Throttle Sync While Inspecting Valves?

arogal

arogal

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Hi guys,
I am overdue on my valve clearance check so I'm going to get it done before spring. Not sure if the previous owner got the throttle bodies inspected/sync'd. Would you think its a good idea to get this done at the same time as I get my valves inspected? They will already be in that area of the bike, so the labour wont necessarily be too much more. My Mechanic said he will charge $180 to check the clearance of the valves, but if anything needs to be adjusted the labour charges will fluctuate accordingly.
A couple of my buddies (even my old mechanic) said you can get away with skipping the 1st valve clearance because 95% of the time they are all in spec on Japanese SS bikes....but I plan on having this bike a while so I want to take care of her.
There have been 2 instances when I've thought bad gas was the culprit:
1. Gas light on for 20km, pulled into a parking lot and out of no where my bike was idling around 4500rpm (usually idles around 1400rpm) while in 1st gear with clutch pulled in (and neutral afterwards), FI light also came on. Turned bike off, started up fine (normal idle), filled with gas, issue went away. Possible Throttle bodies got stuck open?
2. Last ride of the year in November when it was cold out I was cruising to a stop and my bike bogged out on me. Had the gas in it for a month or so.....started back up and didn't stall on me for the rest of the ride home 10 mile ride.
Would these issues lean towards the throttles being slightly out of synch? I may as well get them checked, just thought I'd ask here first.
Thanks,
 
When my valve adjustment was off the bike became harder to start ymmv. When I have experienced intermittent problems with Honda PGM-Fi it usually turned out to be water accumulation inside the electrical connection to the throttle body. Highly unlikely the throttle is sticking open unless your cable is not routed correctly or the twist grip is pushed too far onto the bars and hanging up ?:I does it have 2 throttle cables? One to pull the throttle open and a second to make sure it closes? ... even less likely for the throttle to hang.
 
Trials said:
When my valve adjustment was off the bike became harder to start ymmv. When I have experienced intermittent problems with Honda PGM-Fi it usually turned out to be water accumulation inside the electrical connection to the throttle body. Highly unlikely the throttle is sticking open unless your cable is not routed correctly or the twist grip is pushed too far onto the bars and hanging up ?:I does it have 2 throttle cables? One to pull the throttle open and a second to make sure it closes? ... even less likely for the throttle to hang.
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Forgot to mention I have a 2009 zx6r.
I've never had issues starting my bike and I haven't noticed it taking any longer for it to turn over.
There are 2 throttle cables. One to open and one to close, which I adjusted in October or so the 2-3mm of play like manual states. The throttle itself is very snappy and never sticks. I am referring the the service that requires a manometer that measures the pressure of each cylinder. I am no mechanic, just trying to learn how these things work step by step. After digging into it more, it is a good idea to synchronize the throttle bodies after the valve clearance service has been completed.
I am learning that the previous owner didn't necessarily take the greatest care of the bike (cut corners)...I just want her in tip top shape this year because being stranded and having issues seems to be a lot more hectic with a bike than a car LOL!
 
arogal said:
Forgot to mention I have a 2009 zx6r.
I've never had issues starting my bike and I haven't noticed it taking any longer for it to turn over.
There are 2 throttle cables. One to open and one to close, which I adjusted in October or so the 2-3mm of play like manual states. The throttle itself is very snappy and never sticks. I am referring the the service that requires a manometer that measures the pressure of each cylinder. I am no mechanic, just trying to learn how these things work step by step. After digging into it more, it is a good idea to synchronize the throttle bodies after the valve clearance service has been completed.
I am learning that the previous owner didn't necessarily take the greatest care of the bike (cut corners)...I just want her in tip top shape this year because being stranded and having issues seems to be a lot more hectic with a bike than a car LOL!
Click to expand...

Not sure about the last part. I've pushed a bike home and had also brought them home on a trailer or the back of a p/u. Both would be pretty tough to do with your car.
 
With the age of your bike I would definitely sync the throttle bodies after valve service.
An inline 4 is already a very smooth engine but with my wife's vtwin it ran much smoother and had noticeably less vibration after syncing.

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Iceman said:
With the age of your bike I would definitely sync the throttle bodies after valve service.
An inline 4 is already a very smooth engine but with my wife's vtwin it ran much smoother and had noticeably less vibration after syncing.

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Any decent mechanic is going to do both together.
 
Mad Mike said:
Any decent mechanic is going to do both together.
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Yes they should. But that isn't always the case. It doesn't seem as though the OP's mechanic gave him anything definitive.

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Trials said:
When my valve adjustment was off the bike became harder to start ymmv. When I have experienced intermittent problems with Honda PGM-Fi it usually turned out to be water accumulation inside the electrical connection to the throttle body. Highly unlikely the throttle is sticking open unless your cable is not routed correctly or the twist grip is pushed too far onto the bars and hanging up ?:I does it have 2 throttle cables? One to pull the throttle open and a second to make sure it closes? ... even less likely for the throttle to hang.
Click to expand...

^like
trials is offering up some of his experience. I would clean and grease any and all related connectors. Simple and easy to do. no cost.

bad connections are often intermitent. this would explain (perhaps) the on again/off again nature of the problem.
 
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Checking Valves for $180.00?
That's a great deal. I would stand there and watch him do it though.
 
Low rider said:
Checking Valves for $180.00?
That's a great deal. I would stand there and watch him do it though.
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Agreed. When I called St Onge in Barrie for a price on a valve check for my drz400 they wanted $375.
That was over 12 years ago and it's a single cylinder bike.
I did it myself.

