Ok... so my front (exhuast) valves had clearances of .09 and .1.  They were size 2.65 shims.  Normal mathmatics would leave me to believe that if I placed 2.70 shims in each bucket i would be within spec.  I did this... it was not in spec.  Now they're too tight.  I know I need a dial caliper... but short of the shims being out of spec (the new ones) could anything cause this?  I turned the motor several times to squeeze any oil between the bucket and shim out. 

How small are your feeler gauges?  Do they go all the way down to .03mm?

Were the shims spotless when you put them in, with just a light coat of motor oil on them?  It doesn't take but a few specs of dirt to screw up the reading.

Are the shims you took out worn?  For this you need to measure the thickness of the center of the shim with a micrometer.  If the shims you took out were worn, that could make the new shims fit tight.

Sure you didn't have a brain fart?  If you're like most of us, you're probably using standard feeler gauges to measure a metric clearance.  Is it possible you forgot and took the reading of the feeler at face value?  That would cause you to think it was tight...  I've done it before, so don't laugh.  

My guess is that the old shims were worn a bit.  Since they're so close to spec I would leave the old ones in and not worry about it.  That .01-.02 is probably within the margin of error of most inexpensive gauges anyway.  A little bit of extra clearance on the exhaust side is ok, what you don't want iis for them to tighten up as the valve face/seats wear down. 

-M

The valves in the bike are brand new (within 75 miles).  Would you guys say that a little extra clearance on the exhaust side is ok (.9 and .1)?  I'm using metric gauges... but they were really inexpensive (like 4 bucks) so I'm not sure if they're the most accurate ever.  I know i'm tight on the intake side... I'll have to get some smaller ones for that.  I wish my gauges went to .03!!!!