No Valve Clearance

Hey All,

You have all been a tremendous help for me over the last couple of years and I have greatly enjoyed riding my KZ1000P all over the Olympic Peninsula. Well, tonight I had some spar time and thought I would check the valves due to hearing what sounded like valve tapping.
I was shocked to discover that all but 2 valves had no clearance of any kind are are most likely touching the shims. What gives!? When I checked last year I had 0.10-0.15 mm on all valves. I had expected, if anything, larger clearances due to normal wear and breakin, not the exact opposite. I don't even know how to judge what size shims I will need to order now. Please help with your thoughts on what happened and what I should do next, thanks.

The clearance reduces with mileage because the valves recede and sink into the head. You need a thin "checking shim" that can be installed into each bucket so the true clearance can be calculated. Another option is to order a bunch of shims smaller than what you have installed now. I'd plan on moving two shim sizes on the valves with no clearance.

Hi Ed,
I only question why they wore so much in the 800 miles I put on the bike since I lapped the valves and shimmed them to .10 - .15 clearance. I even checked them after riding for about 300 miles after the rebuild and they were all well within spec. Now, 500+ miles later they are almost all touching the shims. Thanks!

I had two do that after my tipping job. I'd go down two sizes. You will wind up with some you can use later.
Steve
kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/605981-valve-adjustment-z1-kz-1000

KZ1000P1995 wrote: Hi Ed,
I only question why they wore so much in the 800 miles I put on the bike since I lapped the valves and shimmed them to .10 - .15 clearance. I even checked them after riding for about 300 miles after the rebuild and they were all well within spec. Now, 500+ miles later they are almost all touching the shims. Thanks!

Sorry, don't know the answer. Hopefully you are running stock valve springs, not high strength jobbies from APE or similar. That will make the valves recede faster.

Thanks fellas, appreciate the videos SWest.