Well its back together and running.

Intake is now .15mm with a 3.00 mm shim.
Exhaust is now .20mm with a 3.00mm shim.

I did this at a little over 3800 miles. I wonder if they would have made it to 7200 miles as Kawasaki suggests. I believe this is a service that should be done sooner than the book says.

 

I've been a little nervous about doing this particular bit of service myself. I've got a good shop that I could go to(non dealer), but I would rather tackle it myself for the educational benefit if nothing else. While I make my decision, I have a few questions:

1. Is this a job that I could tackle without a service manual? (read: is this finally going to give me an excuse to buy the manuals?)
2. Are any special tools required?
3. Are any gaskets required to reassemble?
4. If all go smoothly, how long should this job take?

Thanks

 

chris, all you really need is a tube of rtv sealant around the valve cover, and those torque specs, im sure there is links to check valve clearances... its easy, i checked mine. You do need feeler guages, i got a set from advanced auto, checking them is maybe an hour job, but i didnt have to changed mine, so im sure that takes longer, as you have to be careful with the timing chain.

 

I had some help but it wasn't that bad. EMS is right on, you won't need anything special, just a torque wrench, some tie wraps for the chain, and of course the shims. Planetklx had a GREAT writeup that I just printed out and EMS's torque specs and I was good to go. It will be MUCH easier next time. You wont believe how much crap you have to remove to get to into the valve cover. Maybe I'm new (I am) but I had to remove my Muzzyhead pipe to get the timing chain tensioner out.It took me about six hours in total, not including the parts run and other previous engagements. I did install a Garmin 60CSx and a RAM mount while I was doing the valves so that distracted me a bit here and there.

 

You shouldnt have to remove the headpipe to take the tensioner out.... i have taken mine out with the exhaust all together... must be that big gun quality right there ( thats a joke)

 

DUMB QUESTION ALERT: Are the shims sold in kits or do you buy them one at a time? If they are sold by the kit (as I suspect), then are they bike specific or is it a generic kit? If bike specific, does anyone have the part number? I don't remember seeing anything in the Common Part #s thread about a shim kit.

 

There is shim kits..... but there is 2 different diameters.. ours takes the smaller diameter..... i think one is 7.**mm and the other is 9.**mm...... check out hot cams, shim kit... around 70-80$

 

Ok, I dont know too much but what I did was pulled the old shims, measured them, figured out what sizes I needed. Then Icalled every shop in town, I found them and they told me they would be $12 a piece, yikes, but I needed them so ok. When I got there they were sorry but could only find 2, crap, he tells me to hold on and comes back with a large handfull and some calipers. I measured until I found 2 more, yea, he ended up charging me $5 a piece because of the hassle. You could buy a Hot Shims kit but I think they are kinda spendy. I dont know if this even answered your question but it was the route I took. I'm pretty sure that the 300R would use the same shims.

 

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/m_30635/tm.htm

good link for you guys.....

 

Yeah, both you guys answered my questions. Thanks.

I hate the idea of dropping $70-$80 on a kit when I will only end up using a few of the shims. I know that I can keep them for future work, but it still is a bitter pill to swallow. I guess I will just have to plan for it and do it. Dagnabbit!

Ginsu4u, I would do what you did but I drive me bike as a commuter, so I can not take the chance that I will have problems finding the shims locally when I get her torn down. I need to have the shims in hand when I start the job.

Thanks again, Chris