Shim kit

Tue Aug 4 08:20:41 PDT 2015

It's been 5+ years now since I sold my beloved black beauty '96 GPz but I still enjoy being a GPz List lurker. You guys are the best. Last week I bought another big Kaw. I'm going to try the touring thing. I got a 2012 VN1700 Voyager with 1400 miles on the odo. I keep saying I'm going to go smaller and get something like a KLR but really, who am I kidding here? I've been dealing with some health issues and can't ride much at all right now but I'm sure looking forward to jumping on the new beast just as soon as I feel up to it. 

Sent from my iPad

> On Jul 31, 2015, at 1:09 AM, Don French <sirdondiego at outlook.com> wrote:
> 
> I’m happy to see that the shim kit is being well cared for by Listers and is still available.
> 
> I remember giving many shims to the kit that my ZZR (and “Rock and Roll Red”) would never use.
> 
> God bless the “Northrup” that got the kit back to us.
> 
> 
> Rock and Ride on.
> 
> 
> Don.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from Windows Mail
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: Ped
> Sent: ‎Friday‎, ‎July‎ ‎31‎, ‎2015 ‎12‎:‎05‎ ‎AM
> To: Donnie French
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hello Bill,
> 
> Well written - thanks for sharing! :) I'm happy your efforts resulted in 
> a smooth running engine again.
> 
> As for the the wear on the cam lobes: Mine had the cams replaced under 
> warranty (at 24.000 km - 15.000 miles) because the mechanic had noted 
> tiny little cracks on the cam lobes. However, already 15.000 km (9.300 
> miles) later the new cams showed the same signs. A few others on this 
> list had experienced the same, and someone mentioned that his mechanic 
> had told him not to worry about it. The wear (pitting) would reach a 
> certain stage and then don't get any worse. And this is exactly what has 
> happened to mine. All 8 of the exhaust cams are pitted and a few of the 
> intake cams as well. And the stage of wear has been the same for many, 
> many thousands of miles. So not to worry about it seems to be a good 
> peace of advice in this case.
> 
> As for the handkerchief in top end: Been there - done that. Except that 
> in my case it was a piece of paper rag - and I run the engine before I 
> realized my mistake. Boy, that was an expensive experience... :-(
> 
> Ped
> '96 "Black Stealth" GPZ
> Denmark
> 
> 
>> Den 30-07-2015 kl. 21:24 skrev William P. Zeller:
>> Greetings.
>> The shim kit arrived here in the Chicago area from Bill Y. and I 
>> apparently decided to let the little dears acclimate a while before 
>> putting them to use.
>> Finally getting a nice warm July morning I tore into the long-idle 
>> ZX.  It had been sitting since last October due to poor running, way 
>> too long.
>> I'd changed the carb float valves last autumn but that wasn't the main 
>> problem.
>> Remembering the first time I did the valves on this bike, when I let 
>> one of the discs tumble down the cam chain tower, leading to a 
>> delightful hour and a half of fishing with a flex magnet, I stuffed a 
>> red handkerchief in there instead before going about the chore. Never 
>> actually needed it, but the red seemed to help repel the flying shims.
>> Somehow, in the previous adjustments, I never figured out how to 
>> correctly hold the rockers out of the way.  Until now. Exasperated, I 
>> just wiggled and pushed and there it was.  Sure a lot easier to go 
>> shim-fishing that way.
>> Most of the exhausts were waaay tight; a couple were only a few 
>> thousandths clear, so I had plenty of guilt to keep me company in the 
>> workspace.
>> I finished up near dinner time- the missus is a pro chef and I don't 
>> care to be late for any meal at home- and buttoned the top end back 
>> up, but left the tank off so that I could get the carbs out for 
>> another go-round of cleaning and inspection.
>> Sometime just before the arrival in dreamland, I was struck by a 
>> horrible head-picture: the dang handkerchief was still in the engine.  
>> In a hurry to get home, I had begun reassembly without removing it.
>> Cold chills kept me on high alert all the way til the following 
>> morning, thinking of what would have happened had I continued to 
>> forget, and the thought of that cotton traveling around the motor was 
>> all the impetus I needed to charge back to the garage in the a.m. 
>> looking for the 10mm socket.
>> No harm, no fouling.  The carb fix went well enough, too, and I 
>> actually straightened out a couple of cable and wire loom kinks, too.
>> A touch of start button proved the worth of doing the project: the 
>> return of the sweetest-tempered, most docile and willing motorcycle 
>> engine I've ever experienced.  What a happy motorcycle!
>> Now at 89,000mi (143,000km), the motor is as willing to head off for 
>> the 500-mile breakfast as it's ever been.
>> I did observe some wear on the cam lobes, especially on the exhaust 
>> ones, but no scarring.  I took pictures (heck, here in my senior 
>> years, I take pictures of everything I'm taking apart anymore!) and 
>> will share them eventually if I can get my website editing software to 
>> cooperate.
>> I was going to worry about it, but figured, ah, what the heck, just 
>> ride the thing.
>> Having been exiled to my GL1800 all these months, getting Kaw Kam 
>> Whine between the knees again is a pleasant feeling.
>> The missus isn't so happy... an hour on the back of the ZX's Corbin 
>> makes her butt "tingle" and her feet fall asleep.  Guess that's why I 
>> still hang onto the big blue whale.
>> So, the shim kit is released from need here in Chicagoland and is 
>> ready to travel to its next mission.
>> Bill Zeller
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