I spent the day playing with the new digital multimeter.
I went down the Clymer sugested checks.

First I tried the -Batery Drain Test
This is the test where you disconect the negative ground cable and then test between the cable and the battery post.
Directions say to switch ammeter from its highest to lowest amperage scale while reading the meter scale. I couldn't get any readings other than OL(overload) with all the five settings available. Also, I have no clue what they mean by switching from lowest to highest is done.
(?)

Second, I did the -Charging System Output Test
At idle and with the bike off, I was getting 12.73 V at the battery posts.
At 5K rpm's with hi-beam on I got 14.65 V at the battery posts.
(PASSED)

Finally, Clymer tells me to check the Regulator/Rectifier by checking the continuity between its different terminals.  :dunno: I couldn't figure out how to set the multimeter for this test either
(?)

you will see a little sign of a speaker, or something like that, and when you touch the probes you will hear a beep for aslong as they touch.

Can you post a picture of your multimeter, or let us know the make & model so someone can find a picture of it online?  There is quite a variety in features and controls in the meters that are available out there.

For the purposes of discussion, I'll assume the feature set on my digital meter:



Battery Drain Test

Your ammeter should

definitely be able to display the amperage that your battery puts out.

Make sure you're measuring DC amps rather than AC amps.  (Apparently my meter doesn't even HAVE an AC amperage range.  If it did it would look like the Voltage range in the upper right-hand corner - with a '~' next to the A.)

You may also need to double-check your probe placement.  The black COM (common or ground) lead should be touching the negative battery terminal, the red lead should be touching the detached cable.

I'm not sure how many amps the manual says you should expect, but most of the meters I have used require that you plug one of the probes into a separate jack on the meter if you expect to measure 10 amps or more.  In the above picture it's the UNUSED jack.[/list:u]Regulator/Rectifier (continuity test)

Your meter may or may not have an audible continuity testing feature.  (Mine doesn't.)  If not, you will need to use the ohmmeter feature, which measures electrical resistance.  The ranges will be identified by the Greek letter

Omega.  On my meter these switch positions are in the lower left quadrant.

Continuity is the same thing as VERY little resistance (0 to a few ohms).  Use the lowest range when checking for continuity - on the highest range you can hold one of the tips of the meter probes in each hand and it will look like the resistance across your entire body is fairly small![/list:u]I don't know if you have the time or the inclination to go back and read some background info, but the old thread
Narrowing down the problems to a broken bike
contained a lot of "meter talk".

EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net

The twitch in my left eye has stopped because I think I found the culprit to my poor running blues.
All four valves are out of spec Still, I am glad the shop didn't have to figure that out for me.

Like everyone else. I only have a feeler gauge that goes down to .04. The right side intake(D) was at .09. All others were to tight for the .04 feeler.
Also, I have a tiny bit of scoring on one of the lobes. It is maybe 2mm round. Can I ignore this ?

An observation:
It was easy to line up the first three for checking but it took many tries before I could get the notches pointed out to check the left exhaust (A). I guess that was because of the weight of the pistons.

The plan:
I don't have the motion pro tool and I have yet to make my own I am going to try the zip tie techniqe to hold the timing chain to the sprockets, that Srinath mentioned in another thread. Hopefully, to avoid having to reset the timing. Will the tensioner need to come off ? Any thoughts or words of wisdom ?

Last few questions:
Any one no what the stock shims are ? I am trying to avoid paying $39 for a micrometer and just buying the next size towards spec.
Any recomendations on shops online or local for shims ? Can junk yards be trusted ?
Anyway to make time move forward until tuesday so I can get them ?

John..

most cycle places should be open tommorow.. cycle trends in van nuys shuold be open. My problem with shim prices.. they vary like hell...

I wish i had the micrometer here.. its in sacramento.. if you need help just call me.. i am PMing you my #.

John, I don't think you can count on the stock shims being any particular thickness.  I wouldn't be surprised if they were all different from each other.

You just about HAVE to measure each shim and do some math to determine the replacement shim size.  There is an added benefit to this approach: you may find that one of out-of-spec shims will serve as a replacement for one of the other out-of-spec shims.

I don't have a micrometer.  A few years ago I made an "impulse buy" at Harbor Freight and got a 6" dial caliper with .001" accuracy.  I've been surprised at all the uses I've found for it.  It's more versatile than a micrometer because it lets you take inside, outside and depth measurements.

If you have a Harbor Freight store in your area, drop in and see what they have in the glass case up front.  I found this $15 Dial Caliper on their web site, but they may not have that exact model in your area.  The Harbor Freight web site lists many other models - do a keyword search for "caliper".

