Re-shimming the valve gear.

[doebag]

Right, I have stripped the bike down, and measured all 16 valve clearances at 27,000 miles
12 are right on the lower end of the specified range, two are mid range and two are very slightly under the lower limit.
Before I commit to removing the cams, has anyone got any real world tips for this job on this engine.
I have done clearances before on a couple of bikes, so am looking for tips/dodges/things to look out for on this engine.
I am going to recheck my work before ordering the shims as having read other posts on here, I think 12 out of 16 is a bit excessive, unless I have just been unlucky.

[wildybeast]

you say lower end meaning they have to much clearance ? Slack.If thats the case i would probably put it back together .As the valves wear the measurements get smaller.Ime 99.999% sure but get a second opinion

[doebag]

No, I mean I have too little clearance. I need thinner shims to get them back into mid-range.
I expect the clearances to close as the mileage increases, I have never experienced such a high proportion of valves to need adjusting.

[wildybeast]

Nice 1. Maybe do the cam sensor o ring while ya there.Try C.O.G forum for tips n tricks.

[doebag]

O-ring already done. I had a nice oily/cruddy build up around the exhaust cam sensor.

[Geoff]

I know where to go when mine need doing Martin 

[doebag]

I know where to go when mine need doing Martin 

I do a nice B&B, you'll need an overnighter to get all the bodywork and other stuff removed just to see the camshafts !

[Geoff]

I do a nice B&B, you'll need an overnighter to get all the bodywork and other stuff removed just to see the camshafts !

Sounds good Martin, hope all goes well and you get it sorted OK

[Joe]

Is there a decent write up of this somewhere on the net?

My bike has just ticked over 30k so am thinking about tackling this myself.

[Handy_Andy]

Any chance you might be able to post a few pics and any tips/tricks you work out are needed please once the job's done?

[doebag]

Well shock of the day was the price.
12 shims came to £99.44 
I managed to move four existing ones to other valves.
Luckily all in stock at Kawasaki UK, they'll be with me next week.

[Burchy]

A bit cheaper at Wemoto
http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/kawasaki/gtr_1400_zg_1400_ccf/12/

[doebag]

This is not an exhaustive how to, you'll need the shop manual, but it may help to point out any items that I came across

Well that was a right adventure. I've done clearances/shims before so that bit was not too daunting, but the amount of stuff to remove, and the actual clearance to work in was a bit of a pain.
Following the workshop manual, I removed all the fairings except the headlight fairing.
The two foam inner panels I wrote, on before removing, with their orientation.
The tubular fairing stays, and the black sub frames. Again mark them for left/right orientation.
Finally r/h engine mount.
It may seem obvious which way round all the brackets fit, but if like me you are spreading the job out over a couple of week's worth of spare time, it always helps to have a reminder.
The radiator I left supported on a block of wood, but still plumbed in. It saves draining the coolant but does make it a bit more awkward when you come to refit as you are fighting the coolant hoses to get the bolts lined up to refit.
The rubber seals on the stick coils will probably be stuck to the recesses in the cam cover. A gentle amount of leverage on the seal will help the coils come up.
Remove the spark plugs
Remove the timing rotor cover and set to 1-4 TDC as described in the manual
Remove the seven cam cover bolts, noting that five are the same, one is medium length, and one is long length. I wrote on the cam cover with a sharpie where the two odd ones fitted.

Check the valve clearances as described in the manual. Access is a bit tight on the inlet valves, but not impossible.
Using the formula in the manual, work out what clearances need adjusting, which can be done by moving existing shims, and which need new shims purchasing. I wrote a simple table for all sixteen valves, see picture.
Remove the four oil feed pipes; these are held in by o-rings and should come out easily with a gentle wiggle.
Cam caps come out as described in the manual, all four are different but all marked. This is where I found out the l/h exhaust cam cap bolts are a pig to remove with the l/h engine mount still in position. I jacked under the engine to support it, and then removed the l/h mount. This makes things much easier when you come to torque down the caps on refitting.Note on the front edge and the rear edge are four locating dowels, make sure these stay in place and do not fall out.
Remove the exhaust cam first, this gives you a bit more clearance to get the inlet VVT unit out with the inlet cam. I also marked the 1st and 30th chain pins as described in the manual to aid refitting
Support the cam chain to stop it kinking, clean the VVT unit and highlight the timing mark with a sharpie to aid refitting.
I used a telescopic magnet to remove each cam follower and placed it in a small container marked with the valve it had come from. In my experience each follower came out with the shim stuck to it's underside, none of the shims stayed in the valve retainer.
I replaced the new shims using a telescopic magnet to place it in the valve retainer, make sure they go in flush, one went it wonky [see picture] but was easy to fish out with the magnet.
Refitting the cams was a bit of a pain, unless you tension the chain properly before refitting the cam caps, it is easy for the cam to move by a tooth and leave the chain too slack on the top run and the timing out. Check and double check your work.

When refitting everything, check against your own photos and the shop manual that cables/hoses etc all run correctly. It is easy for one of these to go the wrong side of a bracket and not be noticed until you try and fit the bodywork [guilty m'lud!]
While you are in there, check the exhaust cam sensor for oil leakage, remove and fit a new o-ring before refitting the radiator.

[Handy_Andy]

Nice description and pictures thanks!

Could you please tell me places to buy a workshop manual for a 2010 model please?

Thanks
Andy

[doebag]

Nice description and pictures thanks!

Could you please tell me places to buy a workshop manual for a 2010 model please?

Thanks
Andy

See this forum thread
http://www.gtr1400.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=297.0

There are a couple of links to pdf manuals there, not sure if the links are live anymore.