Simple Question re: KLR Valves/shims....

[scharfg]

HI folks, newbie here.

I checked my valved clearances last night (well I just held the light mostly) and I have the following questions:

1) what does the number on the shimmean?

2) as the clearance increases (ie: space between the shim and the cam at TDC) the valve shim number gets smaller, it seems backwards, why is that?

3) I am using shim calc and the great instructions from Marknet. I know that the acceptable clearance range for the intake side is 0.10mm to 0.20mm and for the exhaust side its 0.15 to 0.25mm. What desired clearance in "mm" should I enter into shimcalc to figure out my shim size? The bike had the top end done ~6000km ago so, do I plug in the lowest desired clearance number, the middle or the largest to get the most life out of my valves/shims?

Thanks in advance, hope things are good to ride where you are cuz its still snowin up here :0(

Cheers....

 

[Guest]

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scharfg wrote:

HI folks, newbie here.

I checked my valved clearances last night (well I just held the light mostly) and I have the following questions:

1) what does the number on the shimmean?

2) as the clearance increases (ie: space between the shim and the cam at TDC) the valve shim number gets smaller, it seems backwards, why is that?

3) I am using shim calc and the great instructions from Marknet. I know that the acceptable clearance range for the intake side is 0.10mm to 0.20mm and for the exhaust side its 0.15 to 0.25mm. What desired clearance in "mm" should I enter into shimcalc to figure out my shim size? The bike had the top end done ~6000km ago so, do I plug in the lowest desired clearance number, the middle or the largest to get the most life out of my valves/shims?

Thanks in advance, hope things are good to ride where you are cuz its still snowin up here :0(

Cheers....

the number is the shim thickness....so a smaler number, is a thinner shim, giving you more clearance.

If going thru all the hassle to reshim a valve that is out of spec, when doing so reshim it as close to the loose end of the specs as possible.

klr valves get tighter over time, not looser.

The cause is the valve pounding on the seat in the head, causing it to wear, and make the clearance tighter and tighter, until it could eventually hold a valve open, and burn the valves.

It can also cause hard starting, as a warning sign that a valve maybe getting too tight.

I checked the valves on my KLR, and they were fine, so i was lucky and did not have to reshim any.

Just bolted it all back together and went riding.:hb:

 

[Guest]

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Ps a strong magnet is good for pulling out old shims.

And grease on a thin feeler gauge is a good way to slide the new ones into place.



Be careful to under torque if anything the valve covers, as i hear ir is very easy to strip them.

If you do a search on klr650.net you will find tons of people have stripped them, even doing them up to the book specs with a torque wrench.

Just and FYI :tup:

 

[scharfg]

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You guys are awesome thanks for the understandable explaination and the great tips as well :0)

Hope the snow melts by the time I finish the job!!

 

[Yak_KLR650]

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I emailed some info on valve adjustment to Brian - I meant to cc you but I hit "send" too soon. I'm sure he'll forward it to you.

 

[scharfg]

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Thanks a bunch dude. Despite the freakin cold we pulled the shim job off quite well. Fortunately Dave had all 4 of the shims I needed and the re-assemble went well. One thing was strange though (which I will be posting a question on in this forum) is when we looked at the alingnment of the two timing chain sprockets at TDC the left one was great both the arrow and the line were equally horizontal. But on the right sprocket they were not horizontal. The front arrow was 1/2 of a tooth below the horizontal while the back arrow was horizontal. We moved the sprocket one tooth distance back but then it put it 1/2 of a tooth too far back. So..... I'm wondering what that may mean for my timing. Given the top end was rebuilt shortly before I purchased the bike I can assume the re-assembly person saw that and left is at is which I'm hoping means its not a big deal.

Cheers eh!