I did the valves clearances on my 02 ZX9 back in February at 24,000km - in my case all the inlets went down 1 shim size and the exhausts went down 2 sizes. I was able to swap across 5 shims between valves and I went into Team Moto who swapped out 4 shims for me.
In fact Team Moto Parramatta had a very poor selection of sizes - which makes me suspicious - using Kwaka spares - it would turn most major services for them into a minimum 2 day job. At best, I reckon most bike shops lift the cam cover, check that there's detectable clearance on each valve, then slap it back together until next time. I'm pretty sure that this job was never done properly at the 12,000km service for the first owner of my bike - Inskip Motorcycles had marked the Outside of the cambox with the date, but I think that was as far as they went.
The rest of the shims I got from Precision Shims in Melbourne at about half Kawasaki's price (see
http://www.precisionshims.com.au) - they were mailed up overnight - and if you are capable of measuring that accurately with feeler gauges they can offer much finer increments in their 7.5mm dia shims than Kawasaki offers.
There are quite a few tricks to making the job a bit easier/ less risk of stuffing up your cam timing - like painting the cam chain pins adjacent to the cam sprocket timing marks, only removing 1 cam at a time and locking the chain (using the tensioner extended) prior to tightening down the cam caps. You'll need a micrometer, good set of feeler gauges, a good low range torque wrench (optional if you've really got the touch) and you'll want to balance the carbs too - that's about $200 bucks worth of tools at a minimum.
As Rossi says, it's a fiddly job and if you stuff up you could end up with a real mess - like no power, overheating, stripped threads, bent valves, blown pistons or worse!
If you don't want to do your own spannerwork - the best alternative is to use a reputable independent mechanic. I hear that some of the central coast boys use an ace mechanic at one of the bike wreckers up there.
In Blacktown, which is a bit closer to Minchinbury, there's a bloke called Rick Pobjoy (9671 2240) who has built a lot of race motors and has a very good reputation, although I haven't had any work done by him, I know a few who have. He'll probably charge close to bike shop rates, but you'll know the job has been done properly and your bike will run better than it ever has done. Peace of Mind is worth a fair bit.
)
