Clarification needed upon cam reinstallation

[Sillysod]

Hi guys, not been on here for a while, but would appreciate advice.

Decided to check the valve clearances myself on the AP1 ZX6R yesterday and ended up needing to order 9 shims, totalling £80! (Why are they so expensive?!)
All 8 of the exhaust shims were too tight and 1 intake was totally out as well.

My question is, reinstalling the cams and chain, the guide I've used states to count the links between the chain position at the registration mark on either of the shafts, them being parallel with the gasket, 28 in total. He is doing this on a J2, where as I have an AP1 engine, the year it's elder and the 636 model. Will this be the same? Looks-wise 100% identical.

And also top dead centre, as I understand it, there are 2 possible TDC positions, cylinder 1 and cylinder 4 TDC.
In the guide it states to have the engine in TDC to reinstall the cam shafts, maybe-obviously assuming 1?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated, doing this in the morning when the shims arrive & hoping is feels £80 + 8 hours work better.

These seem obvious in writing, but with something as delicate in the way it cannot be wrong, I wanted to make sure.

Will also be seeking a CashMyShims company!

Cheers
Sam
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Current Bike: Kawa ZX-636R 51 Theory: 2nd July 08 - Passed!
Old Bike: DT125x 55 Practical: 8th July 08 Southport - Passed!

[MaybeGuy]

for future reference, you can get a full set of shims for £75
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[yen_powell]

When I last did this type of valve gap adjustment (many many many years ago) I put some dabs of tippex on the cam sprockets and chain before removing anything, then used these to line everything up again. The manual instructions were used as a double check before turning the engine over by hand. I never turned the crankshaft whilst the cams were out.
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Blackmail is a nasty word........but not as nasty as phlegm!
XT1200Z and a DR350 in bits

[Pete.]

[Sillysod]

Cheers for the replies, tippex will be used next time! Shims have just arrived so will jump on it now. The engine was left in TDC anyway when I took them off, so yeah, I wont be turning the engine with them out, but wished I checked if the registration stamps of the shafts were perfectly aligned before.

@mattspratt thanks for the heads up, although inc postage of £4, I've lost £1, and won't be holding onto this bike for another 7.5k!

Will let you know how she runs

Sam
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Current Bike: Kawa ZX-636R 51 Theory: 2nd July 08 - Passed!
Old Bike: DT125x 55 Practical: 8th July 08 Southport - Passed!

[MaybeGuy]

best off getting a set if you DIY the shims. they're generic diameters. shims arent bike specific.
you get about 40 shims i think
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Kickstart]

Hi

Surprised you needed to buy that many shims. Normally you can get away with swapping them round most of the time so you only need to buy a couple.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Vincent]

[MaybeGuy]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Pretty much all recent Ducatis use Desmo valves, with the cam both opening and closing the valves. Both shimmed.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Vincent]

The desmos have silly little shims on top of the valves. Judging by the way my mate was chucking his spanners around while doing his, they're a bit of a pain

https://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j71/Drewskovitch/Ducatishims.jpg

Bet they'r not cheap either

[Noxious89123]

Taking off from what Keith said;

Did you see if you could re-use any? A shim for one valve that needs changing, might be the right size for one of the other valves that needs changing. And so on and so forth.
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