I’ve owned/worked on several motorcycles where the part you need must be purchased in a bulk package. Kawasaki, and their tappet shims, were fairly infamous for this practice.
“Yes sir, we can sell you the tappet shim you want. They come in a box of 20.#”
You couldn’t buy an individual shim. You had to buy in bulk. Unless you were friends with a motorcycle mechanic, and you could obtain the shim you needed. The internet has made this a bit easier. Now you can shop for shims at eBay or a company like Precision Shims.
# – it seems you can now buy shims individual shims from Kawasaki. Sanity at last.
The idea for this start post was from a advertisement I saw in a 2006 bike magazine. Precision Shims is still in business, so they must be doing something right.