Making progress, still wish I could just ride it though.

[Jimustanguitar]

I had an extra set of hands in the shop last night and made some progress on the V.

I got the second one of my heads separated from the jug, man was it stuck together! It took warming the assembly very cautiously with a torch to about 200 degrees (that's a few degrees less than 100C for you metrics out there) and had to clamp the jug in a vice and tap on the flats of the head with a 2x2 and a 4lb deadblow hammer through the cylinder bore. What a chore...

After that, I got all 8 of my valves out. My spring compressor isn't designed for recessed valve springs (it's an automotive one, not a motorcycle one), so I had to extend its reach with an O2 sensor socket which actually worked surprisingly well. Now I've got them separated out in a muffin pan and soaking in seafoam. I'll run 'em through the ultrasonic cleaner later and take a toothbrush to them. Then it's on to lapping the seats and reassessing my lash with the cams on. The stems all looked clean, no burrs or mushrooming. Also gotta check 'em in a drill to make sure they're still straight and true.

The copper headgaskets and cylinder base gaskets from Cometic came in last week, so that's ready to go. Unless I need to order some valve-shims, I should have her cleaned up and reassembled again in a week or so. Do any of the aftermarket shims from places like Dennis Kirk work on these bikes, or will I have to go on a goose chase with Yamaha charts and discontinued NOS parts?


It's been an uphill battle this whole summer (already did carbs, starter, and the starter clutch, along with a handfull of other smaller jobs) but I finally feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel (hopefully it's not a freight train comin' your way). Maybe I'll get a second tank of gas under my belt this season :)

[Rikugun]

I have no experience with "aftermarket" shims but you can always go to the dealer and exchange shims for the ones you need. For me, the Kawasaki dealer is closer so I used their 29mm shims.  I've also seen on E-bay where peole will sell small lots of shims salvged from engines for (at times) reasonable prices.

[Rick G]

There was a blurb on eBay by a fellow who knew which shims fit. I seem to remember that toyota shims  and Triumph shims also were 29 mm.

[Jimustanguitar]

These are the shims that I was thinking about.
https://www.denniskirk.com/hot-cams/3-10mm-replacement-shims-with-10mm-od.p185643.prd/185643.sku
Obviously they're far too small :)

When you say that you exchange yours at the dealer, what exactly do you mean? Does the dealer actually take back your used ones and put them in the pile for someone else?

[Rick G]

Those are shim under bucket , shims. The Vision uses shim over bucket, shims. There much larger. Many dealers will exchange shims , if yours are in good shape. There is usually a fee.

[Rikugun]

Oh Dennis Kirk, how could you?? Why do you have 10 mm shims pictured with a ruler in sixteenths of an inch?  :(  :D I guess using a metric ruler won't work for most americans since they're clueless to the metric system.

Jim, you need shims that are 29mm OD.