Ticking noise or something vibrating?

[lather]

lather what you said make sense. But still boggles me that I started hearing it only like from a week away. I may just have the dealer hear it and make an assessment. If they say it just needs a regular valve adjustment, I will tell them to wait a bit - I am pretty sure I will have to fork the money out for that.

You mentioned you only hear it with your helmet off. If you are like me, you rarely start the bike before putting on your helmet.

Also, one thing that I have learned over the years, usually the hard way, is that the one thing that I can rely on to be unreliable is my own perception. As much as I try to be observant, deliberate,  objective and analytical in my approach to problem solving, when I find myself really stuck it usually turns out to be something I have should have notice but missed or misinterpreted.

Attention is the key to perception and my ability to keep up  with the rapidly accelerating Internet information bombardment  is slipping.

[KawiMick]

  Bought my shim kit months ago in preparation for the big 15K maintenance.

Will,
  Where did you get your shim kit and how much was it?  Iḿ going to do my valves on the yur rope een schedule of 26K miles. 

[MAN OF BLUES]

oh yeah definitely going to fork some money over for that.  THink they quoted me a 4 hour job just for labor.  I'm going to do myself.  Bought my shim kit months ago in preparation for the big 15K maintenance.  I'm actually kinda stoked to do it.  My son will have to relinquish command of his steed for a couple days so I can get to work while mine is dismantled in the garage.

OOOOOOOoooooo you might have saved some cash waiting...
if you bought a "Hot Cams" kit you will likely be really bummed, as you probably will not have the exact ones you need, nor the quantities needed/ Hot Cams shims do not come in the finite graduations commonly found by the majority of us here that have done this service, and 90% of the shims in the kit will never see use, (half are to thick, the other half to thin....) you would have saved lots waiting till you measured and recorded the clearances, and pulled the cams to see what shims are already there, then begin the calculations and swaps with the existing shims to find out what you REALLY need...oh well, you could be lucky, and need some of the ones in the kit, but i suggest setting everything at the upper level to start off.

Properly adjusted valves should make a faint ticking noise, at least on initial startup when the engine is not yet warmed up. It is the noise of the valve clearances getting taken up as the valves open and close. It is normal. If there was no noise you would have something to worry about.

Just speaking from personal experience here, but my 08 has never made noise past 20 seconds from the time I start it.
When warm, or any other time I cannot discern "valve" noise at all, and I don't think I have heard anything I would say was "noisy" on any of the 30 or so C14's I have seen run up close.

[roadie]

OOOOOOOoooooo you might have saved some cash waiting...
if you bought a "Hot Cams" kit you will likely be really bummed, as you probably will not have the exact ones you need, nor the quantities needed/ Hot Cams shims do not come in the finite graduations commonly found by the majority of us here that have done this service, and 90% of the shims in the kit will never see use, (half are to thick, the other half to thin....) you would have saved lots waiting till you measured and recorded the clearances, and pulled the cams to see what shims are already there, then begin the calculations and swaps with the existing shims to find out what you REALLY need...oh well, you could be lucky, and need some of the ones in the kit, but i suggest setting everything at the upper level to start off.

Well ain't I glad I didn't buy a Hot Cams shim kit!!!  :-)

I got the Prox Valve Shim Assortment which goes from 1.20 to 3.50mm...any intel on this kit? part 29.VSA948.  I ain't worried that I'll have some left overs that I'll never use...hell I have tons of **** left over I don't use, and wind up getting rid of it.  Hell, shims for everyone if I don't need :-)

[roadie]

Will,
  Where did you get your shim kit and how much was it?  Iḿ going to do my valves on the yur rope een schedule of 26K miles. 

Prox Racing Parts 29.VSA948...I had my local bike shop order for me.  Now thanks to comments from "Man of Blues" wondering if they sold me the right kit...so shop at your own risk.  Eitherway, hoping I get some feedback here soon.

[lather]

I doubt any of the $80 to $90kits will include all the shims you  need and as MOB said most of the contents you will never use. After you pull your cams and know what sizes you need you may save money with the 5 shim refill packs if they have the sizes you need. But you will probably have to buy some from a dealer. You may get lucky and not need any shims. If you do need some I will be glad to swap shims with you if I happen to have what you need.

[KawiMick]

Prox Racing Parts 29.VSA948...I had my local bike shop order for me.  Now thanks to comments from "Man of Blues" wondering if they sold me the right kit...so shop at your own risk.  Eitherway, hoping I get some feedback here soon.

Thanks! 
  I think Lather's suggestion of trading shims across the forum might be a great
idea.  We could have a Shims Needed area right here.

[roadie]

Thanks lather, will def tAke you up on that. As far as shim swapping area, be glad to swap out from the load I just bought. Count me in.

[Jeremy Mitchell]

The "shim swap" thread is probably the best idea I have seen on here in a while............. well besides finding creative uses for a high quality amboina burl wood from southeast asia.   

[VirginiaJim]

Glad your humor is still with you.  Glad you and your wife are still with us.

I'm thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a shim swap thread but there aren't that many of us doing valve adjusts.  It seems posting an epic thread (Haroldo and Lather comes to mind) on this procedure has a tendency to change people's minds on doing it themselves.  But, be that as it may, I would prefer it to be in the C14 FAQ Wiki area, than here.  I'll set up a thread and post the link here.  Good luck!

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=4862.0

[B.D.F.]

Which, of course, begs the question: Could we use Ambonia burl wood from Southeast Asia as valve shims?   Somebody had to ask....

Brian

The "shim swap" thread is probably the best idea I have seen on here in a while............. well besides finding creative uses for a high quality amboina burl wood from southeast asia.   

[VirginiaJim]

While they would be pretty, I don't think they would hold up very well.

[Mister Tee]

While they would be pretty, I don't think they would hold up very well.

Think about it - they would swell over time from contact with the oil, so they would be self adjusting!