F650 valve shims
 

I'm getting to the point of cutting corners to save time, and am thinking about not measuring my valve shims to order some to take with me. Are there any available and at what milage did you need to change shims? I've got the under bucket ones.

What size would you take with you .. not knowing what size is already in the engine?! Consider that the shims would be avalible is say 20 different thicknesses...


As I understand it these things change very little anyways .. and when the system wares you want thicker shims? For thicker shims you could add to the present shim by some shim sheet of the correct aditional thickness placed under your original shim .. if you need thicker shim - simily abrade the present shim to the required thickness.

So if you really want to cut corners - take no shims. Oil filters - yes. Fork seals - yes.

Take no shims unless you know which thickness you will need - impossible to do ! Frank's suggestion I have my doubts about. The shims are made of very wear resistant steel, you would need a micrometer and a precision machine setup to remove metal , and to add filler shims is dangerous as these may disintegrate and spit crap into your engine . That would save money !
Best way to save is to find out which other bikes from Honda,Yam,Kaw.Suz etc and car engines use the same size shims .They are common sizes, and when you do your own valve check you can go to these shops and ask to buy used shims from their stock of exchanged shims.

I bought a set for a F650GS in the UK from Moto-Bins.
They come as a set of 8 and cover the likely sizes you'll need.
Something around 12 UK pounds for the set, plus postage.
When mine were checked I didn't need to use any of them.