In the post below where I asked why the GS500 had such a short valve adjustment interval of 4000 miles, the experts here made it clear to me that it is mostly a high rate of exhaust valve recession up into the head caused by heat.  Keeping close tabs on that and using wider exhaust valve clearances, right on the upper end of the 0.03 to 0.08mm spec range or even a little more, will slow the rate of recession.  Once it is under control, it is probably safe to stretch out the adjustment interval if desired.

OK, to do that I'll need a set of fine stepping valve shims to keep the exhaust right on 0.08mm, and I'd like to get them without spending a fortune.  They are 29.5mm and run in thicknesses of about 2.15 to 3.1mm.  K&L sells a nice kit of these on Amazon for $110.  But, the old pros on here like gsJack are warning against K&L.  They've been known to break and cause severe engine damage. 

My local Suzuki dealership does not stock these shims.  In fact, the parts department told me they could not even get them from Suzuki anymore and were using K&L shims themselves.  On a different call another guy looked again and reported they can special order the OEM shims, at the cost of $16 each.  That really adds up for building a handy kit up--as in $640 (!) for a kit of two each of all thicknesses from 2.15 to 3.1mm (they come in 0.05mm steps, so that's 20 values).  I only paid $2000 for this garage queen GS500 with 2600 miles on it. 

Is there a known source for a more reasonably priced OEM shim kit?  Or, a place that sells the individual OEM shims more reasonably that $16 each for small piece of steel that probably cost less than $1 to make?  Is there another provider that is both reliable and cheaper than these Cadillac priced OEM shims?

Max, as mentioned in your other thread most people just buy the shims they need, not a whole kit, most of which you won't live long enough to use!
It's a matter of pulling off the cam cover and measuring each clearance and working out what new thicknesses you need. Often you'll find that you can swap existing shims around that'll work for some valves.
Yes, the problem is that it means the bike is out of commission while you get the required shims.

Thanks, Jools.  Yes, unless someone can report a lower cost source, it's going to be wait for the Suzuki dealer to order their gold plated priced shims, or throw the dice on the $110 K&L shim kit and keep my fingers crossed those don't break.  The reason I wanted a set was not just to avoid downtime, but to conveniently be able to keep that exhaust clearance dialed right in to 0.07 to 0.10mm.  After gsJack did that careful 100k miles of experimenting to determine that will keep the valve recession way down, I wanted to take full advantage of his advice.

I was pondering over the same problem and I ended up measuring my clearances and ordering just the shims I need from ebay. You can measure your clearances and put everything back together if you don't want any bike down time. I got them from here:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F401066663855

Thank you, Drzon.  I looked at those on E-bay, and see they are the K&L.  Singly, $7.89 is a good deal compared to OEM at $16.  But, Amazon sells some packs of 5 for $7.95, though not all thicknesses are available.  Some of the more rare thicknesses range from $10 to $33 for a five pack.   They also have a kit of 2 each of all the values for $110, which is $2.75 each.  I've had one parts guy at a local Suzuki dealership say they use the K&L's themselves, though I don't know if the service department is officially supposed to be doing that, or if they would publicly admit it.  I saw where one owner here reported one broke and caused his engine to be damaged, and gsJack said he stays away from them.  So, I'm still thinking on whether to go for the convenience of the K&L's or not.  If I hear more reports of breakage, I'll probably stick with OEM as advised gy gsJack. 

Trying to track K&L valve shim reliability I find the postings by The_Paragon reporting that either a K&L shim broke and ruined his engine, or something else like the cam chain broke and threw out the shim.  But, K&L did accept his warranty claim and pay for his new engine.  See https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F401066663855
K&L also reported they were paying some other warranty claims as well. 

Sorry, that correct line for the The_Paragon's broken K&L shim story is http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=67732.0

Amkluttz also broke a shim and had a lot of damage, as reported at http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=67848.msg817343#msg817343

But, he does not say the brand of the shim. 

Where did you see the info that those eBay shims were K&L? I didn't see the manufacturer myself. Anyway, let us know if you are able to track down an oem source. I called a dealership and 3 moto shops and no one had them in stock, hence I ended up buying online.

