Hello, this afternoon checked the valves and found all of it too tight, cca 0,05 mm. I dont know what that means; when put thinnest 2,05 mm shim which I have no change, valves stay tight too.
Does it mean that I need general repair of cylinder head. Bike is 1983 8 valve K 100. Apreciate any advice.

nino wrote:Hello, this afternoon checked the valves and found all of it too tight, cca 0,05 mm. I dont know what that means; when put thinnest 2,05 mm shim which I have no change, valves stay tight too.
Does it mean that I need general repair of cylinder head. Bike is 1983 8 valve K 100. Apreciate any advice.

The early K engines were not suitable for unleaded fuel. This sounds like valve recession, worn seats and worn valves are very possible.
Al

AL-58 wrote:

nino wrote:Hello, this afternoon checked the valves and found all of it too tight, cca 0,05 mm. I dont know what that means; when put thinnest 2,05 mm shim which I have no change, valves stay tight too.
Does it mean that I need general repair of cylinder head. Bike is 1983 8 valve K 100. Apreciate any advice.

The early K engines were not suitable for unleaded fuel. This sounds like valve recession, worn seats and worn valves are very possible.
Al

Excuse me, didnt mention engine is from 1986. What to do with valve recession?

Do not worry about the valve recession problem until more study is made.
Actually, there is a thinner shim as shown below that would get you another .001" + a scoch. see below.
You should probably make some actual measurements of what you actually have now so that more help can be offered.
Generally if 1 is too tight it will be an exh. I just tore down an 85 engine that had 378,200Km. 1 valve was too tight and it was adjustable. Another valve was so deteriorated it was barely there, but it was still in adjustable range.
A couple of possible solutions: Kawasaki makes similar valve shims that are said to be the same diameter. I do not know if any of them are thinner than 2.0mm????
As a last resort, you can take some of your used shims to a machine shop and have them grind them thinner to your spec on a magnetic table grinder.
I think you need to go back and look again and be sure this is correct as you've seen it. If it is so, I think it's unusual.
Did this engine run? if so, how well. Tell us more, please tell us what clearances you have on which valves.

11 32 1 460 147

SPACER - 2,00MM

0.02

8

$6.19

ibjman wrote:Do not worry about the valve recession problem until more study is made.
Actually, there is a thinner shim as shown below that would get you another .001" + a scoch. see below.
You should probably make some actual measurements of what you actually have now so that more help can be offered.
Generally if 1 is too tight it will be an exh. I just tore down an 85 engine that had 378,200Km. 1 valve was too tight and it was adjustable. Another valve was so deteriorated it was barely there, but it was still in adjustable range.
A couple of possible solutions: Kawasaki makes similar valve shims that are said to be the same diameter. I do not know if any of them are thinner than 2.0mm????
As a last resort, you can take some of your used shims to a machine shop and have them grind them thinner to your spec on a magnetic table grinder.
I think you need to go back and look again and be sure this is correct as you've seen it. If it is so, I think it's unusual.
Did this engine run? if so, how well. Tell us more, please tell us what clearances you have on which valves.

11 32 1 460 147

SPACER - 2,00MM

0.02

8

$6.19

Thanks Ibjman, what I saw at first sight inlet valves are at 0,05 mm, exaust valves 0.15 mm. Shims are probably more than 2mm (I am not shure still). I ll try with 2mm shims and give somebody to machine it to 1,9 mm or so.
Bike run well, specially on higher revs. On idle from time to time I heard short "puff" and it was only sign. Last season I drove 8 thousand kms with consumtion of 5,5 - 6 liter, depends on conditions. So, everything looked fine before opening cylinder head cover.
Thans again

Are you measuring these with the cam lobe pointed fully out pointing away from the valve, with a feeler gauge?
Also are you using a metric feeler or converting USA feelers to metric readings? Easy to get that incorrect.
Also, it would be unusual to have all the intakes exactly the same and have all the ehxs exactly the same.
I would:
Find my tightest exh with the cam lobe completely turned away from the valve (facing out).
Record that reading.
Remove that shim & measure it with a mich.
Record that reading.
Get back to me with that information
This is simple once you have a clear understanding & practice, but confusing till you've done a few. Error probability is high.
I'm guessing you don't have such a big problem.

ibjman wrote:Are you measuring these with the cam lobe pointed fully out pointing away from the valve, with a feeler gauge?
Also are you using a metric feeler or converting USA feelers to metric readings? Easy to get that incorrect.
Also, it would be unusual to have all the intakes exactly the same and have all the ehxs exactly the same.
I would:
Find my tightest exh with the cam lobe completely turned away from the valve (facing out).
Record that reading.
Remove that shim & measure it with a mich.
Record that reading.
Get back to me with that information
This is simple once you have a clear understanding & practice, but confusing till you've done a few. Error probability is high.
I'm guessing you don't have such a big problem.

I did it regularly just like you said. And I think I have correct values finally without any new shim. Just interchanged shims between cylinders, after measuring with micrometer. Now I have cca 0.15 - 0,20 on inlets and 0,25 - 0,30 on exaust valves.

What to say I started yesterday night without proper light in garage, after a long and busy day at work.

Thanks a lot

How do you measure gaps with a micrometer instead of a feeler gauge?

You actually measure the shim after you get it out as they do wear a bit and after 25 years and 200000kms they can be one or even two sizes down which can be very handy. I always measure them even new ones.
You should use a micrometer because verniers will only measure the outside thickness of the shim not where the wear takes place which is a bit in from the edge.

RobinW wrote:How do you measure gaps with a micrometer instead of a feeler gauge?

Gap with gauge, shim with micrometer