Should I buy A Shim Kit ?

[KeithR]

I have a oil leak on the top of my engine that I need to address so while I was getting the gasket replaced I planned to get my valves adjusted as well. Here's the problem....the Yamaha dealer here is new and so is the mechanic....I can bring it to another dealer 100km's away and not see whats being done or anything as I would drop it off and pick it up later that week.

 

I'm not interested in doing it my self but I'm the service manager at a Honda Car dealership and we have a couple of good tech's that I'm sure could do it.

 

Would it be sensible to buy a shim kit just to do maybe one adjustment? I don't think there is one floating around Canada like in the US ? I'm thinking the shipping would pay for a kit?

 

If I was to buy one where would I look ?

 

Thanks for your help

Keith

[ragtop69gs]

E bay is a good place to look for a kit, if you're not in a hurry you can find a decent kit at a good price. Any good mechanic should be able to do the valves. Takes more time to get to them than to do the checks.

 

Plus, then there'd be a kit to pass around the Great White North.

[KeithR]

ya thats exactly what I was thinking..... what do I look for in a kit?

[ragtop69gs]

Should at least have the bucket tool and a good selection of shims. Most dealers are willing to swap shims at no cost if the kit does not have what you need. Our shims are used on many different bikes so sometime doing the search using those bikes will yield a cheaper price. If Iremember right they're 25mm shims.

[KeithR]

20 shims in a kit - $130.00 is that what I can expect to pay?

on ebay

[ragtop69gs]

I've seen used kits and new anywhere from 75-200 depending on number of shims and people bidding. Some kits have 20 shims but only 3 or 4 sizes. The thing to look at is what shims are in the kits, a lot of the shims we'll never use. Read some of the valve adj. threads here and you'll get an idea of the more popular sizes.

[KeithR]

right on Ill keep an eye on this thread and see if maybe someone in this part of the world has a kit lying around

 

Keith

[MiCarl]

You can reasonably expect to need 8 or 10 shims. Problem is you don't know which ones you need until you get in there. Many of them will be the same size. So not only does the kit need a broad selection, it needs some depth because you might end up using four each of two sizes.

 

Once I priced out assembling a kit I though would have a reasonable chance of being sure to include what was needed for a specific job. I think it came to about $350US.

 

The shims are 25mm. In addition to the Yamaha V4s they're used in quite a few Hondas.

[abusive throttle cranker]

Are they perhaps the size used in the Suzuki GS line? I am still a member of GS resources and they have a shim exchange system. Different tappet tool though of course.

[Acadieman]

I have a oil leak on the top of my engine that I need to address so while I was getting the gasket replaced I planned to get my valves adjusted as well. Here's the problem....the Yamaha dealer here is new and so is the mechanic....I can bring it to another dealer 100km's away and not see whats being done or anything as I would drop it off and pick it up later that week.

 

I'm not interested in doing it my self but I'm the service manager at a Honda Car dealership and we have a couple of good tech's that I'm sure could do it.

 

Would it be sensible to buy a shim kit just to do maybe one adjustment? I don't think there is one floating around Canada like in the US ? I'm thinking the shipping would pay for a kit?

 

If I was to buy one where would I look ?

 

Thanks for your help

Keith

Bike Bandit has lots for sale Did you check there ?

[etcswjoe]

I bought the gaskets from Skydoc_17 and he lent me his tools and shim kit for just shipping.

[RandyR]

I think there may be problems with customs sending a loaner kit and tools back and forth to Canada from the US.

[etcswjoe]

I think there may be problems with customs sending a loaner kit and tools back and forth to Canada from the US.

 

 

I did not think about that.