BMW owners have to be anal, due to all the issues that seem to or could occur. With both the Stroms....they are boring reliable. Can't say that I have heard of anyone, who regrets buying a used Strom....regardless of where they got it.

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BRIAN "actually joined May 2005"
2005 DR650 "Betty" 2008 GTR1400 "MEGATRON" Dearly departed 2005 DL1000

Bummer more people didn't respond to this. I think it's a great question and a huge consideration to those who are new to Vstroms. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and bike maintenance can be lacking from many lazy owners who like to procrastinate or don't want to spend the $ for the work.

Look at the valve adjustment poll at http://www.stromtrooper.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=43389
The 1000 seems to have more movement and more of a need for a first check change than the 650. Three checks witout a change is definitely possible. If you wanted to see my records, I'd have to show you a flattened cardboard box with the figures on it. In three valve checks, I think I've had one exhaust valve tighten one feeler size. My tightest valve is a rear intake that has been a go for .004" and a no go for .005" from my first check at 17,000 miles to the last check at 38,000 miles.

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Pat- The wolf with an E in grey.
2007 DL650 w/ABS AMA Life Member #755148

+1 on the BMWs from experience...if you can keep one of those things running I don't know whether to admire you or pity you.

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EZ-RDR55
Ride...repair(the LT)...sleep...work to pay for repairs(the LT)...repeat. If it happens to you then it's a 100% failure rate.
The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not represent that of any other humanoid past, present or future on this or any other planet.

'95 H-D FXDWG
'06 Honda CRF250X
'04 KTM 450EXC
'97 Honda XR-600R
'04 K1200LT
'07 K1200GT (Sold)
'09 Wee-Strom DL-650ABS

Hi All, a true Newbie here & my very first post on this august site.

Looking at acquiring a very tidy CGR (Candy Glory Red) 06 Wee as a second bike early in the Noo Yeah hopefully.

How much do the shims cost approx pls? (AU$ if poss). I was gobsmacked (in a nice way) to see the Wee cams are gear driven which is VERY cool me thinks.

I know 70-80s twin cam Hondas liked to trash the long cam chain when, in the popular vernacular of Mr Richard Hammond of Top Gear fame, we tried to rev the n_ts off them.

Gear driven cams make this problem go away forever but ack this approach may have been around for ages - I just haven't been out much m/cycling wise and looking inside our more modern engines.

Looking at Tech section, I think I could do the shims fairly easily, even if under bucket - at least there are only 8, which is lots better and faster than the 24 valves on my other P & J (CGR '78 Honda CBX) which I happily do myself.

Hoping for first Wee ride over hols, so can't wait.

Oh, and 'scuse my ignorance folks, but what is TBS pls? And why is that different from tbs (is it?).

Bon Natalie all.
herdygerdy

For what it's worth, I've owned two Stroms and have a combined 90 K miles on them. Valves have been "adjusted" at close to recomended intervals, by a trusted shop. I've yet to have one be out of spec. I did not keep receipts, just noted the results in a pocket notebook.

As Big B says, Stroms are boring in their reliability.

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America Rising!
Now is the time to prepare.

Visit my blog;
http://2mbstonestravels.blogspot.com

The shims themselves are very cheap -- around $5 us (a few shops will trade you shims for free), or you can get a whole kit with three of every size for around $80.

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2002 Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom, Dark Metallic Space Blue
1990 Suzuki VX800, Candy Luxury Maroon. And dents.
1983 Suzuki GS850G, Cosmic Blue.

85,000 km here. The shims were adjusted once (~24,00km) , and will probably need adjusting again next service.

Pete

Checked mine at 25,000 miles (first time), dead in the center, don't plan on checking them again till 50,000. I run synthetic 5W-40 changed every 3,000 miles, 30 mile commute... year round rider at a typical 70mph for 20 of those miles, surface streets at 40-45 mph for the rest of the ride. Very seldom redline the bike maybe 5 times in 32,000 miles. Not sure if this has anything to do with it or not. Other than the valve adjustments I'm pretty anal about everything else. Every 2 year change all the fluids , air cleaner at 15,000 mile intervals, etc, etc.

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06 DL650,
ZG1000-rip
K75S-good riddance