Odd, to me anway, valve adjust findings.

[Pigeonroost]

Dealer was paid to do the early (initial) check and I had discretely marked the obvious bolts to help assure they did; I now think they figured that out and still gave it the "sink test".  I did the second check today.  Left E had .272mm shim and .127mm clearance; Right E with .278 shim and .051 clearance.  I swapped places with those two shims and got a "loose" L .076 and R .076.  Joy!  Left I had/has 265 shim with .079 clearance.  R I had/has .268 shim and also .079 clearance.

Note unusual factory only "in between" shim sizes.  Both local dealers did not have the large diameter shims we need; both said their computer indicated never having them in stock! They had never seen such large shims!  Hmmmm.  I planned on shooting for about .10mm on E and .08 for I.  Next time.  That hulking .278 shim was also a tiny bit larger in diameter and a Buddha Loves You to get back into the buckets; but once in it spun around freely.  No change noted in performance, starting, or idle.  Tupperware on "F" model is PIA!

prs

[Pigeonroost]

Ha, Ha!  The system substituted "Buddha Loves You " for the word I used meaning female kanine.

prs

[black and silver twin]

Thats kinda weak that they didnt do the shims, I would be beyond pissed.

Tupperware on "F" model is PIA!

The fairings dont have to be removed to do valves, only the gas tank. Ive done it twice now without touching the fairings.

[BeerGarage]

That hulking .278 shim was also a tiny bit larger in diameter and a Buddha Loves You to get back into the buckets; but once in it spun around freely. 

Are all 4 shims the same diameter?  Our bikes take a 29.5 mm shim.  Some Kawas and Yamas take a 29 mm shim.  Maybe they changed 3 of your shims for the wrong diameter shims, and just did a Buddha Knows Your Girlfriend job getting the clearances right. 

They are not dishonest, just stupid.  Does that make you feel better?

[Pigeonroost]

Beer, I really think ALL the shims in mine are factory shims,  that thickest one did not look or "feel" any larger in diameter, but there evidently was some tiny difference.  It fit, just very close tolerance and the exhaust buckets are tilted pretty far forward, thus that stubborn bugger kept falling forward of the bucket.  I had a tiny magnet built into a ball point pen ink stem (made for removing small button cell batteries from gadgets) that helped me tease it into positon.

Also, I did measure the thickenss of each shim and each read on my digital caliper EXACTLY as printed on the faces.  Also, I used the special tool like Kerry shows in his video and it worked really well with no annoying kick-outs.  To tease the shims out of the buckets against the resistance of the surface tension of the oil, I used a seal pick, looks like a dental pick.

About the dishonesty; I think the service tech may have "sink tested" the valves knowing they did not have shims anyway, knowing the service manager would be on  his arse if he took two hours to do the job, and such......  No benefit to be mad, just do the work myself.

prs

That hulking .278 shim was also a tiny bit larger in diameter and a Buddha Loves You to get back into the buckets; but once in it spun around freely. 

Are all 4 shims the same diameter?  Our bikes take a 29.5 mm shim.  Some Kawas and Yamas take a 29 mm shim.  Maybe they changed 3 of your shims for the wrong diameter shims, and just did a Buddha Knows Your Girlfriend job getting the clearances right. 

They are not dishonest, just stupid.  Does that make you feel better?

[Firewalker]

What a jimmy whack!!!  I find it hard to trust people working on my stuff.  It is probably the reason so many of us work on our own bikes.  I am thankful for the resources here to help figure these things out.  I was quoted $80 to do the shim job on my bike but....I don't know the guy.  Don't know if I should trust him or not and I won't know what the clearances are when he does it or if he would just leave them as is and tell me he changed two of them.  Bout the same cost to get the stuff myself and it looks easy enough.  Sometimes not enough hours in the day to mess with things like this though.

After hearing this I think I will just have to find the time.  Sorry to hear about the experience.

Scott

[black and silver twin]

What is "sink" testing?

[Pigeonroost]

What is "sink" testing?

A fake test; like when you go to the health clinic and get blood work done and they go pour it down th sink and give you a bogus report and collect the fee.

prs

[burning1]

GS shims are only used on the various GS models. No other bike uses them, so very few shops keep them in stock. You're more likely to find them at a racing shop than the dealer - the big bore 4 cylinder GS seems to be a pretty popular drag bike.

[Pigeonroost]

The fairings dont have to be removed to do valves, only the gas tank. Ive done it twice now without touching the fairings.
[/quote]

Great!  I'll give that a whirl the next time.  It looked to be near impossible to get to all the valve cover bolts with fairings on.

prs

[black and silver twin]

The fairings dont have to be removed to do valves, only the gas tank. Ive done it twice now without touching the fairings.

Great!  I'll give that a whirl the next time.  It looked to be near impossible to get to all the valve cover bolts with fairings on.

prs

You just need an allen key, it will fit. There are 6 allen bolts on the valve cover and 4 bolts on the breather vent.

take the gas tank off, then remove the PAIR valve. next remove the vacuum canister and the spark plug wires. before you take the valve cover bolts out remove the breather vent adapter, its held on with 4 bolts, it needs to come off so there is room. then take out the valve cover bolts, next comes the hard part. you will have to turn the valve cover before you try to pull it out so it will clear the throttle cables. (if you remove the carbs it's much easier to take the cover out.) you will cuss and swear it wont fit (gigitty) but get it angled right and it will come out with some force (giggity) with out screwing anything up. installation is the reverse.

as I said, removing the carbs makes it alot easier.