How do i measure valve shims?

Gonna buy the shim changing tool for my 1981 KZ1000LTD and start pulling the shims out. How do i measure them and buy new ones accordingly? Exhaust on cylinder 4 is REALLY tight. Someone said the "Chatter" i was hearing could have been the valve slapping the piston if thats the case then GOOD LORD... Glad i put her away when i did :woohoo: anyways. Ill order the tool the end of this week and start maintenance. got some more good news too. my insurance is only gonna be like 300 bucks for a whole year now i can ride without the fear of being busted without any insurance :evil: man its gonna feel good to be legal again.

Measure your clearances. say it's 0.05mm.
Measure your used shim with a micrometer NOT a vernier and say that's a 2.30mm .
You want 0.15mm gaps so you will need a 2.20mm shim. Easy

The reason for using a micrometer is that the shims can become dished and the vernier blades will only measure across the outside edges so you could end up with tight clearances again, where as the Mic will measure the center portion where the cam lobe runs an you will get a true reading.

Buy some feeler gauges!

I got feeler gauges not even the smallest blade would fit in the exhaust valve on cylinder 4. Cant remember the spec right now but i have all of the clearances in a text document.

Cylinder 1 Valve lash
INTAKE- .003 (no .004 gauge on hand)
EXHAUST- .0025 (.003 doesnt fit)

Cylinder 2 Valve lash
INTAKE- .002 (.0025 doesn't fit)
EXHAUST- .005 (.006 doesn't fit)

---

larger shim

Cylinder 3 Valve lash
INTAKE- .0025 (.003 doesn't fit)
EXHAUST- .005 (.006 doesn't fit)

---

larger shim

Cylinder 4 Valve lash
INTAKE- .005 (.006 doesnt fit)

---

larger shim
EXHAUST- Not even my smallest gauge would fit. NEED SMALLER SHIM----smaller shim

Thats what i got.

Kitten Tooth wrote: I got feeler gauges not even the smallest blade would fit in the exhaust valve on cylinder 4. Cant remember the spec right now but i have all of the clearances in a text document.

Cylinder 1 Valve lash
INTAKE- .003 (no .004 gauge on hand)
EXHAUST- .0025 (.003 doesnt fit)

Cylinder 2 Valve lash
INTAKE- .002 (.0025 doesn't fit)
EXHAUST- .005 (.006 doesn't fit)

---

larger shim

Cylinder 3 Valve lash
INTAKE- .0025 (.003 doesn't fit)
EXHAUST- .005 (.006 doesn't fit)

---

larger shim

Cylinder 4 Valve lash
INTAKE- .005 (.006 doesnt fit)

---

larger shim
EXHAUST- Not even my smallest gauge would fit. NEED SMALLER SHIM----smaller shim

Thats what i got.

Now you just need to convert it to mm and your in business LOL. Or just figure the clearence in IN. and convert to mm for the size of the shim.

what type feeler gauge will give me the simplest reading without doing any converting

can i buy this locally

trianglelaguna wrote: what type feeler gauge will give me the simplest reading without doing any converting

can i buy this locally

A Metric one.

trianglelaguna wrote: what type feeler gauge will give me the simplest reading without doing any converting

can i buy this locally

I think some of the feelers now come with both english and metric printed on the blades.

If not, it's easy to remember that it's a factor of 4 to convert.

0.1mm = .004" 0.05mm= .002"

Shims come in steps of .05mm (.002")

I think i have the ones from harbor freight with both metric and english.

bountyhunter wrote:

trianglelaguna wrote: what type feeler gauge will give me the simplest reading without doing any converting

can i buy this locally

I think some of the feelers now come with both english and metric printed on the blades.

If not, it's easy to remember that it's a factor of 4 to convert.

0.1mm = .004" 0.05mm= .002"

Shims come in steps of .05mm (.002")

Sweet, thanks for the equation man. Ill be sure to use it. I got to get a set of Micrometers. We need em' anyways. Probably not gonna go starret brand or anything fancy like that. Harbor freight should do the job nicely

so if my exhaust valve has a shim in there of .002"... then does that mean im almost SOL unless i get machine work? If even the smallest shim is to much, what do i do then? Thats what im scared of when i start to Mic them. Also a redneck question.. Could i just take a few thousandths of metal off the shims that are to big and mic them and install them? or will the milled surface wear out the came lobe.. just an idea :silly:

Don't mill the shim, as it has a hardened surface, and milling the surface will likely cause the shim to crack or break.

It may be possible to "tip" the valve stem in order to gain more clearance. The manual should cover the tipping advice.

Good Fortune!