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Just as a point of reference ... Getting the valve cover off my ZX10R and putting it back on again is an all-day job for a shade-tree mechanic (myself). If you have all the tools laid out and you know exactly in which sequence things need to be done and you don't run into any headaches and you take NO breaks you might be able to cut that to maybe 4 hours but that's pushing it. Most modern inline-4 sport bikes are comparable nuisances to work on.

Stuff that needs to come off: Seats, side trim panels, gas tank, lower fairings, mid fairings, unplug the connectors for the upper fairing assembly (nuisance!), disconnect clutch cable (it's routed through a guide on the upper fairing that you are going to have to remove!), windscreen, upper fairing as a complete assembly, radiator mounts (so that you can move the radiator out of the way), airbox cover, airbox housing, throttle bodies (nuisance!), upper engine mount brackets (most other bikes don't have that headache, but the 1st-gen zx10r does), ignition coils, air injection valve, and only then can you actually remove the 6 bolts that hold down the valve cover and get it out of the bike!

And you can't shortcut it. If you don't remove the throttle bodies, there is not even remotely close to enough clearance to get the valve cover out. If you don't remove the mid fairings, you can't get to the clamp bolts for the throttle bodies. There might be a theoretical possibility of doing it without removing the upper fairing and sliding the radiator forward, but the valve cover gasket is a PITA, and unless you slide the radiator forward, you can't see if that gasket is properly lined up when you go to put it back together.

Put in new spark plugs and a new air filter together with this job. Changing the spark plugs is the same job as getting to the valve cover - it takes all day. You might as well do that all at once.
 
Be thankfull you dont have to drop the engine a tad by removing the front mount bolts and lowering to allow clearance to remove said valve cover/TB's........f'n ducati.
 
Brian P said:
Just as a point of reference ... Getting the valve cover off my ZX10R and putting it back on again is an all-day job for a shade-tree mechanic (myself). If you have all the tools laid out and you know exactly in which sequence things need to be done and you don't run into any headaches and you take NO breaks you might be able to cut that to maybe 4 hours but that's pushing it. Most modern inline-4 sport bikes are comparable nuisances to work on.

Stuff that needs to come off: Seats, side trim panels, gas tank, lower fairings, mid fairings, unplug the connectors for the upper fairing assembly (nuisance!), disconnect clutch cable (it's routed through a guide on the upper fairing that you are going to have to remove!), windscreen, upper fairing as a complete assembly, radiator mounts (so that you can move the radiator out of the way), airbox cover, airbox housing, throttle bodies (nuisance!), upper engine mount brackets (most other bikes don't have that headache, but the 1st-gen zx10r does), ignition coils, air injection valve, and only then can you actually remove the 6 bolts that hold down the valve cover and get it out of the bike!

And you can't shortcut it. If you don't remove the throttle bodies, there is not even remotely close to enough clearance to get the valve cover out. If you don't remove the mid fairings, you can't get to the clamp bolts for the throttle bodies. There might be a theoretical possibility of doing it without removing the upper fairing and sliding the radiator forward, but the valve cover gasket is a PITA, and unless you slide the radiator forward, you can't see if that gasket is properly lined up when you go to put it back together.

Put in new spark plugs and a new air filter together with this job. Changing the spark plugs is the same job as getting to the valve cover - it takes all day. You might as well do that all at once.
Click to expand...

Sounds like $180 worth of work.
 
Brian P said:
Just as a point of reference ... Getting the valve cover off my ZX10R and putting it back on again is an all-day job for a shade-tree mechanic (myself). If you have all the tools laid out and you know exactly in which sequence things need to be done and you don't run into any headaches and you take NO breaks you might be able to cut that to maybe 4 hours but that's pushing it. Most modern inline-4 sport bikes are comparable nuisances to work on.

Stuff that needs to come off: Seats, side trim panels, gas tank, lower fairings, mid fairings, unplug the connectors for the upper fairing assembly (nuisance!), disconnect clutch cable (it's routed through a guide on the upper fairing that you are going to have to remove!), windscreen, upper fairing as a complete assembly, radiator mounts (so that you can move the radiator out of the way), airbox cover, airbox housing, throttle bodies (nuisance!), upper engine mount brackets (most other bikes don't have that headache, but the 1st-gen zx10r does), ignition coils, air injection valve, and only then can you actually remove the 6 bolts that hold down the valve cover and get it out of the bike!

And you can't shortcut it. If you don't remove the throttle bodies, there is not even remotely close to enough clearance to get the valve cover out. If you don't remove the mid fairings, you can't get to the clamp bolts for the throttle bodies. There might be a theoretical possibility of doing it without removing the upper fairing and sliding the radiator forward, but the valve cover gasket is a PITA, and unless you slide the radiator forward, you can't see if that gasket is properly lined up when you go to put it back together.

Put in new spark plugs and a new air filter together with this job. Changing the spark plugs is the same job as getting to the valve cover - it takes all day. You might as well do that all at once.
Click to expand...
Changed the spark plugs and air filter immediately before I tuned my bike back in July. All that needed to be done for the plugs was remove/prop up gas tank, nothing else needed to come off....So fingers crossed thats all that needs to be done for valves. Called around some other shops and they all quoted 2hrs just to check the valve clearance. They would then call me and let me know if any adjustments need to be made and let me know the final cost.
I'll get the throttles synch'd also.
Might just take it to burly cycle because its a 5 minute ride from my house....I don't mind a quick boot in super cold weather to beat the spring rush as long as the roads aren't caked in salt and sand :)
They are pretty good guys there, and the convenience factor is also nice.
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