valve shim tool help

[grshantz]

Is there another valve shim tool available on the market? Or some other way to get the valve shims out?
I, like many of you, am getting very frustrated with this motion pro piece of garbage. It doesn't even touch the top of the valve when the valve is all the way up. My clearances are way under the minimum on some valves. So I don't want to run the engine without getting them adjusted. I emailed motion pro about the problem last night. We will see what they come back with.


Glenn

[sixtysix]

They will come back with nothing, I e-mailed them a couple of years ago....and so did another lister before that. Best thing you can do is go and get the tit on the bottom made longer, I tried to shave the back off mine, but it didn't work. I have been told it will work if I elongate the holes but I have not done so yet.

Good Luck!


Here is a copy of what I sent 1/25/01, I had asked about some thing else and got a great answer (tire irons I think) so I figured I would try the vavle tool question as well. GOT NO RESPONSE!

Joe,

Thank You for the detailed info, I will forward it to my parts man. But since I have you "on the line" I want to ask about you Yamaha valve adjustment tool, #08-020. From my information this tool is supposed to work on 78-81 Yamaha XS1100's, and it looks identical to the tool shown in the service manual. But it is too short. The small 'tit' on the end needs to be a couple of millimeters longer to hold the valve bucket down enough to get the shim out. The illustration in the service manual shows the tool holding the bucket below the surface of the head. Your tool does not hold it anywhere near this depth. It does hold it down just not enough to get the shim out. Has this tool had a design change recently? I am on an XS1100 group on the internet and we have around 500 members on our e-mail group, recently a bunch of us have complained that this tool is not long enough, and most of us have acquired the tool in the past year. I have not heard from anybody who has had the tool for a long period of time complaining about it so I assume that older ones may work. Mine is about 6 months old.

I tried to cut mine down on the back side so it would sit deeper, but it changed the angle of engagement on the bucket and would not work, so I guess I ruined mine, although I may be able to shim it back. But since it did not work, it's probably not worth worrying about.

Anyway a gentleman on our list recommended the Kawasaki tool (08-0019), because he complained to his Yamaha dealer that sold him the 08-020, and the dealer told him that his service guys use the Kawasaki tool on the Yamahas, since the Yamaha tool is too short on some bikes.

I just thought you would like to know that some of us are having problems with this particular tool on Yamaha XS1100's. If you need any more info, please do not hesitate to ask. I will post this to my e-mail group as well and see if I can find out who is having problems, what kind of problems, and how long they have had the tool.

Again thanks for the speedy and detailed reply,
Gary Granger

[grshantz]

I do hope they get back to me on this. I would really like to get this thing resolved. However, if they decide to ignore our concerns, I would suggest we all email them and let them know how we feel about thier tool and thier support. I would also let them know that we will avoid thier products in the future. I, myself, will probably take it one step further and let Dennis Kirk know that they are selling something that doesn't work and that it doesn't reflect well on them. If they do something about it Great. If not, at least I will have done my part.

Thanks,
Glenn

[TopCatGr58]

Another way?

Hey there Glen,
As to performing your shim replacement, there is another albeit more laborious way. It's the way I did mine while I did my topend job, to remove the cams, then you can have access to all the shims at once, then just replace them, retime the cams, and that's it. Just be careful to align them first per the manual, will make putting the cam sprockets and such back on easier.

[xjguy]

HERE I GO AGAIN!- I THINK THE MOPRO TOOL WORKS FINE- AT 1ST IT TRICKED ME TOO.
MAKE SURE THE TOOL IS ALIGNED WITH THE CENTERLINE OF THE VALVE LINE- THEN MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T TWIST WHEN YOU FINISH TIGHTENING THE HOLD DOEN BOLT-I USED A LARGE SREWDRIVER TO HOLD IT IN PLACE AS I TIGHTENED IT DOWN- WAS KICKING MY BUTT UNTIL THEN=AFTER THIS REALIZATION- I BECAME SMARTER THAN THE TOOL- AND ALL WAS WELL.

ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE- XJGUY!

[xjguy]

BY THE WAY-THINGS NOT GOING RIGHT ARE WHAT MAKE IT INTERESTING-OTERWISE ANY BODY COULD BE DOING WHAT WE DO- EVEN THE GUY THAT WORKS NEXT TO YOU-SCARY THOUGHT!

[grshantz]

you must be one of the lucky ones. I have tried every position possible with that tool . . . without getting arrested. With the tool mounted at the center of the valve, the nib just barely touches the stem. The engine only has 23,000 on it so this may also make some difference. BTW I did locate an original Yamaha tool today and will be trying it out tomorrow. The nib on the yamaha tool is a little longer then the motion pro.

More tomorrow.


Glenn

[nashville_bill]

I recently bought one of the Motion Pro Yamaha tools and it worked fine on the exhaust valves but would not work on the intake side. After looking at it for a while, I saw that the problem was that it was blocked from touching the lifter by the base of the cam lobe. If I had tightened the bolt on the tool, it would have pushed the tip of the tool into the head at the edge of the hole for the lifter.

I used a 2" diameter grinding wheel to remove about 1/16" from the inside (concave) side of the tool. Now it fits perfectly.

I wonder if the problem isn't with the tools but maybe the heads and cams are not all the same?

[nwilley]

Speaking of Motion Pro tools...as I have sold my XS I have one that is now useless to me. If someone wants it, make me an offer and it is yours!

[sixtysix]

Save it for me...are you coming to Big Island 2K3? I will be there, (as long as it is Aug5-Aug 27).

[nwilley]

Gary Grainger wrote:
Save it for me...are you coming to Big Island 2K3? I will be there, (as long as it is Aug5-Aug 27).
=============================
At this point I don't think there is going to be a BI2K3, but if you are making the effort to come all the way to BC, I will meet you somewhere and ride along. People often miss out Vancouver Island on a long trip, as it amounts to a several day side-trip and they are pressed for time. Any idea at this point where you might be going?

[sixtysix]

I am coming out to the west coast on the dates indicated above. Mike Hart has agreed to show me around the area for a couple of weeks, I assume that means Vancouver Island. I am planning on getting out there around the 8th-9th (trailering two bikes) and am leaving Mon 24th. So will have a solid two weeks to ride. Any reason you are not planning a BI rally this year?

[nwilley]

The BI rally has only been held twice, both times hosted entirely be Sid Clarke, and separated by a year. I can't speak for Sid but I suspect he does not want to organize another one, and no one else has stepped up to the plate. Personally, I would rather see a camping tour rally that does not burden one or two people.

[sixtysix]

OK, so get with Mike Hart and set something up .....Ummm...please?