Removing the valve cover proved harder than I thought. I had to remove a motor mount to actually get the valve cover off...which is the picture on the left. The picture on the right is the view of the valve cover without the right motor mount...isn't that much better ?

Now on to removing the valve cover. The first picture is the cover on my workbench.

The next shot is of the valves freshly unveiled, the second one is covered with Saran Wrap to keep the area clean

The next step is organizing things. We need to get our feeler gauges, Torx bit to turn over the motor, a micrometer, and space for parts if we have to pull cams, and all required paperwork. A couple tips, you should always use 2 feeler gauges (made fom different companies), and you need a T45 Torx bit and an 8mm 3/8 socket to turn over the motor on the starter clutch, and write down your measurements. I use a great valve worksheet right here. Hopefully you won't need to pull cams but it seems by my research that the first valve check usually requires an adjustment as most of the valves tighten up from the factory.

Next you need to use the manual as a reference and check your valves. You'll be instructed to remove 2 small covers on the right side of the motor...one to see the cam for TDC of 1 and 4, and the other to turn over the motor. You must remember that you have to turn the motor over 180 degress to get to the compression stroke of 1 and 4. You also need to go slow when you turn over the motor. It'll just drop into each stroke if you let it so you have to go slow after the first drop to get TDC on the next one. You have to get TDC of 1 and 4 to measure the clearance accurately, I had to measure mine 3 times to be sure and as long as I was @TDC of 1 and 4 it was accurate everytime.

So as I said on the first valve check most are usually on the tight side which held true for me. Fortunately (or unfortunately) only 1 valve was too tight at .127 on the intake side. As a note, leave the engine cranked at TDC of 1 or 4 before you pull a cam and crank it over until the marks on cam shaft gears are lined up with the top of the crankcase (picture will be later). As long as you get the mark down below at TDC and the marks on the cam chain gears the rest is easy. I had to pull my intake cam and order a new shim because the newer ZX6R and 10R have special shims, I can only assume to facilitate the longer valve check interval and the valves are titanium. Here comes the fun part...first pic is of the cam pulled. I have a fresh rag/tshirt in the timing chain hole to avoid dropping anything in the engine and continue with the Saran Wrap or new rag/tshirt if things need to sit open. The second pic shows the cam, all guides, and bolts nicely laid on the workbench.

Now on to pulling a shim and recording what we find. Kwak has a formula to figure out the correct shim size which is accurate but not completely necessary. You can figure it out in your head by thinking like this. If your measurement is .127, your range is .15 to .24, and your shim is 1.80 you need to open it up by reducing your shim size. You should shoot for the midrange or the loose side to avoid future adjustments but you should also try and get all valves to be the same. With that said I'm going to shoot for midrange because all the rest are on the tight side. The midrange is .195 which is .045 more of a gap than you're currently at. So...with that in mind you subtract .045 from 1.80 and you get 1.755...the shim you now need. Using the Kawasaki formula in the manual I actually came up with 1.73 but the closest shim is 1.725, which is what I ordered. Like I said...being farther on the loose side is a good thing. Using the shim I ordered should result in a .202 measurement, which is a hair over midrange but a good mark as I'll probably have to swap out more shims on my next valve check. FYI, valves actually get tighter in time so it should be about midrange the next time around.

Congrats..the meat is done...now you have to put everything back together, bleed your new coolant and synch your throttle bodies. Yes you still have to synch even FI throttle bodies. Have fun...and enjoy you're freshly maintained bike...mine always pulls harder after it's recommended service ;)