Valve adjustment

Where can I find the shims to adjust the valves? Has anyone in here made them and if so what type of steel do you recommend? I can't find these anywhere and my bike has 30k never had so much as a tune up.

 

i have a bunch of them what sizes do u need,it took me awile to find some when i did i got extra,let me no

 

Your local Yam stealership should have the right shims in stock. Mine actually doesn't charge anything to trade shims.

 

Chacal carries new shims for half of what Yamaha gets. PM Member chacal or see "XJ4Ever, Supporting Vendor" in the forum index. Easier yet, click on the "XJ4Ever" logo in the upper right of the website...

Do a forum search for discussions on the advisability of using old shims.

 

I agree with bigfitz, try not to reuse old shims. They do wear out. I have seen many times that replacing a shim with the exact size has brought the valve back to spec. Your best to buy a shim kit with many different sizes.

 

Yes and no. You'll end up with a couple you'll never use, and still be short one you need.

Best practice (unless you have unlimited resources) is to tear down, measure, and order. If you're in North America you'll have new shims in 3 days or less.

 

uh, Mlew, those aren't the same size then. Micrometer and/or calipers are your friends.
I will grant that a very old shim that's seen a lot of miles will be a thou or three undersize from what is etched on the underside but what seems more likely that a non or insufficiently chamfered shim installed would ride up on the radius in the inside corner of the bucket thus "closing the gap" with the "same" shim.

It all has to do with what endmill or boring insert they used at the factory to make the bucket. There is no such thing as a perfectly sharp inside corner. That would require a perfectly sharp corner on the cutter that cuts it and such a thing would dull and round off instantly. Thus they make cutters that are ground sharp but having the corner already radiused. This also (via some hinky tricks of geometry I won't go into right here) makes the chip removed effectively thinner which means the cutter is doing less work thus last longer. More finished parts per spendy cutter and less downtime swapping for fresh cutters means cheaper parts.

The trouble with making them or shaving existing ones is that they are case hardened. That is, heat treated just on the surface. (a full heat treat would warp them in the manufacturing process) and you would have to send a very, VERY large batch out to the man with the fancy oven just to make it worth his minimum lot charge.

I swap with a local MC shop. He trades me straight across for the common sizes he has lots of, charges a whole entire dollar to swap him for the one's he ONLY has a dozen of and for three bucks they're mine to keep.

Remember you're not limited to "yamaha" factory, OEM, offical licensed branded shims. They're one step up the complexity scale and in motors damn near as common as nuts and bolts. In addition to the appropriate thickness you need the correct diameter (I wanna say 29.5mm) and you want ones with a healthy chamfer around at least one rim (the bottom, to beat the corner radius in the bucket)
Mine runs great with beemer shims the same as it does with Home depot nuts and bolts.

Sorry for the long ramble, I just got off work so my brain is stuck in this gear at the moment.

 

I just want to chime in after I checked all of the clearances on my 550 seca after putting 4,000 miles on it this summer without any clue if/when the PO checked them.

The exhaust clearances all measured a .13mm gap, with 270, 270, 265 and 270 shims installed on cylinders 1->4

The intake clearances were .10, .10, .08, and .10 with shims 270, 260, 285 and 270 installed.

I need to check with my mechanic and the dealership this week for shims, but it looks like I'm going to have a lot of 270's on my hands.

Those little things are a pain to get out, but after two nights and a lot of swearing I at least know what's in there.

One thing that surprised me was that the shim on intake #1 was installed with the number facing up. The cam lobe looked fine and polished, so i'm just happy that the number was still visible on the face of it.

Hopefully pulling all of the shims out again when I get the new ones will go smooth and I can get back on the road with one less thing on my mind.