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I'm planning on doing a valve check and adjustment soon so I phoned my dealer to check on the availability of shims.
"We don't stock any" they told me.
"How do you do valve adjustments on customers bikes?" I asked.
"Well, it's a bit of a problem" the young lady says.
"Where do you order them from?" I asked.
"England" she says.
I figure that this makes probably at least a 3 week wait. Perhaps longer.
So I'm wondering if any of you know of a dealer that stocks valve shims?

Sure do Slug.

Palm Beach Triumph carries almost $1000 worth of shims. Give them a call. Here's all the contact information:

http://www.palmbeachtriumph.com
12550 So. Military Trail, #8
Boynton Beach, FL, 33436
Phone: 561-638-8411 / 800-992-1511
Fax: 561-638-4234
Hours: Tue - Fri 9 - 6
Saturdays: 9 - 3
email - sales@palmbeachtriumph.com

Man, I've heard Honda 750 valve shims (and many other Jap bike shims) will fit, that most shims are a standard 25mm diameter. Maybe someone could verify or bust this? If it's true, you could just have the shop find what the measurements are and boogie to the nearest Honda shop and get the shims you need.

Wow! Sounds like you live near me. Allsports in Decatur, AL stocks oil filters, air filters and ......... well, that's about it. Everything else will be a couple weeks, as long as you pay in advance including $15.00 special order/$25.00 rush/ and $10.00 extra if you want it shipped to your house. So, I'll have to disassemble, measure, order, reassemble, ride, disassemble and repair. Reassemble and ride. I think Bogarts in Birmingham is a little better, but never dealt with them. A friend told me that Triumph shims/buckets are the same as what Kawahondayamasuki uses. I thought they were different from each other. Haven't checked that out yet.
Ride safe,
Dennis

Slug, normally it takes 1 week at most to order shims from my dealer, and no, they don't stock any either. Best bet as Phil mentions, is Palm Beach, sounds like they're actually interested in being a Triumph dealer.

Thanks guys.
Looks like I'll be ordering from palm beach.

Quote:

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Best bet as Phil mentions, is Palm Beach, sounds like they're actually interested in being a Triumph dealer.

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There's a reason they got the dealer of the year award last year from Triumph.

Soren

Dennis,
The Kaw and Yammers use the same size, 29mm diameter, we use.
Shim kits here!
Be sure the engine is stone cold when you do the measurements too. You may luck out and either not need any, or swap some around to get the right gap.
On my site I have a neat little shim calculator program too, it will tell you what size you need to order to get the required gap.

Hey Pat,
Thanks Dood! I just ordered a starter set. I can give the (selective) leftovers to Universal Cycle a couple miles away.
Ride Fast & Safe,
Dennis

Update ...

Checked my valve clearances tonight.
Two were perfect.
Two were borderline loose.
Three were borderline tight.
One was too tight.
My bike has 4500 miles on it. I wouldn't reccomend waiting till 8000 miles like the owners manual says before checking the valves.
I can use 3 shims in different spots and I need to order 3 shims.
Thanks Dinqua for the handy dandy shim calculator program.
Dinqua did you use locktite on the bolts that hold the cam bearing caps and/or the valve cover on?

One other thing ...
I measured the diameter of my shims and they were 25mm.

Slug, if I might chime in here, don't use locktite on the Bearing Caps or the Valve Cover, since both are threaded into aluminum. If you do, it will be a one time deal, because when you next remove those screws, you'll be removing the threads as well most likely, which means (if you're VERY lucky) putting in Helicoil inserts (or similar), and if you're not lucky, replacing the entire Head (since you can't replace the Bearing Caps without buying a new Head). Should be no need for locktite on these fasteners, I've always torqued mine to the spec, and when I remove them next time around, they are plenty tight.

Slug, Yeah man, like Greg says, DON'T use the lockytighty.

Yes, that would be a sticky wicket, eh wot old chap...

Thanks guys.

you can use o-rings!

If you have the time to wait Bikebandit.com has every size available at less than $6.00 per shim. If you don't have the time to wait then any Yamaha dealer should have the shims. Although the thickness will not be the same as Triumph. I needed a 2.825mm and the closest the Yamaha dealer had was a 2.820mm.

Tom

When I say wait it will be somewhere between 2 and 4 weeks, and generally closer to the 4 weeks. When I went to do my valve adjustment I had ordered the special tools, o-ring and copper washers from Bikebandit.com. After waiting 3 weeks I ended up borrowing the special tools, o-ring and copper washers from Moe. When I got my order (about 4 weeks) I returned Moe's special tools and replaced his 0-ring and copper washers. So plan way ahead if you are ordering from Bikebandit.com. It also helps to have friends like Moe that can help you out.

Tom