Not to shim

[nightrider]

Reading all the posts on having the shims done ,, how many miles has folk done and not had them looked at , mines got to 30,000 and I'm not going to bother , some bikes never seem to need them doing ,some do , the way the value of the bikes dropping I'm thinking it's worth the risk ,, have read of some people's bikes doing 100000m and not been done ,,dealers love it as they can charge so much ,, how do you tell if it needs it , mine runs sweet ,, it was done at 7500 ,,

[doebag]

The problem is that as mileage builds up, the valve clearances close up. They do not get wider and thus noisier, making themselves known.. If the clearances are too small, you will suffer loss of performance, possible harder starting and  burning of the valve seats if left too long.
So CHECKING the clearances should be done to the schedule, if they then need adjusting is another question.
Depending on who assembled the engine at the factory, the initial valve clearances may have been on the wide side of the mean value [ so they will take longer to meet the lower end of the range ] or if they were at the close side of the mean value, they will get to the lower value that much sooner.
In my experience with other bikes, once the initial clearance and/or adjustment has been carried out, then further adjustment is not necessary. My Suzuki Vstrom went to 95,000 miles without further adjustment after the initial check/adjust.

[Freddy]

In my experience with other bikes, once the initial clearance and/or adjustment has been carried out, then further adjustment is not necessary. My Suzuki Vstrom went to 95,000 miles without further adjustment after the initial check/adjust.

Well said.  Leave it for at least 100,000km.  No-one's reported damage from not getting it done - ever.

[Robbieben]

I'd covered 36,000 miles before checking my ZZR 1400 and when checked only 1 exhaust valve shim was slightly below tolerance. Left it and ran it for another 25,000 miles checked again and all were still the same give or take 0.001mm.
I'd say an awful lot depends on who built the top end at the factory. I've also found using premium unleaded fuel to be kinder to valves etc.

[Burchy]

And I've just done mine at 24000 and 11 were out of tolerance.  All 8 exhaust were tight and 3 inlet as well.  Its noticeably noisier now at the top of the engine.  I don't thin k you can take any one's findings a fit for all others