i have a 2004 gs500 and i decided to do a valve clearance on it. turns out i need to replace 2 shims as the clearances are both to small. I tried using the suzuki shim tool, and jeez what a load of crap, slips off the bucket so much. So in a pissed off mindset i decided to undo the camshaft holders, and releave the tension and pop the shim out that way, turns out when i did that the left hand exhaust cam popped up and the cam lobe rests on the shim raising the left hand part of the exhaust camshaft up, while the right hand side fits into the gap. this makes it a bit tricky putting the camshaft holders back on, whats the correct way to tighten them up, and is the exhaust camshaft meant to be at a slant? thanks Dan.
loosen the tension on the timing chain tensioner, helps to have someone hold it and the put the cams back in
tensioner is completely out.
i think the last time I had mine apart I just used the cam cap bolts to slowly tighten down the can cap into place while it pushed the valve down
^^^^ slowly and carefully! You don't want to break a cap! (search "broken camshaft cap")
In the future, I'd recommend you rotate the engine so that none of the valves are open, and then mark the alignment of the cams and the chain using a mechanics pen. Makes re-assembly much easier.
The short answer to your question is that you can install the cams with pressure on the valves... Just make sure to thread all the cam bolts correctly, make absolutely sure you aren't going to ruin any of the alignment pins, and torque the bolts slowly and carefully. Then, double check the valve timing... With everything bolted together, let the CCT loose and run the engine through a couple of rotations using a wrench. Make sure everything lines up correctly after-words. I find that my valve timing is often off by a tooth.
Thanks for all the help :) just waiting for bike nshops to open again so i can get some shims, and then i will carefully put it back together!