The engine must be dead cold before we can adjust anything, so let it sit overnight. First, we will need to find Top-Dead-Center(TDC) of the compression stroke of the cylinder to be checked. Remove the gas tank, the covers to the valves and the cover to the nut on the crankshaft or flywheel. Turn the engine over until you see the intake valve go down and then up. There will be a mark on the crankcase and a "T" mark on the flywheel. When those two marks align, the engine will be at TDC and both intake and exhaust valves should be loose.

swap shims between valves, tight one for a loose one, and save some money there.

Get the valve cover off. On most shim engines that entails 10-20 bolts, a real fragile gasket that is easy to break and a big H shaped cover. Now you will find that things look a bit different from a rocker engine... namely, there aren't any rockers. You will notice the cam and the shim are real close together. To get that shim out first rotate the shim bucket till the notch on it is out. Then rotate the engine so the cam lobe pushes the shim and shim bucket down. Now you use a special tool to hold the edge of the shim bucket down and rotate the cam lobe out of the way. Reach in the notch with a small screw driver and pop the shim up. Remove it with tweezers. Look on the down side of the shim and it will give you it's size. If you can't make out the numbers, measure it with dial calipers. Now when you put in the special too be very careful and don't force anything. Go slow. It all should feel very smooth. If it feels like it is binding... IT IS. DON'T FORCE IT you can break very expensive parts very easily. Consider yourself warned ! The Yamaha XS series of engines uses a different tool. But the idea is still the same. Naturally, there are different tools for each make of engine. The tools are not too expensive so I just buy them, but I think you could make them too. They all work on the same principle. You have to hold down the edge of the shim bucket, but not the shim, against the valve spring pressure. Some engines, like the KX650 Kawasaki, have the shim UNDER the shim bucket. You must remove the cams to adjust the valves. There are some others that do that too. Real smart work fellows ! The shims come in different diameters too. You can use the same shim in different make engines as long as they are the same diameter and, of course, the right thickness. Always put the side with the size stamped on it in down. That is so the cam lobe will not wear the size markings off.

ORIGINAL: BROOKLYN

I respect anyone whom tackles this job.I wish I had the ***** to do mine.

ORIGINAL: pacemaker

I tried doing (& succeded) on my Kwaka Z650, they needed a "Special tool" to lift the cams up to slide out & replace the shims. I fabricated the tool using an old steering head wrench from a Yammie that I once owned & grinder.
The whole exercise was a pain in the ****, swore I'd never attempt in again. Mainly that once you have the clearances, you then have to troll down to the bike shop, get the right ones & troll home again.
The job itself is not that bad really, its just a matter of getting everything thing off thats needed for access. The Honda's a more of a pain though. (thats where the cost saving comes from)
These days the shop does it, I take my bike in the day before so that its stone cold, the next day. The tolerances on the motor are so fine that any heat can throw the clearances measurements right out.
But there is a alot of satifaction (& blooded fingers & knuckles) waiting for those who do it themselves. (& you will need a torque wrench)