So I dropped the big bucks and waited two weeks for my valve shim kit to arrive.  It got here, 2 weeks and $160 later, I can finally get my bike finished.

I pulled .275s out of the valves- they were far to tight.

.270 also too tight

.260 gets me at .13 and .14 but I do not have a .265

Is this too far out of spec? I dont want to hurt my bike but I believe I read somewhere loose clearances are alright it some cases.

EDIT: I realize my mistake.

So, I can obviously knock them down to .03 and .04....which of these two clearances would be preferred, on the tighter side or looser side?

I am quickly running out of daylight, so thanks a ton for any quick help!

I'd go with it myself, I set exhaust to .005" (.013 mm) regularly.  The .270 would give the .001" (.03 mm) minimum Suzi spec and is is too tight for an exhaust valve if you want long valve life.  If you run redline all day long you might want to be more conservative but burning1 for example runs these larger settings on his racebike without trouble.

Shims vary. Measure them with a caliper. Check things with your feeler gauge.
What do you have for intake shims? Maybe you can adjust the intake clearances and the intake shims are what you need for the exhaust? Just a suggestion.

Others can tell if you are too out of spec. By the way, are you calculating things or did you actually measure the clearances with your feeler gauge?

After inserting a shim, rotate the engine a couple times so oil (and air) gets squished out from under the shim and the shim is fully seated. Then measure again with your feeler gauge.

Damnit, I hate when I do stupid things, lol.

Currently at 6800 miles

Turned the motor over several times to let everything sit in.

Measured and remeasured all clearances.

.05 on both exhaust

.04 on both intake

Leave it?

I intend to check again at 10000

I'd leave it as is for now, it's been my experience the intakes rarely change and the exhaust get tighter with milage.  If the exhaust drop below the .05 mm by next check bounce them up to the wider .08-.13 mm spec.  Putting 80k and 90k miles on 2 GSs I didn't change any shims until 30-40k miles but kept checking them every 8-10k miles.

Quote from: NesquikNinja on June 11, 2012, 06:40:21 PM
Damnit, I hate when I do stupid things, lol.

Currently at 6800 miles

Turned the motor over several times to let everything sit in.

Measured and remeasured all clearances.

.05 on both exhaust

.04 on both intake

Leave it?

If you are sure that this is the setting, then yes leave it, it's within spec.

Glad they got within spec.

Was about to post that I have extra 265's.

Out of like 15 to 20 shims I have, like friggin 5 to 7 of them are 265s!! 

You can take the shims to an automotive or other machine shop that has a machine called a surface grinder.  These machines are easily capable of making these shims any thickness you want.  These grinders are typically easily capable of holding the thickness and flatness to within .001".  A normal human hair is .005".  Some really precise guys can get it to within .0002 inches.  Way better than what you need and it takes them like 10 minutes per shim.  Some may charge you a setup charge, some may not.  It pays to get friendly with one of these shops if you are a serious motorcyclist.

Quote from: cheetahman on June 12, 2012, 05:51:33 AM
You can take the shims to an automotive or other machine shop that has a machine called a surface grinder.  These machines are easily capable of making these shims any thickness you want.  These grinders are typically easily capable of holding the thickness and flatness to within .001".  A normal human hair is .005".  Some really precise guys can get it to within .0002 inches.  Way better than what you need and it takes them like 10 minutes per shim.  Some may charge you a setup charge, some may not.  It pays to get friendly with one of these shops if you are a serious motorcyclist.

I'm not sure if that should be done,
I think that these shims are coated with special layer of a hard material so that they wont wear out!

Is this right??

Finally an answer?  I've been wondering since Aug 03 when my 97 GS got down to a 215 minimum thickness shim.  Are these shims case hardened or full hardened? I think they must be thru hard.  Question was moot when my 97 was totalled in Sept 03 and replaced by my current 02 GS.   

I've done a bit of research and everything I've found points to almost all shims being case hardened, which makes sense. Hard outer layer to prevent erosion, tough inner layer to prevent cracking.

Yes they are case hardened but grind only on one side and keep the hard side against the cam lobe.

TY

This is my first time working on a bike, everything is back together and running....I should've asked this before, is it normal when turning the wheel in 6th gear to have varying degrees of resistance?

When trying to line up the lobes to check clearances there were some parts of the rotation that were much tighter than others, and spots where they would turn further than I intended and there was no way to control it

Wouldn't tighter rotation be when the cams were pressing down the valves?

Yes especially if you are doing this with the plugs in it is normal.  With plugs out it, would be easier and less resistance, but more chance of stuff falling in the plug hole. Also, a worn out chain can cause the condition because it it will alternately feel tight and loose.

Take the small cover off the signal generator on the right side of the engine and turn the engine over clockwise with a 19 mm box wrench when checking valves.  That cover should be off anyway when checking valve clearances so you can set engine on the timing marks when measuring gaps.  Don't worry about it now if you got the gaps you reported your OK but that would account for your getting different results when you did it over again.  Best to set on timing marks when measuring.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/gs500signalgenerators.jpg