For something as critical as this I would only ever use OEM parts 

The internet is full of horror stories relating to cheap valve shims

Unless you plan on racking up a huge mileage it's unlikely you will ever need more than a few so cost shouldn't be an issue.

Given the very low mileage your bike has and the concern you have over the clearances I am surprised that you are prepared to consider using shims of dubious quality.

OEM shims are easily found.


https://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gs500e-1993-p-usa-e03_model34229/partslist/BLCK0004.html#.W264-nrTU4N

Drzon, if you scroll about 1/3 down at https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F401066663855 , there is an information box that says K&L.  It's off screen until you scroll. 

Sledge, thanks for the link and the info.  You're right, since a broken shim can ruin an engine, those which are really more prone to breakage should not be used.  I was trying to figure out if the K&L's really had a higher failure rate or not.  One broken K&L (so far that's all I've seen reported on here) is not a statistically significant event, especially when it was unclear if the shim caused that problem or was the victim of another problem.  K&L paid up on that--a good indicator of a responsible company standing behind their product.  If the K&L's are fundamentally the same quality, they are certainly more convenient.  Also, I'm a little offended by Suzuki's price gouging on these parts.  Commodity parts are usually sold for about 40% gross margin, and a company is generally doing cartwheels if they can get 60%.  Suzuki has these little shims marked up past 90% profit margin.  I did not want to reward them for that if I did not really have to. 

I know I'm being a little nit picky on wanting to fully understand this valve clearance issue.  But, it seems there are few points like this that are the difference between getting 50,000 miles out of a GS500 engine, or being like gsJack and getting 100,000 miles.  Being this determined to really understand the issues has been trained into me as an engineer and a private pilot.  I noticed in the autobiography of test pilot Chuck Yeager, first man to break the sound barrier, that he reported being as picky on the maintenance of his washing machine as he was on a jet fighter. 

Quote from: sledge on August 11, 2018, 03:04:25 AM
For something as critical as this I would only ever use OEM parts 

The internet is full of horror stories relating to cheap valve shims

Unless you plan on racking up a huge mileage it's unlikely you will ever need more than a few so cost shouldn't be an issue.

Given the very low mileage your bike has and the concern you have over the clearances I am surprised that you are prepared to consider using shims of dubious quality.

OEM shims are easily found.


https://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gs500e-1993-p-usa-e03_model34229/partslist/BLCK0004.html#.W264-nrTU4N

I agree with Sledge. You are already saving a few hundred dollars doing the shimming yourself vs a shop. Why save an extra $8 per shim just to worry about the shims all the time.
After a few valve clearance checks you will accumulate a useful number of shims that may work in the future.

Keep in mind that even if you ride a lot you aren't doing this more than once per year. I think a more realistic valve check interval is once at 600 miles and 4,000 miles and from then on only every 10,000 miles.

53,000 miles....Now I just check 'em once a year during the Winter when I'm not riding.  Don't mind being "grounded" for a week or so if I need to order a shim or two.

It might make sense to order shims in a couple of sizes, so you have them for next time, figuring that shipping costs as much as a shim.

Remember that sometimes a shim that you pull out may be perfect to use on another valve.


Cookie

Gents, thanks for the input. 

I talked to K&L tech support (408-727-6767 ext. 210, San Jose, CA) on this, and they seemed very honest about it.  Anthony there reports that they had never had a problem with their shims in any bike, and then in 2014 they had a sudden burst of 6 shim failures on GS500's, spread over the world.  The subcontractor who made the shims had over-hardened them.  They paid for the damages, switched to a new sub-contractor, and have had no failures since then in GS500's or any other bike.

Based on that, I ordered one of their shim kits, $111 on Amazon (K&L list price is $165).  It has two each of 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.55, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.85, 2.9, and 3.0mm.  I supplemented it with a bag of 5 of the 2.65mm for $31.  My understanding was they run about 2.7 out of the factory and tend to need thinner from there. 

There are a few Amazon offerings for $7.95 that say bag of five.  My guess on those is that they are single shims, but if they really are bags of five they might be so cheap because they are OLD shims that have a possibility of being bad.  So, I'm staying away from those and from any K&L shims on E-Bay.  But, based on how honest they seem about the problem at K&L, I personally feel safe about new shims from K&L. 

I'll post this also under a new thread so it is more visible to the forum members.