Kawasaki Gt550
 

I once bought an ex despatch GT550 for very little. The engine over revved at idle and when I serviced it I discovered the valves seats/valves were worn to the extent that some of the shims ( shim and bucket adjustment for clearances) were the smallest available. Correct solution would be to fit new seats and possibly new valves but that was something i couldn't afford at that time. So I calculated what size shims I needed and using a flat whet stone I ground the smallest shims down to that size. It transformed the engine which ran correctly after that intervention. I probably ran the bike for another 40,000 miles after that and did a few more grinding jobs on the remaining shims when service needed. I did wonder if the valves would disintegrate at some stage but they never did. A cheap fix and definately a bodge albeit it one that required use of a micrometer.

gt550
 

..utterly fantastic bike, tough, and easily bodged and fixed..used by London motorcycle couriers, the ultimate accolade.....shaft drive, medium engine, power, good fuel consumption, no rad.........lovely bike....!!

The real bodger would have simply taken an angle grinder to the valve stem and reused the original shim. I know this for a fact, I caught a mechanic doing just that to my bike during an un announced visit to see why it was taking so long for a simple service. :nono:

I can see some sense in the stem grinding but you end up with little bits of grinding and debris from the grinding wheel in your engine then.