Meanwhile, if I remember right you ended up with a Clymer manual.  I don't think it contains a "shim size cheat sheet" like the one in the Haynes manual.  See a scanned image of it here.

EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net

I have a thought... It is my opinion that the proper tool for measuring a valve shim would have to be a micrometer. The reason I would not use a caliper is the fact that shims wear in the center of the shim. A caliper can only measure the overall thickness of the shim. With the two parallel "fingers" you really wouldn't be measuring the center, but the edge where the cam lobe never touches. This is at least true with my caliper. Any thoughts?

I understand what you're saying Briggs.  Maybe the real question is:  do we have to change shims because they wear down or because of other changes in the system?

I'm not sure how much the shims actually wear.  I don't remember being able to detect any difference in thickness across the diameter of the shims I pulled.  There are probably differences in the ten-thousands range, but the calipers seem to do a good enough job.

Is this just my lack of experience talking?  Do any of you engine builders have any more info on this?

Kerry, thanks for the info and the Haynes cheat sheet.
Autozone, had the same caliper for $30. There is a Harbor Freight in Pasadena. Although,  I am going to stop by Home Depot first, to see if they have micrometers or cheaper calipers.
Manjul, I never got your PM :dunno:

I found a micrometer at Home Depot for $20 it only uses inches and not mm but thanks to the internet and some conversion program all was figured out.
FYI: Stock shims are
A)Originally was 2.70(I think, the numbers are almost worn away), wore down to 2.55
B)Originally was 2.68, wore down to 2.55
C)Originally was 2.55, still stock
D)Originally was 2.55, still stock
I did get different readings at the edges of the worn shims that differed from the center but mine were probably worst than most
LA Cycle Sports, Rules
Not only were they open today but they had there mechanic go through his box of shims and he found all 4 of the ones I needed At $10 a pop.
Now, I am out to the garage to see if I can get it back together. Wish me luck.

John, you're getting to be so good it's    S..C..A..R..Y..!  

Can't wait to hear how it all comes back together!

PS - What method did you end up using to pop the shims?

)Originally was 2.68, wore down to 2.55 (  

More then likly its the printing worn off, there isnt a 2.68,   the shims run in .05 incroments,  from 3.0  on down.  and some of the printed numbers are NOT linedup, found this out recently, the shims are hardend steel, not likly to wear as most believe, and the lobe runs just slightly off center causeing the shim and bucket to automaticly spin each time the lobe connects. this keeps the parts from Rutting or guaging as well as moves lube around. the noch in the bucket is to help seperate the shim from the bucket.   i didint have the tool either, what i did is used a 11/16 wrench(have like 5 of them, used cheapy one) and gently ground  the inside fork off and reshaped the outer abit to hold the edge of the bucket without touching the shim. i used a large flat tip screw driver on other edge of the bucket to compress the valve. work slow and carefuly, get a good magnet to pull shims out

Blueknyt, I think you might be correct. All I can figure, maybe because it was original it was a weird size or printing. It didn't show enough wear to justify the size difference. So the numbers were pretty clear. :dunno:

Kerry, thanks for the compliment but I have made way to many mistakes to be called good.

Update:
I made a mistake and had the RT mark a 180% off when I came up with those first measurements. Luckily, they were still pretty close except for the one I thought needed a bigger shim.
Last night, I got A) and D)set to .255
B) and D) were still to tight to get a reading off of.
Today, I went back to LA cycles and exchanged my 2.6 for a 2.4. Unfortanatly, they had no .245's.
Went home and put the .240 in the C) and got a .1 clearence. That is what I predicted since I wanted a .245. Then I put the 2.4 in the B) and what do you know it was perfect .05 clearance. That one went down 3 sizes.  That is also the one with the wear marks on the lobe.
I then went to Marina Suzuki and got a .245 for $5 They let me trade in an old one for a half price discount To bad I gave him the emphamis .268 that I brought along for comparison. Or I could have scanned it for pondering minds. The shop guy took it no problem.
So now everything measures between .04 and .06
Of course I put everthing back together to hear the sound of an engine that wont turn over

Is my method to blame?
I am guessing it is a timing thing and I am about ready to try and reset it. Where was that Bob B. post now that I might understand it ? I'll do a search.
The motor feels a little harder to turn. I tried the zip tie trick to hold the chain to the sprockets. Which I think would have kept it all cool if I hadn't moved the intake cam completely out of its slot. Which was a mistake because from then on I just loosened the bearing bolts and raised the cam just enough to pull them shim out. Everything continued to look right. the notches are in the right places to jive with the RT but I think something might have moved down below. :dunno:

Pull th plugs when you are doing the timing - much easier to turn over, and the engine will stay in place even on the compression stroke.

