shim kit

[mr blackstock]

G'day,
As I am currently in the throes of doing my shims, and having bought five, I got to wondering why we do not have a shim kit in Australia?
If we all put in a few dollars, we could buy a shim kit and the last person to use it could post it to the next person in need.  Precision shims in Melbourne sell shims for $10 each if the kit needed restocking. All we need to do is nominate who to send money to, put in a list of shims members need, and order the kit. Below are some options for buying.

Also, if members have excess shims they could top up the kit. If a member uses 5 shims, they put their 5 old shims in the kit.

What does everyone think?

Http://www.rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Tools%3AVSKit://

www.ebay.com.au/itm/Honda-CBX-Yamaha-FJ1100-FJ1200-Valve-Shim-Lot-11-Shims-2-50-to-3-00-25mm-NEW-/161723557855?hash=item25a779a7df

[Arnie]

Hi Gareth,

I think its not necessary.  After initial bed-in of the valves there isn't a great deal of wear and you rarely need more than 1 or 2 shiims when checking/setting the valves.  Also, as the tendency is for the valve lash to close up over time, you end up installing thinner and thinner shims.  Doing this on a shared kit would in time, result in a kit of mostly thicker shims.

Then you have the potential problem of AuPost losing it in transit.  Although they are really very good, sometimes they fukk up.
Also, while we're all fine upstanding honest and caring individuals...... What do you do if "someone" doesn't send the kit back or on to the next user?  What if the tool is lost or damaged?

Some dealer shops are willing to swap shims for nothing, or at 1/2 price of new, so the main benefit to having a kit is that you don't have your bike laid up while you go to the dealer to swap shims.  Remember that Yamaha, Honda, and Toyota all make engines that use these 25mm shims.  They aren't that hard to find.

So, for all those reasons I'm not interested in joining a shim kit collective.  However, as I have a shim tool and some experience using it, I'm happy to help anyone who wants to check and adjust their valve lash shims.
 
Arnie

[mr blackstock]

G'day,

Yeah you do make some good points, the big killer I think is the likelyhood of Aussie post loosing the bloody kit.  I have tried phoning around locally looking for shim swaps, no one will do it up here.  Although shims are not hard to find, reasonably priced ones are.  I found a place in Melbourne does them for $9.90 each.

Last year I bought 5 shims, the other day I bought another 5 shims, thats around $100.  maybe when I need more shims I might ask here if people want to swap or sell.

Thanks for the feedback..

Gareth

[ribbert]

G'day,

I have tried phoning around locally looking for shim swaps, no one will do it up here.  Although shims are not hard to find, reasonably priced ones are.  I found a place in Melbourne does them for $9.90 each.

Last year I bought 5 shims, the other day I bought another 5 shims, thats around $100.  maybe when I need more shims I might ask here if people want to swap or sell.

Thanks for the feedback..

Gareth

Gareth, if you have a local machine shop, they can skim them for you. I had a dozen or so done recently. It didn't take long and the valves are now exactly on the max clearance because they can machine them to any size you want, not just the standard increments.

I can see the appeal of a shim kit, but Arnie makes some good points about the impracticality of it and while it's a PIA at the time, it's not something that needs doing very often.

Noel

[mr blackstock]

G'day,

Thats a good tip about asking a machine shop to shave some shims, as we do not have many auto places up here who are freindly about shim sale requests.  I will have around 10 shims spare soon so it will be something I need to consider.

Cheers, Gareth