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Valve Shim Adjustment Questions

labradorian70

labradorian70

Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Messages
41
Location
Pembroke, ON Canada
I had the chain tensioner fail last summer and long story short she jumped the timing and i decided to change all the valves seeing i had to tear it apart anyways...

I finally got around to changing out the Valves and putting the cylinder head back on. I'm doing the valve clearance checks and have some questions.

The existing valve spacers(Pads) in the bike are
^Front of Bike^
192, 194, 192, 191
205, 206, 208, 208

Measurements taken with feeler gauge
0.23,0.16 0.16,0.27
0.08,0.14 0.09,0.11

But the replacement spacers from yamaha are rounded to the nearest 5. 190, 195, 200(1.9mm,1.95mm, 2.0mm) etc. I wanted to aim at the middle of the tolerance range of 0.10-0.16 for the intake and 0.22-0.28 for the exhaust but It looks like you can only get it into the range by rounding up or down to the nearest 5.

Here are what I should end up after replacing the spacers, some will stay where they are, 1 will move and some new ones. ...
Clearances as follows
0.25(190), 0.25(185), 0.23(185), 0.27(191)
0.14(200), 0.14(206), 0.12(205), 0.14(205)

1. Are these spacers only available from Yamaha? And only available in increments of 0.05?
2. Does it matter if my clearances fall into the lower of the limit VS the high end of the limit? or as long as they are within the range im good.

Thanks
 
WJBertrand

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,737
Location
Ventura, CA
Hot Cams sells valve shims and kits, but they have a coarser increment than the OEM ones. Just set them at the largest clearance that’s still within the spec range. The clearances will tighten with mileage so this buys a little extra time/mileage before you have to change a shim again.
 
Huck

Huck

Active Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2023
Messages
102
Location
Minnesota
Your number look good cept for intake in cylinder #1

.08 + .05 = .13

You running a manual cam chain tensioner or a factory setup?
 
labradorian70

labradorian70

Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Messages
41
Location
Pembroke, ON Canada
WJBertrand said:
Hot Cams sells valve shims and kits, but they have a coarser increment than the OEM ones. Just set them at the largest clearance that’s still within the spec range. The clearances will tighten with mileage so this buys a little extra time/mileage before you have to change a shim again.
Click to expand...
thank you,
 
cyclemike4

cyclemike4

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2016
Messages
1,098
Location
ky
labradorian70 said:
I had the chain tensioner fail last summer and long story short she jumped the timing and i decided to change all the valves seeing i had to tear it apart anyways...

I finally got around to changing out the Valves and putting the cylinder head back on. I'm doing the valve clearance checks and have some questions.

The existing valve spacers(Pads) in the bike are
^Front of Bike^
192, 194, 192, 191
205, 206, 208, 208

Measurements taken with feeler gauge
0.23,0.16 0.16,0.27
0.08,0.14 0.09,0.11

But the replacement spacers from yamaha are rounded to the nearest 5. 190, 195, 200(1.9mm,1.95mm, 2.0mm) etc. I wanted to aim at the middle of the tolerance range of 0.10-0.16 for the intake and 0.22-0.28 for the exhaust but It looks like you can only get it into the range by rounding up or down to the nearest 5.

Here are what I should end up after replacing the spacers, some will stay where they are, 1 will move and some new ones. ...
Clearances as follows
0.25(190), 0.25(185), 0.23(185), 0.27(191)
0.14(200), 0.14(206), 0.12(205), 0.14(205)

1. Are these spacers only available from Yamaha? And only available in increments of 0.05?
2. Does it matter if my clearances fall into the lower of the limit VS the high end of the limit? or as long as they are within the range im good.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I have a hot cams kit and it is the same as the Yamaha shims. .05 mm increments. the first time I checked my valves there was a good dealer I had used for years had shims that were any thickness you needed. So the two I adjusted I was able to put right in the middle. He has retired and the shop has closed now. I can not find a shim any place that has a smaller increment than the .05mm. I do know they are out there but who knows where? Looks like set it to the loose side and let her ride. About all you can do.
 
C

Cycledude

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2016
Messages
4,489
Location
Rib lake wi
My 2018 Tenere has currently 87,000 miles do you think the factory cam chain tensioner should be replaced ? It’s a pretty expensive part.
 
T

tntmo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2017
Messages
675
Location
San Diego, CA
I have found some shims available in .025 increments, but I don't think they are the ones for these bikes. I wouldn't worry about it, set them to the looser side if you can, but as long as you can get it in spec it's fine.
 
WJBertrand

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,737
Location
Ventura, CA
cyclemike4 said:
I have a hot cams kit and it is the same as the Yamaha shims. .05 mm increments. the first time I checked my valves there was a good dealer I had used for years had shims that were any thickness you needed. So the two I adjusted I was able to put right in the middle. He has retired and the shop has closed now. I can not find a shim any place that has a smaller increment than the .05mm. I do know they are out there but who knows where? Looks like set it to the loose side and let her ride. About all you can do.
Click to expand...
I might be remembering my Honda shim kit when I said the OEM shims came in finer increments than the Hot Cams kit.
 
RonTV

RonTV

New Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2025
Messages
9
Location
Lakewood, Colorado
Just for info, in case anyone doesn’t know, the shims are 9.48mm diameter and Honda uses them extensively on many of their motorcycles. The Honda shims are available in .025mm increments. Any year Africa Twin CRF1000 or CRF1100 is a couple Hondas that use 9.48mm shims. Honda shims are less expensive as a bonus.
 
labradorian70

labradorian70

Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Messages
41
Location
Pembroke, ON Canada
RonTV said:
Just for info, in case anyone doesn’t know, the shims are 9.48mm diameter and Honda uses them extensively on many of their motorcycles. The Honda shims are available in .025mm increments. Any year Africa Twin CRF1000 or CRF1100 is a couple Hondas that use 9.48mm shims. Honda shims are less expensive as a bonus.
Click to expand...
THis is good info as i just found out from Yamaha that one of my shims are not available until April 3rd to the dealer. So i can't wait that long.

I found a source for Honda tappets(as they call them).......here in Canada from Fortnine. I looked up the the honda tappets part#s(From honda website) for a 2020 African Twin 1100 and for example got 14926-MBB-000 for a 1.825mm spacer. I will trust that this is a 9.48mm shim that will fit the tenere. I love how the OEM parts sites, they never give much detail on the part :)

THANKs


glen
 
Last edited:
Bigguy136

Bigguy136

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2016
Messages
276
Location
Big Lake, MN
If you want the half sizes (shims in between ones factory sells) stop in at a local shop with a pizza just before lunch. The factory installs shims every .01mm and during adjustment, mechanic throws those shims in his box and swaps for a different sizes as needed. After enough years, almost a guarantee they have the exact shims size you want.
In the smaller diameter shims (Tenere 700 size) I have over 100 and maybe a third are standard sizes.
And always install shims with the number up. If not, the valve stem will remove the laser etched number during run time.
 
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