a one-time purchase, I don't usually bother to compare prices.

Good quality gauges that have everything but the 0.03 mm can be bought for about $5.  I paid $4.29+tax.  I was considering the ones you pointed out, but I don't think that 0.008 mm is worth $12 more.  If they had 0.02, I might go for it.

Where did you buy your set?  I'm in the market for these also.

-M

[Egaeus]

Where did you buy your set?  I'm in the market for these also.
-M

I got the SAE's with the 0.038 at Auto Zone.  I got the metrics down to 0.04 at Pep Boys. 

[Trwhouse]

Hi there,
Yes, as others have said, it is NOT uncommon to find tight valves and have to replace the existing shims with thinner ones.
I use a set of feeler gauges from Sears -- a Craftsman feeler gauge set with lots of gauges. It has all the right ones.
I loosen the lock nut on the feeler gauge set, unfold the three that I need -- biggest, smallest, and middle size -- and try them one at a time to get the right reading.
Take your time, and be sure the engine is COLD.
Also, you can buy long single feeler gauges from a MAC or Snap-On tool truck. Good quality and the right sizes.
Good luck,
Todd

[Mandres]

I just discovered bikebandit.com carries the metric feeler gauge down to the .03 size.  At <$10 it seems like it a good value.  I went ahead and added one to my ever-growing shopping cart on their site.

http://www.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/product~pf_id~5087221~dept_id~2118512.asp

-M