Well I did it. Finally got around to doing the V-Strom valve adjust. I had other motorcycles that needed attention first.
This was my first time adjusting the valves on a V-Strom. Most of my experience has been with BMW, Kawasaki and Triumph.
Observations about this engine configuration:
Pros:
-The Suzuki service manual is excellent.
-Airbox doesn’t need to be disturbed...I was surprised at this.
-Cam removal is easy without having to deal with the cam chain.
Cons-
-Draining/refilling the radiator to get to the front cylinder is a drag; this took up a large portion of my time.
-Getting the rear cylinder cam cover into place is another slow, awkward process.
The process is pretty basic. I just followed the manual, which for some reason, fails to mention radiator draining/removal.
I bought a set of Hot Cams 9.48mm shims (part #HCSHIM02) for about $60 on Amazon. These are available on ebay and various motorcycle vendor websites. The kit has 141 shims in it (many will never be used on a V2), 3 of each size and a magnifying glass to read the tiny writing on the shims. MSRP for OEM shims is $7.58 each and you don’t know how many of which you need until you get the bike apart. Hot Cams also sells sets of 5 of any size for about $2.
One valve was out-of-spec, one on the brink, and one .01 mm from the low end of spec. So, I changed those three.
I made a worksheet that I patterned after ones I’ve made for previous bikes. It has places to record the clearance measurements and what shim is installed (if known) both before and after adjustment. I had planned to include a copy of the PDF in this post but it is 60KB which is too big. Oh, well.
Things I noted that are not necessarily in the manual:
-I separated the radiator shroud from the radiator and used bungie cords to hold the shroud up and back out of the way, and other bungie cords to hold the radiator up and forward, resting on a towel on the front fender. This gave me very clear access to the front cylinder. I didn’t disconnect any of the connectors that the manual called for that were attached to the shroud (the picture in the manual shows these connectors with the airbox removed, which I didn’t do).
-For the rear cylinder, the manual says to remove the coolant tank. I removed the rear gas tank mount (2 bolts) and moved it, along with the coolant tank, out of the way. I think this gave greater access to the area with the gas tank mount out of the way. (The manual shows the gas tank mount in place during the process.)
-From past experience when removing cam covers, I like to separate the gasket from the cover and leave it on the head. Sealant is called for between the head and the “lobes” of the gasket, and I try to leave that undisturbed if possible. This means teasing the gasket out of the cam cover and when installing, teasing it back into place, but it can avoid slopping parts in sealant if the old seal is left unbroken. This is a personal preference. This was easy on the front cover.
My personal preference was exceedingly challenged by rear cam cover. Getting the gasket back into the cover along the rear (exhaust) side was very difficult because of the lack of clearance between the cover and the ABS lines that run over it. I did manage to do it, but it took a while. The alternative is to take the gasket off, clean up the old sealant, set the gasket in the cam cover, apply new sealant and then try to get the cam cover into position under the ABS lines without smearing sealant from where it’s supposed to be to where it’s not supposed to be. Good luck with that!
-The scissor gears with their spring-loaded characteristics, make it a bit of a challenge to get the cams back into proper alignment when reinstalling. They sit differently when placed in position than they do when bolted down. I found I would check them about 4 times during and after the bolt-down process to make sure they were right.
That’s all I can think of for now (probably more than enough!).