I am currently in the process of replacing my side cover and valve cover gaskets. i may do oil pan gasket as well.  however, since i have the valve cover off i decided i would check valve clearances.

My feeler gauges only go as low as .04mm...

measurements are as follows

L.E.= .06mm fits .08 does not          R.E.= .06mm fits .08 does not

L.I.= .04mm doesnt fit                      L.I.= .04mm doesnt fit                (was able to rotate the buckets on all valves)


From what i remember... my exhaust clearances are good. The intake is to tight.  so i pulled out the shims and replaced with spares from parts bike temporarily.
The left intake shim reads 2.600x  quick measurement with cone tip digital micrometer from work was 2.55 mm +/- .02 mm
Right shim reads 2.650x and measured 2.59 mm +/- .02mm
Question what shim size do i want to go with?  2.500x on both?
and also is that alot of wear on the shims for a '92 with 25,000 miles? inside of engine really really clean.

pics coming soon.

Dude get a real feeler guage set.
Cool.
Buddha.

oh its legit... im a mechanic by trade. just dont have a set that goes lower than .04mm. any useful input on the topic?

never heard of shims being measured so different from what is marked. So maybe check again with another measuring device.

I think what Buddha is trying to say is get a set of feelers that go from  0.04 to at least 0.10 with 0.01 increments so you can find the right clearance amount while mounted on the bike.

I've made 12 shim changes in doing 23 valve checks while putting 80k miles on my 97 GS and over 100k miles on my current 02 GS and have yet to see any shim wear whatsoever.  They all measure exactly as marked when measured with a quality standard flat jaw 1" micrometer. 

I found intakes to vary little and never changed a one on the 97 and while I changed one once on the 02 I changed it back again next time and all are now the original shims that came from the factory.

The exhaust valve gaps set at a minimum factory .001" clearance spec begin to change rapidly after many miles accumulate and need constant shim changes.  Set wider to a new .003-.005" (.08-.13mm) gap they hold as well as the intakes do.  Factory spec is too tight for exhaust valves.

http://www.gs500.net/gallery/data/500/GSvalvelogs.jpg

Quote from: oz353 on October 14, 2013, 03:39:30 PM
oh its legit... im a mechanic by trade. just dont have a set that goes lower than .04mm. any useful input on the topic?

You have one of these ?
http://www.hawkmold.com/store/p/7075-Carbon-Steel-Inch-Feeler-Gage-Set-35-blades-1-2-wide-and-3-long.aspx?gclid=COO4vJPIl7oCFepFMgodezsAIA

The thinnest in that set is about the right size for a minimum clearance.
I have that htinnest one worn to about .0010"
Perfect size.
Cool.
Buddha.

I use a Craftsman feeler gage set like that and it too comes with a .0015" min thick blade, as a matter of fact I've had a few of them over the decades.  I've found the .0015 blade never lasts long until it's messed up and breaks off and I pitch it.  I set my GS valves using the .002, .003, .004, .005, and .006" ones.  If the .002 is a no go and the bucket can be turned with the finger tip I call it .001".  I'll leave the intakes at the factory spec .001-.003" range but now set exhausts to a better cooling .003-.005" spec. 

We've discussed this before GSJack, the one and only bike I ran to within an mile of its life always used to wear loose. I ended up looking @ a crows foot type scratch on the cam lobe that never went away just got a wee bit fainter ... So I doubt I had much cam shaft wear ...
In fact I have measured several shims that almost dropped to the next size down. Like a 260 worn to near 255.

I never ran any of the rest enough to do more than a single baseless valve adj/check.

I dunno oil choice ? my tendency to commute and do short (10-30 mile at a time) rides, dealing with traffic, jetting the thing rich enough to choke on the fuel ... no idea, but it always wore loose.

Cool.
Buddha.

yes buddha i have one quite similar to that. it reads in both mm and inches. its thinnest blade is the .04 mm  i figure if the .04 mm does not fit then its .03 mm or less there for needs adjustment.

my micrometer is meant for measuring the thickness of rotors and the depth of the grooves that wear into them. i have some faith in its readings.   so it is possible for a shim to wear that much...

so i suppose dropping to a 2.50 on both would give me the correct clearance?  i plan to pick up some shims after work so i get get my bike on the road and move the banner along      :oops:i still have it

bump

I would say drop no more than .05. If you have less than .04 mm on both (we'll say that they're at about .02), with shims of 2.55 and 2.59, I'd drop to 2.5 and 2.55 respectively. That should, in theory, give you .07 and .06 clearances, which are perfectly in spec.

Actually, you'll only need a 2.50 shim, then. You can slap the 2.55 in the other bucket.

Quote from: The Buddha on October 14, 2013, 05:57:30 PM
We've discussed this before GSJack, the one and only bike I ran to within an mile of its life always used to wear loose. I ended up looking @ a crows foot type scratch on the cam lobe that never went away just got a wee bit fainter ... So I doubt I had much cam shaft wear ...
In fact I have measured several shims that almost dropped to the next size down. Like a 260 worn to near 255.

I never ran any of the rest enough to do more than a single baseless valve adj/check.

I dunno oil choice ? my tendency to commute and do short (10-30 mile at a time) rides, dealing with traffic, jetting the thing rich enough to choke on the fuel ... no idea, but it always wore loose.

Cool.
Buddha.

I'm at a loss to explain the difference Buddha but I remain certain about my lack of shim wear over many many miles, more than most here have ever put on any GS.  I'm not going to pull any from the bike but I have 7 loose shims that were removed from my GSs after tens of thousands of miles that I have measured all over and around the edges and can detect no wear.  Three of particular interest are marked 265 and they all mike .1045" with my half century old Starrett mike.  Same all over and same as each other.

All three of the 265 shims came factory installed when new and one ran 48,800 miles in the 97 GS and the other 2 ran 31,200 and 80,000 miles in the 02 GS.  They were removed from the exhaust valves of course since none of the intakes never really needed changed.  Of the other 4 shims only one is marked 240 and measures .0945" and other 3 unmarked are also same all over.

I do remember back when you claimed to have used only the cheapest Walmart brand oils in your GS while I have not used the best and most expensive of oils I have used good quality name brand oils all the way.  I also know my 97 was run many 400-500 mile Interstate days getting to the mountains to play and then run at a hard 7-9k rpm pace thru the mountains for hours on end after there. 

Maybe good oil is the cheapest in the long run.   

to clear things up, i took the shims to my local bike shop and asked for what i wanted.  their kit was empty and did not even offer a 260 shim. looks like purchasing online is the way to go.
while i was there i borrowed some flat calipers. and the shims read normal. for sure.  2.60=2.59   2.65=2.64.

ill be putting in the 2.55 and 2.50 size shims if i can purchase some.

found some on bike bandit.... 36 bucks

I was actually going of of your first post with the 2.55 and 2.59 readings. If they're 2.6 and 2.65, I'd grab a 2.55 and a 2.60. Like I said before, if you set the intake valves too loose, they will make a lot of noise.

There's a link in the wiki for individual shims. I just got two for $20 shipped.