is this the right valve adjustment tool???

[KYGS500E]

Is this the right tool... it mentions an overhead cam???  Not really sure...

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse/c-10111/s-10101/p-100000146232/mediaCode-ZX/appId-100000146232/Pr-p_CATENTRY_ID:100000146232

[Kerry]

The photo is not accurate, but the description is.  If you order that part, you should get the right thing.

Check out this related item from Dennis Kirk:


The image came from their Motion Pro Valve Shim Tool for Honda CB750/900, CBX page, but the tool on the far left is the one used for Suzukis.  Back when I could find the Suzuki tool in their online catalog, they used the same picture for it, too.

Here is the Motion Pro tool for Suzukis (visible once my website transfer is complete):

[red_phil]

looks like the right thing to me.

[Kerry]

I think the JC Whitney photo matches the tool second from the left in the Dennis Kirk photo.  It's too narrow on the back side of the curve, just below where it joins the straight section, and the tip of the curve comes up too far.

I don't doubt that a valve shim tool could be made like that for Suzuki engines ... it just doesn't match the one that MotionPro has made for years.... 

[tealetm]

I have yet to realize why you would need a valve adjustment tool.  Take the extra 2 minutes and remove the cam.

[runsilent]

Fits all Suzuki 4-stroke models with shim-type valve tappets

http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/tools/product/valve_shim_tools/

08-0017 looks just like Kerrys.  Only 2 bucks more straight from Motion Pro. 

[NightRyder]

I have yet to realize why you would need a valve adjustment tool.  Take the extra 2 minutes and remove the cam.

Yea.. so true. I did without too. Two flathead screwdrivers, some skill, luck and time. As far as I know, the tool just pushes the valve down without blocking the shim. Just use something else to do that with and bam, wham, kazzam. Although i'm sure it would be easier/faster with the tool.

[Admiral Crunch]

I have yet to realize why you would need a valve adjustment tool.  Take the extra 2 minutes and remove the cam.

Does that affect the timing and/or the timing chain?

[Onlypastrana199]

You'd have to check the timing afterwards, thats how mine ended up two teeth off

[Kerry]

I have yet to realize why you would need a valve adjustment tool.  Take the extra 2 minutes and remove the cam.

I must belong to the "If it ain't broke, don't break it" crowd.  Removing the cam has the potential of goofing up the timing, getting the torque values wrong when you put it back on, etc.  Not to mention how many times you might have to replace the cam and remove it again as you try to find the right shim (say, if the current one is multiple sizes too thick and you don't have a good "test shim").

I know that loosening the cam without removing it is also supposed to work, but again ... why mess with something that (in my case) has gone 36,000 miles just fine?

[runsilent]

I have yet to realize why you would need a valve adjustment tool.  Take the extra 2 minutes and remove the cam.

After removing and installing the cams several times on his GS1100E, my son had to have several of the stripped holes for the cam caps fixed with helicoils.  Even if you torque them properly each time the hardened steel bolts will sooner or later take their toll on the soft aluminum threads in the head, particularly as the bike ages.

I won't buy a bike with shim under bucket valve adjustment.  It's absurd to have to tear an engine down to tune it up!

[KYGS500E]

I've adjusted by taking the cams off... i have it down to a science... but i'm with kerry... if it aint broke dont go out of your way to break it... its faster and easier to do it with the tool and eliminates the chances for mistakes (like the time i had to rebuild my head... prior to it becoming a science).  Its only 15-20 bucks... well worth it I think!

[tealetm]

You dont' have to screw with the timeing if you take the cams out.  Simply keep them on the same tooth/chain arrangement and "roll" the cam on the chain so you can access the vavles.  Yeah you're more likely to strip out a bolt, but better than F-ing around with that shim tool and dropping either shim or the tool into the case.

[Onlypastrana199]

I've done it both ways....the valve adjustment kit just left me. I did it by taking the cam off when I first got my bike but because I had to because my head was no good. The tool is waaaaay easier. Shove a rag in there...you aren't gonna drop anything in there. It took like 2 seconds to use the tool...

[Mandres]

I have yet to realize why you would need a valve adjustment tool.  Take the extra 2 minutes and remove the cam.

Even if you torque them properly each time the hardened steel bolts will sooner or later take their toll on the soft aluminum threads in the head, particularly as the bike ages.

That's a good point.  Collecting tools is a compulsion for me anyway, gotta have them all!

-M