Valve gap still not in spec after shim swap

650ed wrote: Sanding or grinding shims is a bad practice.

I sanded shims for ZX11, they were 10-11 mm shims and worked differently. Maybe it was some car, don't remember.

I've read that the heat treating (hardening) is only a few thousands thick and grinding them takes that away..... and I agree like i said before why mess with the chart if you need .002 more clearance go one shim smaller .004 go two........ .002 less go one shim larger etc.

KZB2 650 wrote: I've read that the heat treating (hardening) is only a few thousands thick and grinding them takes that away..... and I agree like i said before why mess with the chart if you need .002 more clearance go one shim smaller .004 go two........ .002 less go one shim larger etc.

Of course you are right, question is how long will it take you to get right shim or how far Kawasaki dealer from you.
Do you want to wait 5 days or drive 1 hour to closest dealer? Mine is about 30 min drive from me.

Lots of other places to get them from.
Steve

A 30 minute drive to do it right seems like a no-brainer to me.

To have a shim come apart and destroy a customers engine due the cheapness or laziness would make for one hell of a law suit, not to mention it could be life threatening as well. :dry:
Steve

Here is another option for those living in remote areas.

www.procycle.us/hotcams/valve_shims.htm

TexasKZ wrote: Here is another option for those living in remote areas.

www.procycle.us/hotcams/valve_shims.htm

I have a set like that for my KZ650 that I picked up for a steal on eBay when obviously no one else was looking, has several of every size. I don't have any KZ1000 shims and that's one of the next things on my to do list, however unless I drop on another give away deal on a set of shims, then I'll plan on it being a two weekend job, measure and then calculate what, if anything I need, order the shims, and do the job when I get them. It's very simple to measure, so if nothings horribly out, you could even put the cover back on and ride it until your shims arrive, and then do the job. I'm as impatient as anyone when it comes to wanting to get things fixed and hit the road, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to cut corners by modifying shims, there are a lot of things that could go wrong, and consequences that range from relatively minor engine damage, up to and including death. If I really positively had to modify a shim, I'd much rather it be an under bucket shim.

Those kits don't have the smaller shims. When I put Bossie back on the road in 13 I bought the next sizes down that were small and the ones I needed that were too tight. I was able to move them around but every time I bought a new one, I also got a couple the next size down. Some guy had the "hard to get sizes" on eBay 10 for $40. I bit. He is a liar. Now I have the whole range, 200-300. jetsRus is a good place to buy shime on the cheap if you buy a few to offset the $7 S&H charge.
Steve

Yah I was lucky that i had a friend who had a huge box of z1000 shims. He let me trade. Also i think KTM uses 10mm shims so there are places near me that still carry them for my 750. I would def use a chart and follow the FSM. Sanding or grinding shims can cause them to shatter which would suck.

swest wrote: Those kits don't have the smaller shims. When I put Bossie back on the road in 13 I bought the next sizes down that were small and the ones I needed that were too tight. I was able to move them around but every time I bought a new one, I also got a couple the next size down. Some guy had the "hard to get sizes" on eBay 10 for $40. I bit. He is a liar. Now I have the whole range, 200-300. jetsRus is a good place to buy shime on the cheap if you buy a few to offset the $7 S&H charge.
Steve

I was lucky because I got a kit and then some and I think I only paid about $35 for it. But knowing Murphy's law there's probably some I still don't have in there, and those will be the ones I need, or I'll need 3 of the size I only have two of. Like I said before I think it's a job you need to assume will cause some down time, rather than going in thinking you'll definitely be riding your bike later that day - good winter job if you live somewhere where you don't get to ride year round. Once you are on top of it though it really isn't a big issue going forward, the problem is people often didn't do it back in the day and then when you get the bike after it's been sitting for years you have a lot of maintenance to catch up on because a lot of valves could be out due to past neglect. When valves have settled you usually don't adjust them much, it's usually the initial service from new that the changes are needed, but often your 12k from new bike, never got such a service before being parked.

Koolaid Kid, a former member here, sent me a care package with all his shims so I would have what I need. I like to have enough shims on hand to move all the valves two or three steps thinner just in case. Most of the time "shim kits" that come up on ebay are chocked full of the fatter sizes that nobody needs. At any rate, the Kid sent me a bunch of shims, mostly thin ones, god bless his heart. Only I could use a couple of thicker sizes (imagine that!). Who would a thought?