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Main Area => General GS500 Discussion => Topic started by: Nomak on December 10, 2005, 01:52:07 PM

Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: Nomak on December 10, 2005, 01:52:07 PM
where can I get some 0.05mm shims to adjust the valves?

thanks
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: GeeP on December 10, 2005, 05:14:27 PM
Valve shims for the GS come in .05mm increments.  You can't get a .05mm shim.

You can get shims from the dealer.  (duh)  :mrgreen:
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: scratch on December 10, 2005, 08:43:24 PM
Do you know what size shims you have now?

If you have a 260 and you need to go .05mm thicker (this means your valve clearance is approximately >.08mm to require a thicker shim), you will need a 265. If you have any shim with the nos. 252, 258, 262, 268, etc. Keep these shims as they are not available from your dealer.
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: calamari on December 10, 2005, 10:37:46 PM
i just got my bike back from the shop. in the end, I decided to pay for a valve adjustment (and they weren't even adjusted, just checked, but the carbs were adjusted).

anyway, i noticed the guy who fixed my bike also messed with the idle settings. now i'm iddleing at 1600rpm, instead of the 1100-1200rpm i used to have  :nono:
i think i'm gonna try to re-adjust that.
he also replaced my spark plugs and told me to take the bike back for warranty because my rear brake squeals like a pig.  :nono:
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: Nomak on December 10, 2005, 10:39:24 PM
Quote from: GeePValve shims for the GS come in .05mm increments.  You can't get a .05mm shim.

You can get shims from the dealer.  (duh)  :mrgreen:

thanks ...but any other place other then the stealership?
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: Phaedrus on December 10, 2005, 10:46:55 PM
Quote from: subci just got my bike back from the shop. in the end, I decided to pay for a valve adjustment (and they weren't even adjusted, just checked, but the carbs were adjusted)....

How much did that run you? How many hours labor did they charge?  :dunno:

Quote from: subcanyway, i noticed the guy who fixed my bike also messed with the idle settings. now i'm iddleing at 1600rpm, instead of the 1100-1200rpm i used to have  :nono:

Yeah, that happened to me after the shop did a service on my bike. Kind of annoying, eh?

Quote from: subche also replaced my spark plugs and told me to take the bike back for warranty because my rear brake squeals like a pig.  :nono:

I think all GS's have that rear brake squeal  :P
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: Budrick320 on December 10, 2005, 11:43:27 PM
Yeah I am interested in how much the cost was also. I am wondering whether to invest in a new manual and tools or to just get the first valve adjustment done at the shop.
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: GeeP on December 11, 2005, 01:56:28 AM
Quote from: Nomak
thanks ...but any other place other then the stealership?

bikebandit.com maybe....  If you're an online shopper, which I'm not.  I prefer a real person on the other side of the counter, even if it's only so I can threaten them when I get the wrong part.  Plus, I like to support the local dealer as they stock GS500 stuff!   :mrgreen:  

Why the resistance to buy from the dealer?  Unless you're 1,000 miles from a Suzuki dealer you're pounding salt trying to come up with an alternative.  They're only $8 each.   :dunno:
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: sledge on December 11, 2005, 02:49:04 AM
Nomak, do you realise just how thick a 0.05mm shim is? Put another way its half of one tenth of a millimeter or one twentieth of a millimeter or 5 one hundreths of a millimeter. Shims are just not available in this size, the idea is you buy one 0.05mm up in the exisisting size as mentioned. I doubt you could get them from anywhere other than a dealer due to a lack of demand but a good machine shop may be able to make one or surface grind a larger sized one down to the size you want but it would probably cost more than the $8 a new one costs. Go to the dealer, at least you have the knowledge that its a genuine OEM part and not some pattern copy made from cheap monkey-metal.
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: Wrecent_Wryder on December 11, 2005, 03:23:58 AM
&d
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: Nomak on December 11, 2005, 10:41:38 AM
Quote from: sledgeNomak, do you realise just how thick a 0.05mm shim is? Put another way its half of one tenth of a millimeter or one twentieth of a millimeter or 5 one hundreths of a millimeter.

I had a brain fart ... :dunno:  :lol: ... I hate the dealerships near me ... fooking shitty ass service and the folks that work there barely know anything about motorcycles + they are a huge rip off too ... I like t suport the local guy and I do give my business to the local bike shops but the blood stealerships go out of their way to piss me off and drive me away. Thanks for the info guys.
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: calamari on December 11, 2005, 04:13:22 PM
well, I paid a total of $115 for the valves adjustment (but they didn't needed adjustment anyway), the carburator adjustment, spark plugs replacement, chain tension adjustment and that's it. The price was quoted before the labor was done, so even if the valves had been adjusted, I still would have got the same price.

this was NOT with the stealership, but at a new friendly shop.

At the stealership, just the valves adjustment was going to be $125 (quoted).
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: davipu on December 11, 2005, 10:21:29 PM
a normal valve adjustment will be quoted at 2 hours of shop time,  which will range from 50-75 a hour + shims which are normaly $5 each (if you ask the tards at the parts desk they run $8 and it's usualy a week before they come in but if you go back to the service dept, a box of donuts will distract them long enough for you to grab what you need.)  BTW gs500 motors use a 28.5mm dia shim which is the standard japanese shim from 1984-1995 and is the most common size of valve shim available, you can also find fairly easily 28mm dia shims that were used in kawi motors forever and then some, but they are going to be loose and make lots of noise.  most euro bikes also used a shim over bucket design from the mid 80's untill the early 90's so the best place to look is at a beemer/ truimph shop.
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: calamari on December 12, 2005, 03:03:29 PM
SHe's running RICH!!!  :o

regarding this: http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=231913#231913

QuoteI just realized that the bike's running rich no matter what. I tried adjusting the throtle, but even on the minimum setting, it runs at 1600rpm on idle.

i don't think I'm doing it wrong, because I'm able to adjust the throtle play and to make the rpm's go higher for idle, but they just won't drop down from 1600. could the carburator thinghy have anything to do with this? I mean, the guy at the shop say he didn't touched the throtle cable...

scratch that. the guy at the shop mentioned a white little knob under or between the carbs. I think that may be it. I gotta try it.
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: calamari on December 12, 2005, 03:29:36 PM
ok, done. it was indeed the white knob  :P

now the bike's running like it used to before  :thumb: , and... it's also in the owners manual  :? (the procedure)
Title: Valve adjustment shims ...
Post by: jake42 on December 12, 2005, 11:25:09 PM
8 bucks. damn. I called around and found a dealership about 15 miles or so from me and went back to the servie dept and they had a hole conatiner of shims.  The guy at the service desk charged me 2.50 a shim.  I bought several different sizes, but have since sent them all to davipu.

Maybe we need a new forum to just swap shims among members.

Jake