shims

[old_skool]

I was reading another post and for the sake of not high-jacking it, I'd thought I'd ask myself, shims for our valves and adjustment procedures, is there a how to here somewhere with pics, any special tools needed, and what's the hub-bub about an auto tensioner from a vmax or vision upgrade I'm reading bits and pieces about. Probably one of the many steps in my resto I'm going to have to get to eventually, no sense in rebuilding carbs and everything else if my valves aren't right.
Sorry if this question has been asked a lot, still having some issues with the search engine. Thanks! Rich 79-FS

[bikerphil]

shims for our valves and adjustment procedures, is there a how to here somewhere with pics, any special tools needed

I'm not sure there is a tech tip on that, any of the service manuals cover it pretty well.

There is a shim bucket hold down tool that some use, others just loosen the cams.

Shim charts in post 11...

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...ght=shim+chart

[Lonerider62]

When I got into checking my valve clearance, I found every single valve way too tight. I made an attempt to use the "tool" but couldn't get the hang of it so I removed the cams. In the process, I found my chain was stretched to the point that the adjuster was extended all the way so I also had to get a new chain. The PO said compression was good in all cylinders so I haven't checked it myself yet but I will. You are correct about needing the valves set correctly before doing any real tuning, but again, I found some nasty stuff in the air cleaner so I went through the carbs too. I did find a ton of into on the net about the XS1100 including valve clearance, but getting a manual will save you lot of time searching. I bought a Clymer and it seems decent. You can get many shims from WildKat or if you must order them, from cycle-re-cyle partII he only wants $5.95 vs $22 I believe from Yamaha.

[old_skool]

Got an e-manual..pdf, just haven't sat down and read it yet, guess thats next.

[TADracer]

You can get many shims from WildKat or if you must order them, from cycle-re-cyle partII he only wants $5.95 vs $22 I believe from Yamaha.

I have gotten shims from Cycle-re-cycle before and they are pretty good shims. Their service is great. They sent a wrong shim once and I fired off an email and they replaced it with the correct one right away.

The hold-down tools are a bit tricky to work but they can make it all easier once you get the hang of it. You might need to do a bit of grinding here and there to make them fit right in all positions. Make sure you put the new shim in with the number facing down (toward the valve bucket).

As far as cam chain tensioners, there are several trains of thought about them; OEM, adjustable from other bikes, manual, etc. I personally use a manual adjuster but that is merely my preference. One thing that I think most agree on is that the OEM tensioner leaves something to be desired.

[DGXSER]

Valve shimming is pretty easy on these bikes. I knwo whne I first started tearing into my first XS I was very leary of pulling the cams loose due to lossing the timing and all the horror stories you can find on here about it. I have done a complete valve shimming with the tool before, it is not horrible tough but it can be time consuming. The last time I shimmed the valves on Banshee I used the method of pulling the cams. For that, first pull the valve cover and the timing cover, and measure the clearance for all the valves. Now, put the timing mark on the C, and remove the cam chain tensioner. Put a rag or simethign similar int he cam chain galley hole in the center so you do not loose a nut or washer down that hole. Now you can remove the cam cap bolts from one of the cams it will naturally lift on one end. As yo move across the engine, just use a large screwdriver to pry the cam up (do not pry / push on the cam lobes) to get access to the valve bucket your on. Use a small screw driver and a magnet to pull the shims out one at a time and note their numbers. When done with that side, replace the cam cap nuts and repeat on the other side. Now you can see what shims you have and what shims you need. I found a small local bike shop that has a complete set of shims and will sell me whatever I need for $2-3 a shim. Just repeat the cam cap nut removal process to put new shims in. When your all finished, put all the cam cap nuts back on, torque them properly, verify your timing marks are lined up, and replace your cam tensioner. I always turn the engine by hand at this point just to be sure nothing got out of adjustment. Never had any problems doing it this way.

As to the adjuster, the stock one is prone to slipping and leaking. I have one of the Venture auto tensioners in now and have never had to worry about adjusting and no more leaking.