Finished checking Valve Clearances - your opinion please

Ok so have just managed to finish checking the valve clearances today. (with a little help from my dad)
all seemed spot on within tolerance except 1 which is so near that I don't think it neccessary to take to dealer to get done.

On the rear cylinder one of the Exhaust valves was like this:
0.2mm feeler guage would not go in but -
0.15mm feeler guage would easily go in with no resistance so more inclined to feel that the true clearance is closer to 2mm and within tolerance of 2-3mm.

So would any of you bother taking it in to be done or just leave as it is??
I am almost certainly just going to leave it.

and one more thing, would the gap get looser or tighter over time?

[yorkie_chris]

Close call, however exhaust valve is the hardest working bit in your engine, it gets blasted with very hot gas thousands of times a minute, so it's important that when the engine is warm, it seats fully so it can transfer some heat to the seat (ehehe)
They can go either way depending on what wears, but is it worth burning a valve for the sake of a ?4 shim?

yeah i almost wish that some of them were well out and then there's no doubt about what needs to be done...

It wouldn't just be ?4 shim though as I don't think I could change it so would need to got to dealer, hear what your saying though!

Maybe I will just check again in about 5-6k miles (probably 2 years of my use)

[the_lone_wolf]

why not get a more closely spaced set of feeler guages?

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp...n-Feeler-Gauge

why not get a more closely spaced set of feeler guages?

Yeah thats a good call.
closed it all up now though, mind you not put it all back together (tank, radiator etc).
I think it be ok for a few thous miles.

[the_lone_wolf]

it's funny this should pop up today, i was going to do the valve check on my DRZ but only had a feeler gauge set the same as yours (.05, .10, .15 etc) so decided to wait until could get a closer spaced set... judging by the manuals for the DRZ and SV it's hardly a big job so probably worth doing more often than the book specifies, just to keep an eye on what the valves are doing

yeah I'm not particulary mechanically minded but after taking my time removing all the bits (radiator, tank, fairing) over the last week it was reasonably straightforward to check them.

Like you say I could do more often than the book and maybe check just that rear cylinder again in a few thousand mile especially as the rear cylinder means not nessary to drain coolant, remove rad etc!

get a micrometre out and measure your feeler gauges, I know mine that cost ?20 for a set we way out, meaning when I did the valve clearances on my zxr I had to measure the feeler gauge with a micrometer between every measurement.

thats an idea but i would have hoped they were ok as they are new. Surely then you could ask the same question of the micrometer??

Anyway I have decided, after a LOT of thought and reading the manuals, that I will probably give it a go at changing the 1 shim (exhaust rear) that is a bit tight. Bit annoying really as all others were fine.

After all I am half way there with all the bits removed (i.e. tank). The suzuki manual actually makes it look more straightforward then the haynes manual.
My worry was getting the timing correct after but I think (hope!) that this is just a case of aligning the arrows on sprocket to the chain??

It could all end up going horribly wrong although I am going to just take it step by step with no rush...