Check Your Valves !

[silicon_toad2000]

I just had a look at the cutaway picture from lucky's site (excellent site, thanks Lucky)
now I see how difficult the valve clearance will be to adjust.
needless to say i will not be checking the valves this weekend.
I think my time can be much better used elsewhere on the bike.
Thanks guys.

Can anyone tell me what the thickness of a 200 numbered pad is. Is it 2mm? I think I'll be making my own shims up.

[Silver_Bullet]

Be careful making your own shims.  My understanding is that they are treated/hardend metal.  Using standard steels will cause increased wear, possible damage to the cam lobes, along with all the other problems this brings.  Good luck.

Mark

[Walt_M.]

They are also 'close tolerance fit' in the buckets. There have been tales of old 900 Kawasakis spitting the shims through the cam covers at high revs. Be forewarned before you try a barnyard approach.

[gbranche]

I believe the valve clearance chart in the Haynes manual is correct. ?I may check Greg's chart to my Haynes and Yamaha manuals just to be sure. ?Thanks for doing the spreadsheet work for us Greg!

When I produced the spreadsheet, I didn't have access to the Haynes manual. I was looking at the charts in the Yamaha XZ550RK manual, and the baselines didn't match what the text of the manual was saying. That's why I did the spreadsheet.

Once I get confirmation that the numbers in the spreadsheet are correct from one of you smarter-than-I guys, I'll produce a PDF version, for those folks that don't have access to Excel.

Greg

[PeteN]

Anybody priced that tool??  I assume it's more than a 22mm wrench?

[Walt_M.]

The way I see it is that the text is wrong and the chart is right. Text says if the clearance is 0.32 and the installed is 250, install a 270. This would give a clearance of 0.12, specs are 0.16-0.20. The chart says to use a 265 which would be correct, would give a clearance of 0.17, in tolerance.

[gbranche]

Here's my rationale:

The text of the Yamaha service manual states that the intake valve clearance should be 0.11~0.15mm, and the exhaust valve clearance should be 0.16~0.20mm (page 2-4, XZ 550 RK Service Manual, LIT-11616-XZ-55). The charts on page 2-7 state that the intake clearance should be 0.16~0.20mm, and the exhaust clearance should be 0.21~0.25mm. The charts are structured with those values as the baselines. Obviously, either the text on page 2-4 is incorrect, or the charts on page 2-7 are incorrect.

The example provided on page 2-6 provides a clue (to me) as to which values are correct. The example says that the intake valve (emphasis mine) installed pad is a #250, and that the measured clearance is 0.32mm. Therefore the new pad should be a #270. If I use the published chart, it tells me that the proper replacement shim is a #265. Let's do the math. The difference between a #270 and a #250 is 0.20mm. Reducing the measured clearance of 0.32mm by 0.20mm leaves a clearance of 0.12mm, which is within the stated 0.11~0.15mm allowance for the intake valve. If I used a #265 shim, the final clearance would be 0.32 - (265-250) = 0.17mm which is outside the allowable range.

So, I chose to believe the values embedded in the text of the service manual, rather than the chart. I assumed that the chart was copied and pasted in from some other service manual, and the editor of the service manual failed to notice the slight differences in measurements. That's why I produced my own, corrected, chart.

I'll be the first to admit that my logic may be wrong. If I can get confirmation as to the actual, correct, valve clearance specifications, I can rebuild the chart accordingly. (That's why I built it in a spreadsheet - let the computer do the recalculations automatically.) I have noted, however, that the charts in the Haynes manual match the ones that I produced, including the intake and exhaust clearance specs.

Greg

[Coil Coyle]

Camtool Part Number: 35-3470
Brand: K&L
Name: VALVE SHIM TOOL:YAM XZ550


http://www.klsupply.com to find a dealer

[bmeyer6472]

Can anyone tell me what the thickness of a 200 numbered pad is. Is it 2mm? I think I'll be making my own shims up.

I would advise you to abandon the idea of making your own shims, unless you have access to precision machine tools and the proper alloy to make them from. You also will have to properly heat treat them. The chance for failure is too high to risk, IMHO. The Vision may be old, but it's still pretty high tech - beware of shade tree fixes to something as finely engineered as a motorcycle valve train. 'Course, if you have the equipment and the capability to do the job, go for it - I bet you'll be the first to get away with it! ;D Absolutely no offense intended.

[Kevin]

Anyone wanting to try and make a valve shim tool from lucky's site, I suggest looking for a old toolkit from a enduro bike. most have a short handle 6 point axle nut wrench. It is much closer to the size you need and not near as hard a metal to work with.  Kevin C. :)

[silicon_toad2000]

yeah, i gave up on the idea of making my own shims.
wow this is an old post, it took me a while to remeber making those comments.
valves arent very high on my priority list st the moment.