valve clearance adjustment

mistersouthpaw

mistersouthpaw

Well-known member
Are there any clear tell tale signs that you may need a valve adjustment? and how difficult of a task it is? I highly doubt one has been done on my bike and ive put over 10k miles on it this year so im planning to do one when the weather starts to suck.

are there any other things I should do when doing a valve adjustment? I already cleaned carbs, filter and replaced plugs this year.
 
There are no obvious signs, difficulty depends on the bike. e.g. GS500 has extremely easy valve adjustment, if you have the shims you can be done in 20-30 minutes
 
Tight valves will make it hard to start the bike in cold weather.

I would check cam lobe and shim/bucket/lifter wear while you're in there.
 
It's mielage based. 20k km is roughly what's recommended for most bikes but check your manual. Unless there's a very audiable tick from the top end then it might be time for an early inspection.
 
Also after the valve service is complete, do a carb/throttle body sync.

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Iceman said:
Also after the valve service is complete, do a carb/throttle body sync.

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Click to expand...

Damn I just had that done. After I swapped filters for a K&n my bike was lean and the previous owner had the mixture screws set completely different. Is it totally necessary?
 
depends on the bike?

mistersouthpaw said:
Are there any clear tell tale signs that you may need a valve adjustment? and how difficult of a task it is? I highly doubt one has been done on my bike and ive put over 10k miles on it this year so im planning to do one when the weather starts to suck.

are there any other things I should do when doing a valve adjustment? I already cleaned carbs, filter and replaced plugs this year.
Click to expand...
 
mistersouthpaw said:
Damn I just had that done. After I swapped filters for a K&n my bike was lean and the previous owner had the mixture screws set completely different. Is it totally necessary?
Click to expand...

depends how it runs & what the plugs look like, changing carb settings with filtration changes is not unusual & may involve more than mixture screw adjustments
 
mistersouthpaw said:
Damn I just had that done. After I swapped filters for a K&n my bike was lean and the previous owner had the mixture screws set completely different. Is it totally necessary?
Click to expand...
You won't need to rejet or even remove the carbs. Synchronizing multiple carbs basically means setting the vacuum at each carb to the same value. Has nothing to do with air/fuel mixture. After a valve service and carb/throttle body sync, you should experience easier cold starts, faster warm up time, bike will run better and smoother overall and throttle response should be cleaner and crisper.

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Iceman said:
You won't need to rejet or even remove the carbs. Synchronizing multiple carbs basically means setting the vacuum at each carb to the same value. Has nothing to do with air/fuel mixture. After a valve service and carb/throttle body sync, you should experience easier cold starts, faster warm up time, bike will run better and smoother overall and throttle response should be cleaner and crisper.

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Click to expand...

Yea I had the carb syncing done at flying squirrel. I just cleaned them lol. They weren't actually dirty either.. The bike was running kinda of ****** so I figured I'd clean them and that would fix it. One jet had a little buildup but that wasn't the issue.. Had them balanced and all was good.

Well anyway I'll take a look at the clearances and if I've gotta adjust them I'll adjust them and have the carbs done again. The bike runs fine and starts up fine it's just I doubt it's been done
 
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It can be easy (1 or 2 cylinder) or hard (R6). Some are adjusted with a screw and locknut, others shim under bucket that requires removing the cam shafts, not for the faint of heart. You will need a shim kit that will run you about $80 - $100 unless you can get the exact sizes at the time you do it which can be a challenge. I've done few; nina 250, R6, GSXR, GS750. You will need a shop manual for the steps and specs.
 
Bike Specific and mileage driven. However;

Street bike? Check the manual and consult a GOOD, EXPERIENCED mechanic. I4 SS bikes usually say 24k or so, I had my litre bike done at 35k and had one exhaust and one intake a hair out of spec. At the recommended interval, barring total bike abuse, they would all be within spec.

Track bike? Sooner rather than later...

+/- $400 service at a shop

Hope that helps.
 
You might want to order a new seal because most likely it might be destroyed in the process. Oh yeah whatever you do don't drop a nut or bolt into the engine lol
 
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