TOPIC:

my local Kawasaki dealer used to run an exchange program. Bring in the shims that didn't fit and exchange them for the ones you need. Cost $1.00 Canadian per shim.

Thanks , I've tried all local shops/mechanics and it seems they all "used" to have them. My clearances are all on the smallest of the limit or 0.05 too tight and two have no clearance at all so I thought getting half a dozen smaller size shims would let me do some swapping around. Would it be favorite to set them all to the larger gap limit as they only ever tighten up over time? Looks like buying from Wemoto is the option, just seemed £50 for 6 shims is a bit steep, a lot cheaper on US sites but I want them fairly quickly.

check ebay as well £6.70 for 2.75 shims

Yep, have seen them, I guess it's not surprising there are plenty of the larger sizes and smaller would be in demand, I will have a few spare 2.60's left over when I'm done

charlie9670 wrote: Thanks , I've tried all local shops/mechanics and it seems they all "used" to have them. My clearances are all on the smallest of the limit or 0.05 too tight and two have no clearance at all so I thought getting half a dozen smaller size shims would let me do some swapping around. Would it be favorite to set them all to the larger gap limit as they only ever tighten up over time? Looks like buying from Wemoto is the option, just seemed £50 for 6 shims is a bit steep, a lot cheaper on US sites but I want them fairly quickly.

I always set the clearances to the wider gap. As the valves wear through normal operation, they will tighten up the gap. The cost to performance is minimal. If you set the clearances to the narrower gap, you take the risk of burning a valve seat/face and then you're in for a valve job. Buying new valves is getting tougher.

My advice, keep the valve settings to the wider side and you're be thankful you did.

the next option is to have the valves tipped to bring them back into a useable range with the shims
0.25 should be enough if your going to grind the valves in when you have the head off.