Closest powersports dealer to me charges me about 5 bucks PER SHIM, for valve shims and about 30 for a head gasket. the gasket yea, thats a typcial price i guess, but how much you you all pay for valve shims? per unit
I'v heard of people on here just swapping theirs out for some from a dealer for free, but none of my local dealers stock them, so idk?
Consider yourselves lucky.
In late 2007 I paid 14 EUR - which is nearly 19 USD at present exchange rate - for a single valve shim @ my local Suzuki dealer. :technical:
Just for curiosity.
EDIT: forgot to mention they weren't available straight away, but had to be ordered and shipped there. :technical:
One of my GS500 bookmarks (which someone else posted here, but I'm not looking for the original post) is
http://www.z1enterprises.com/SearchResult.aspx?All=True&KeyWords=gs500%20valve%20shim (http://www.z1enterprises.com/SearchResult.aspx?All=True&KeyWords=gs500%20valve%20shim)
That suggests that 5 bucks isn't a bad price, especially if you can walk in and get them.
Yep, I've always heard about them being $5 each. That's why I haven't been able to adjust my shims yet. Mine are too tight for my thinnest feeler to fit in, so I can't determine what the current gap is to do the math to see what size I need to change them to. Normally I'd order a couple and try them out, but obviously you can see how that would cost me $60 before I even knew what happened.
Quote from: tt_four on March 30, 2010, 11:34:14 AM
Yep, I've always heard about them being $5 each. That's why I haven't been able to adjust my shims yet. Mine are too tight for my thinnest feeler to fit in, so I can't determine what the current gap is to do the math to see what size I need to change them to. Normally I'd order a couple and try them out, but obviously you can see how that would cost me $60 before I even knew what happened.
Nope. $25, max (if they are all that tight, and that will cost you a lot more than $60 if you don't fix it.)
Don't be like the lady that was broke down beside the road yesterday - car died. Got her jumped, but there was no fan belt - car probably overheated and definitely sucked the battery to nothing. "Oh yes, it's been squealing for a week!" Delaying maintenance until something really breaks always costs more.
Get one of the thinnest shim. $5.
Pop out current shim. Pop in thinnest shim. Measure. If still too tight, I was wrong, it will cost you either your pride (sleazy used motorcycle sales before it actually breaks) or a valve job.
If not still too tight, measure the gap, figure the right shim. Repeat 3 times to check the other valves. Measure your current shims, see if any can be moved to a new spot where they will work. If not, order shims to fit where you need new ones (between $5 & 20)
Dealer charges $12/each here.
I know there not much cheaper here, but you wouldn't have to mess with dealers
http://www.z1enterprises.com/catalog.aspx?pid=SPEN1A
Last time I bought shims at my local dealer they were $13 each, up from $5 when I first bought them there. Some here have been getting them from CRC for $5 each but they have recently increased them to $6.95 for Suzuki size.
http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/Index_Main_Frame.htm
That's why I set them now so they don't need shim changes anymore. :icon_lol: My 02 GS with over 78k miles on it hasn't had a shim change for almost 40k miles now. All shims are still between 250-265 and my previous 97 GS had an exhaust valve down to a minimum 215 shim at 76.8k miles. :thumb:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/valveclearances.jpg
mine were $6 a piece.
i got really lucky! i went to my neighbors. suzuki dealership next door and they just traded me for mine. free:-) i went from a 2.78 to a 2.75 and it still is too tight though. doesnt make sense because minimum clearence is only.03. which is what i should have gained by changing the shim.
if you run out of clearance the tolerances don't sit still magically. when you remove a tight shim you can discover that the valve was pushing up against the bucket and shim by up to .1mm.
I paid $13 at a stealership a few years back.... They had it; I wanted it. :icon_eek:
well then from im hearing, ill go with the 5 bucks. i know they wont trade me cause they dont stock them. I have to drive 20 mineutes there, place the order and pay, and then wait for them to come in. oh well. no riding for some time then. also gotta order a head gasket while im there.
bike bandit works well for the patient. I think it was 5 a shim, maybe 6.
i was the one that posted the Z1 link in the east coast shim kit link that has died due to the kit being hijacked by a jack hole. they were IIRC the cheapest place to get them and also shipped them to me in michigan IIRC its been 6 months or so since i did mine in like 2 days from order to my door.