Shim starter kit?

[kord_f]

I'm planning to do a valve adjustment in the upcoming week and have been looking for a shim kit with multiple sizes for a decent price. Everything I've found is around $150 which is a bit more than I wanted to pay to change 2 or 3 shims. The bike is my only vehicle at the moment so I can't wait a week to order the individual shims. Has anyone found a decent kit for a good price?

Also this is my first time adjusting the valves so any tips would be appreciated.

[mennobike]

Just check the shims first, then order the right size. Good luck finding them, though, apparently genuine shims have become a bit rare recently.

[EdChen]

I've gotten shims from thegsresource.com forum, Ray there runs it very well. You can also purchase shims directly from him, but your best bet is still to identify what shims you need, then order. You might even be able to move your shims around and get close enough.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?122394-GS-Valve-Shim-Club

[The Buddha]

Do not ever use a K&L or other aftermarket shim. They run fine a few 100 miles and then disintegrate. And obviously, destroy the motor.
Cool.
Buddha.

[W201028]

The budda is right, theres been too much of that lately. I feel like im beating a dead horse on this, but you can always have a local machine shop grind down the shims. You will end up with the same quality steel you started with, instead of risking cheap chinese alloy. It seems like these motors always get tighter, never looser, which says alot about the factory cam/shim materials. If suzuki shims cant be had, I would certainly look for any motor shop to take a few thou off for me.

[sledge]

Grinding shims?

Not recommended UNLESS you put the ground face face in the bucket away from the cam and put the chamfer back on the circumference. Even then the act is questionable because you will have reduced the hardened outer layer, particularly around the edge. I wouldn't even consider grinding a 2.15mm.

The chamfered edge is vital. It clears the fillet at the bottom of the bucket where the sides meet the base. Put a flat shim in and it will sit on the fillet not the bottom of the bucket, over time it will compress against the fillet and become tight preventing it from rotating and as it is pushed up against the fillet the gap will open up.

Ever wondered why some people struggle like mad to get shims out and some don't, theirs are probably sitting on the fillet and have become tight 

Not all aftermarket shims are chamfered either, the fact flat faced ones wont fit the bucket correctly may well be reason why some are prone to failing in the GS5.

[rg500gamma]

Grinding shims?

Not recommended UNLESS you put the ground face face in the bucket away from the cam and put the chamfer back on the circumference. Even then the act is questionable because you will have reduced the hardened outer layer, particularly around the edge. I wouldn't even consider grinding a 2.15mm.

The chamfered edge is vital. It clears the fillet at the bottom of the bucket where the sides meet the base. Put a flat shim in and it will sit on the fillet not the bottom of the bucket, over time it will compress against the fillet and become tight preventing it from rotating and as it is pushed up against the fillet the gap will open up.

Ever wondered why some people struggle like mad to get shims out and some don't, theirs are probably sitting on the fillet and have become tight 

Not all aftermarket shims are chamfered either, the fact flat faced ones wont fit the bucket correctly may well be reason why some are prone to failing in the GS5.




                                                                                                                                                                       100 %  spot on  , as I have  a full machine  shop and  I would not even  do this at all ,  remember   you get exactly  what you pay for  period .............



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

[W201028]

No disrespect intended guys, but I have to disagree with you on this. I find it highly unlikely that any valve shim would be produced by grinding and then case hardening, you would never end up with a precisely flat part. The shims are certainly hardened, and then ground for parallelism by surface or blanchard grind. Typical case hardening would be between 015" and .030" carbon penetration, perhaps more, and although some of this is ground away at the factory, they probably err on the safe side by not taking more that is necessary to regain flatness. So even guessing they take .01 per side, that still leaves us a mile to grind a second or even third time, considering the tiny tolerance these bikes need for valve lash (.001-.003")

Now, on the point of chamfering, I should think that no competent machinist would send a rotating part out with sharp edges. I broke the edges on mine with a light abrasive wheel, then filed for a nice edge break. But I suppose theres always that one guy in the shop with no common sense, so you have a point.

Beyond that, and its been awhile since I had mine apart, but I think I remember the buckets being undercut around the ID. I cant say for sure, but I know that mine rotated smoothly after sitting them in the bucket, clearly a ground to ground surface, not an uneven, hand made chamfer fit.

Maybe someone has a good picture of a valve bucket available?

[sledge]

If you want to grind your shims down and swap flat ones with chamfered ones that's your call    If you are going to suggest it others you also need to tell them of the potential risks and then let them make their own call otherwise its irresponsible advice.





For anyone actually considering it there is plenty on the net on the subject of shim grinding and on the problems swapping flat shims with chamfered can cause.........I suggest you do your own research and make your own decision, but first and above all else.......... I suggest sticking with stock size OEM items every time.

[W201028]

Sledge, you are right, I might not know all the potential risks. I didnt mention putting the newly ground side down. I truely dont remember if the factory shims I bought were chamfered on one side, both, or neither. What I do know is that I have 6k+ miles on a combination of purchased and once ground shims.

Either way, I cannot think of any potential risks, certainly not from one grinding on a known stock shim. It was common for owners of vintage british cars with shim adjust valves to lap them down with sandpaper if a tight valve was found. Light application of a surface grinder is certainly more precise. Furthermore, I searched around on the net for information regarding chamfered vs non chamfered shim-over-bucket applications, and although I certainly didnt see everything, I could find no information regarding this debate.

What I did find is a picture linked from this forum, taken by a rider selling a lot of gs parts. He claims this is a set of stock valves, springs, and buckets. The link is about halfway down the list.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=60106.msg691429#msg691429

The picture of the stock buckets clearly shows an undercut as I remembered, so I cannot see any problem with a square corner ground shim facing down in the bucket.

If you could provide some links to the issues an unsatisfactory chamfer might result in, I would be interested to read about it. Better yet would be a contained dimension for the chamfer, as this could help us sort out lower quality shims if it truely is a problem. Maybe the clymer manual mentions this, but I dont own one myself.

[rg500gamma]

If you want to grind your shims down and swap flat ones with chamfered ones that's your call    If you are going to suggest it others you also need to tell them of the potential risks and then let them make their own call otherwise its irresponsible advice.





For anyone actually considering it there is plenty on the net on the subject of shim grinding and on the problems swapping flat shims with chamfered can cause.........I suggest you do your own research and make your own decision, but first and above all else.......... I suggest sticking with stock size OEM items every time.

Suzuki  Shims   # 1     100 %   Genuine  Suzuki  Quality  period   ..........   you can pay now  or   pay  $$$$$   later