Checking shims

[Henxo]

Havent had my gs for long...it runs fine but i was wondering if o should check the shims anyway? Or just leave It if its running fine.

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[gruntle]

Grief,,,
It isn't fun checkin' shims, if I woz you, I'd check a shedload of other stuff 1st
Like yr chain, yr brake pads, yr tires...
just sayin...
jeeez....

[ajensen]

Run it for awhile. When it gets too cold or wet to ride, go ahead and check the valve clearance. It's fun--sort of--and the chance to pass a kind of initiation into being a GS500 owner. I got a tool from ebay. The tool works well, but you have to be patient. I cannot imagine anyone paying hundreds of dollars to have a mechanic do it.

[Jimbob]

Yeah the bike shop near wanted almost $500 to do it, I always do it myself

[user11235813]

Checking the valve clearance is easy it's getting to them that a bit fiddly but not difficult. A few tips, you DO need to take the breather cover off to get at the head. You need to retorque the cylinder head bolts while you're there too. I find the most fiddly part if taking the cables off the carburettor in order to get the valve cover off easily. But I agree with the others, it's probably not an urgent thing to do, they seems to stay in spec. There's a good video on you tube

Here's a tip that I have found very useful, when adjusting the chain, make sure to loosen the two 14mm torque arm bolts on either end of the rear brake torque arm.

[Henxo]

Thanks!! Ill leave It alone for now then  👍👍👍

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[Bluesmudge]

I would do it just for the piece of mind. Suzuki wants you to do it every 4,000 miles. Most people have found that 8,000 miles is an okay interval.

Like user11235813 said, its easy to check the clearances but harder to actually change the shims. Since the easy part is checking just do that. You will only have to do the hard part if you needed to anyways   

[Henxo]

Grief,,,
It isn't fun checkin' shims, if I woz you, I'd check a shedload of other stuff 1st
Like yr chain, yr brake pads, yr tires...
just sayin...
jeeez....

All done

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[pliskin]

Yeah the bike shop near wanted almost $500 to do it, I always do it myself

I hope you ran out the door laughing like a lunatic after hearing that. I took mine to a Suzuki dealer and they did it for $200. Dealers are typically way more expensive than independent shops.

FYI,
If you do check them yourself be sure to at least have a gasket ready just in case. When I checked mine and found them out of spec I decided to let the shop actually change the shims as I didn't feel like gambling on shim sizes and wasting my money. I had to button it back up and ride it to the shop. Found a small oil leak on the gasket when I got to shop.