Note the "forward facing" pick-up is not the one at the front!

Bob's cam timing instructions:

First step: Turn ignition rotor so the R" T" lines up with the forward facing ignition pickup. The mark on the rotor should line up with the metal post on the pickup. This will put the right side piston at top dead center.
The cam chain tensioner should be installed, but backed off completely for maximum slack.
Use a thin flattip screwdriver in the hole of the tensioner. Turn the screwdriver to release the tension and tighten it a little more when it bottoms out. This will keep the tensioner from springing back in.
The cams have a notch on one end.
The notch should be facing each other. Intake notch facing forward and lined up with the edge of the head. Exhaust notch facing back towards the intake cam and lined up with the edge of the head.
The intake cam will sit down all the way. The exhaust cam will stick up on the left cylinder side because the lobe points down.
Install the intake cam bearing caps and just snug them down lightly.
Rotate the crank backwards a little until the exhaust cam sets down.
Then install the bearing caps and snug them. Then release the cam chain tensioner so the slack is taken out. Rotate the motor forward to line up the T mark with the post again. The notches on the cams should be facing straight across at each other. More than likely one will be lined up and the other off a little. Release the chain tension and remove the cam bearing caps on the one that's off. Pull the cam up and move the chain on the sprocket a tooth, so the cam rotates in the direction needed. Then repeat the process. Making sure to check it with the cam chain under tension.
If you line things up without tension, it will change when tension is applied. So you could be off and not know it.
All this is done with very little movement of the crank, so bending anything is not a concern.
After you have the timng mark and the cam notches lined up and cam chain tension applied, you can safely rotate the engine.
Be sure to put some assembly lube on the bearing areas and lobes when you assemble things

at one certin point, it was the cam lobes rolling past center that made it hard to hold on mark.

im going to be buying a digital vernier caliper from ebay for messureing things. probly be an 8". most the digital ones convert to mm too.

Can anyone tell me if it is possible that my timing could be off despite everything looking correct ?

The R(T) marks are in the correct spot as well as the notches on the cams. There are 18 pins between the arrows on the sprockets. The 1 on the exhaust cam is level with the engine block.
I would take pics but it looks like the ones in Clymer.
Everything looks perfect but it feels harder to turn the engine now. When I tried to start it, it didn't sound like it wanted to turn over at all. Sort of a Rahh,Rahh,Rahh but no booms.

OK shims... Yes a 2.68 is prefectly possible... I have seen and pulled out those from bikes... They sell to the public only in increments of .05 but the factory has every size in between.
A worn shim... yes very very possible. I have seen lots of worn shims. However using a micrometer to measure them is wrong. Use a digital vernier... cos the lowest/thinnest pint on the shim isn't what counts... in reality the highest point is what matters.
To get the engine turned over... i put it in gear, take out the spark plugs and turn the back wheel. 6th gear lets you have good control of it.
How did you determine the valves were tight... a .04 guage isn't enough. You should try to turn the bucket with your fingers when the cam is away from the shim. If it spins freely your clearance isn't bad. If not... well its too tight.
And yes you have to get the cam chain tensioner out before taking off the cam shafts, and back in and the chain tight before tryint to turn the motor over.
Cool.
Srinath.

My latest bungle

I removed the cam chain tensoiner and tried to pull the plug out and of course the top just ripped off.  :x Finally, got the rest out. I turned the screw a bit and everthing locked up solid I turned it back the other way and that didn't help. I guess in my desperation I turned it to much because that spring thing inside popped loose and was just spinning. I opened up to fix it and it all popped out like the snake in a can of nuts gag. I tried turning the screw with spring out to see if it would loosen the plunger, with no luck. Now, I have it all back together with spring back in correctly but I still won't budge.

You put the cam caps on in the right spots? If they get mixed up, the cams will be very hard to turn.

Some moly grease on the cam bearing surfaces is a good idea before assembly, and the pockets in the head around the lifters should be filled with oil.

Sounds like the cam timing is fine from your description.

Worn cam lobes will only get worse.

Well I finally got the tensioner to engage. I put it in a vice and gave it a little sqeeze. Now if I turn the screw the plunger will retract. Although, it will not retract by just adding pressure. It will return on its own because of the wound coil.
Is this correct? :dunno: