New Cams New Thread

Tripps said:

Does the 240 kit use the same setup?

Click to expand...

Same design.

I’ll pull mine apart for inspection after the riding season. I’ll post what I find.

Got it all shimmed tonight. Found another questionable parts decision regarding exhaust side 28mm tappets.

Since the tapppet roof is so thin (3mm) it requires very tall shims these are dimensions for stock hayabusas tappets. The better option would be a 4mm or 5mm roof and drop the shim height from 4mm down to 2-3mm range, where shims actually come in a .05mm increment instead of only .1mm.

For those running into this ever, Supertech can make the correct tappets. Not super pricey. They also make a "shim in tappet" design which would eliminate the erosion of the Titanium retainers, but, you would need different titanium retainers from Carpenters part. His Ti retainer is too tall to play nice with the off the shelf shim in tappet part from Supertech (Part Number CF-28/3.65+). It would take you too Supertechs proprietary 8mm shims instead of 9.48mm shims, but, is that really a bad thing when it's fixed in the bucket instead of flopping around in the retainer?

They clearly knew about it since it originally had 2 shims per valve, a 1.5mm and a 3.05-3.15 shim for a total shim height ranging from 4.55 - 4.65

Luckily Nevilles cams use the right diameter base circle, so they took up the extra .55-.65mm of height or I'd have been stuck again, waiting for more parts.

Cam degreeing tomorrow

Just a brainstorm but here are some thoughts on the valvetrain:

Stock Intake valve 51g
Stock Tappet + Shim 34g
Stock Retainer 7g
92g Total

Carpenter Ti Valve 35g
Carpenter 31mm Tappet + shim 28g
Carpenter retainer 6g
69g Total

Carpenter Ti Valve 35g
Supertech 31mm Tappet (CF-31/3.25+) + shim 30g
Custom Ti Retainer 5g
70g total

Stock Exhaust Valve 43g
Stock Tappet + Shim 34g
Stock Retainer 7g
84g total

Stock Exhaust Valve 43g
Hayabusas Tappet +Shim 21.3g
Carpenter Retainer 6g
70.3g total

Stock Exhaust Valve 43g
Supertech 28mm Tappet (CF-28/3.65+) + Shim 27g
Custom Ti Retainer 5g
74g total

The advantage of the Supertechs is no potential for retainer errosion at all and the shim is captive in the tappet, and, if you want to get fancy, they can be ordered DLC coated.

Wanted to get it posted before I lose the info. Ordering one of each Tappet from Supertech for fitment verification.

The more I look at the shim in Tappet, the more I like it. While you trade weight from one spot to another, the security of the shim in Tappet is better. Additionally, I believe these will work in an otherwise stock head with stock springs and retainers, cutting 7 grams off of each valve assembly, allowing for a little more RPM, a bigger cam, and increased reliability with minimal modification/cost.

May end up migrating my bike to this setup very soon.

Claviger said:

Cam degreeing tomorrow

Click to expand...

Sending the cams to university - that's flash!.

Doing more searching I've come up with an even better solution.

The Supertech parts are heavier than needed (they're really Toyota car parts), and, I suspect Supertech is not machining their parts in house, simply reselling china purchased parts like so many outfits these days, so, they're off my list. Nothing gives a company away like "on backorder from our supplier". They also wont do custom shim heights, again, an indicator they only stock what they can buy. Not interested in middle men (unless it's certain ones).

I have found 28mm buckets, 19mm tall, with shim in tappet for 9.5mm shims aka standard shim-under shims. They're $10 ($38 US) more, but they're also from a reputable manufacturer and known high quality.

Paired with a head that hasn't had the silly 31mm buckets put in on the intake side (like mine), they'll provide secure shimming, a lot less weight than stock, use standard 9.48mm shims, and still allow for very large cam size (as long as it's not a regrind). I think I've found the winning buckets

Confirmed dimensions in stock head, the lighter shim in Tappet, tappets will require 3.00mm shims +/- .35mm when using stock valves and placement.

So it'd be:
51g/43g - Intake/Exhaust Valve
20g - New Tappet
1g - shim
7g - retainer
79g/71g drop in reduction of 13g.

Compatible as long as valve tip height is between 38mm and 40mm, stock head measured 39mm and 39.3mm.

For the sake of finding it in the future and search function, stock retainers on a stock valve:


It's only when you start understanding why, you appreciate the ingenuity people put into engineering new aftermarket parts