Disaster for the Yamaha FJR1300 - Valve Check gone wrong!!!! 

Well done! But -- How to prevent such disaster??

Dump gas oil or blow air in the hole and see where it comes out.might have to take the side covers off.if you dismantle that motor you're going to destroy it because anyone who did a valve adjustment without plugging all the holes should never take that motor apart.anyway pour something where it went in and see where it comes out and search there.

I used magnet pushed into the piece of PVC tubing. Selected tube holding magnet very tight. Then inserted hose into the hole. On second or third attempt in came up with the shim attached.

That's great ye found it have u it up on your video when ye found it I would love to see n hear your reaction whe shim was found. I have a 2008 fjr myself great bike the one fault I have with my bike it's top heavy when pushing round garage..

Having a shim lost in an engine that is a real bummer would be a real Pain if u went to the bother of taking engine apart and still not find the shim.

Did you get this sorted?

Sounds like some expensive learning going on. That's why I let professionals do that stuff. I'm not trained to do it...👍😺

Sometimes the Simple Thinking-Out-of-the-box Solution is best.

I did this on a Kawasaki z650 parallel twin. Dropped shim down timing chain side. Fortunately I just had to drain oil and remove clutch side cover. Found the shim wedged under bottom of timing chain. I scared myself silly with that mistake!!!

I admire you for having the “courage” to air your mistakes so others can learn. Plus, you guys learned a good lesson. My hat’s off to you for doing the valve check; not sure I’d try to tackle it myself. 👍🏻

And that's why I like motorcycles that have lock nut adjustments. Why most use shim is purely a scam to discourage the home mechanic.

Whenever I see an advert for a used bike that says "serviced by me", I always leave the bike well alone. Too many people spend a lot of money on a motorcycle and are complete scrooges when it comes to maintenance!

Personally I would have turned the engine by hand via the back wheel,slightly rocking it back and forth.

Hope you solved the problem.

VALVE INSPECTIONS ON THE FJR ARE AT 26,000 MILES BUT IF RIDDEN CONSERVATIVELY AND FREQUENT SYNTHETIC OIL CHANGES THAT INSPECTION WILL TURN OUT TO BE ONLY AN INSPECTION AND NOT AN ADJUSTMENT.

11yr old 31500 mls no probs just change the oil every 3500 mls job done

Rig up an external oil pump and pump oil down that drain passage. Easier than trying to run the engine just to build up oil pressure.

it is very suprised Yamaha FJR1300 still not using hydraulick oil valve lift system yet. Still using Shim is very old technology.

FYI my 2007 FJR had 98500 miles and the vales stayed in spec. Never had to take the cam shaft off. Sweet engine.

You mentioned in the video the when the shim came loose there was a metallic noise. I would cover any holes and recreate the situation to see if the shim dropped outside of the engine. The shim is small and round and can roll. The whole garage floor should be swept with a very strong rare earth magnet. I have dropped stuff and over the years have found that magnets are good if it is magnetic. A flashlight shining along the surface highlights anything that is above the floor. Don't move anything until the first sweep is done. The last resort is a vacuum cleaner with a new bag or filter and an empty canister. I am always amazed how far stuff bounces and rolls. I once had machined a prototype part 8mm diameter and 1.5mm thick in aluminum (non-magnetic) an dropped it from slippery fingers. This one didn't make sound and the trajectory was vertical. It wound up under a bench, behind the leg 6 feet from the drop point. So as the shim is magnetic I would go back and take the garage apart before taking the engine apart. If it made sound it is probably on the shop floor.