Yep it is.
Ok, I checked my valve shim clearance the other day and posted in my sidewinder build that I measured the following:
Here are my findings:
Right Exh: .0045" - .114mm
Left Exh: .0080" - .203mm
Right Int: .0030" - .076mm
Left Int: .0035" - .089mm
Then Paulcet posted this link on the correct procedure. http://www.familyjones.org/paul/valve_adj.pdf
I fired the bike up for just a min , before I checked the clearances the first time, so I thought that may have been the problem.
So what I did was check it three different ways this afternoon with the bike cold.
Im using the term "cold" lightly as I am in South Carolina and its August.
Smallest shim I have is .0015"
Right Exh: .0070" - .1778mm
Left Exh: .0050" - .203mm
Right Int: <.0015" -
Left Int: <.0015" -
Then again with the cam lobe 180 degrees from the valve shim. (This seems like it would be the way to check to me, and I think this is how Kerry shows in his vid.)
Right Exh: .0045" - .114mm
Left Exh: .0045" - .114mm
Right Int: <.0015" -
Left Int: <.0015" -
This time I tried to find the area with the largest clearance, sometimes it didn't seem correct , as the valve lobe was about 90degrees to the shim.
Right Exh: .0070" - .1778mm
Left Exh: .0080" - .2032mm
Right Int: .0030" - .076mm
Left Int: .0035" - .089mm
Any ideas what I should do from here?
The first time I checked them I did it with the lobes facing away from the valves, but it's not right, you just go by the marks on the end of the camshafts. What measurements are you getting when they're facing towards and away from each other?
Right Exh: .0070" - .1778mm
Left Exh: .0050" - .203mm
Right Int: <.0015" -
Left Int: <.0015" -
These were the measurments using the info in Paulcets link.
If my memory is correct, all clearances except the left exhaust were measured with the two notches facing each other, then facing opposite directions for the left exhaust measurement.
I think the "low" side of the cams are not round, therefore the lobe must be perpendicular or parallel to the top face of the head. Interesting disparity between the intake and exhaust, though.
You will want to get them right, I'm sure. My intakes were tight, and I noticed an improvement in low RPM response once I got them in spec.
Yeah, I don't know exactly why, I assumed it was because that's the position they're in when the engine is in an important part of the stroke. All of mine are too tight, but the buckets still spin freely, and I don't have any dealerships within close distance, so once I get the bike on the road I'll go to a dealership and buy some shims and fix them.
Now, as far as the measurements, it's been a little while since I've looked at the manual, so I'm just going off memory. The clearances are supposed to be .003-.008mm right? which would make your gaps huge! Of course the decimals are subject to be moved, but if I remember right they were measured in MMs.
Clearances are .03-.08 mm or equivelant .001-.003 inches.