Some find a few of them tight. If it is the first time it is being done (should be) would definitely be worth a check. Do it yourself. Shop manual, and help on this site should get you through it without a hickup as long as you are somewhat mechanically inclined. One of the easier bikes (as far as bucket and shim type adjusters go) that I have done it on.
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See the poll at http://www.stromtrooper.com/informa...stment-poll-those-who-have-done-had-done.html
650 owners might be inclined to take a chance. 1000 owners shouldn't. Also, unlike the case of the 650 that requires playing with the cam chain, the 1000 isn't much harder to adjust than it is to check.
650 owners might be inclined to take a chance. 1000 owners shouldn't. Also, unlike the case of the 650 that requires playing with the cam chain, the 1000 isn't much harder to adjust than it is to check.
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12,486 Posts
Valve lash inspection is prolly the most important maintenance
ignore other routine maintenance items and yer bike just runs sh!tty and can easily be made good again just by doing the maintenance
Valves out of adjustment is different, it can quickly damage your engine, if valves are tight and do not close all the way, the hot gasses burn the seats and weaken the stems, adjustment won't fix it, then you have to do a real valve job, remove heads, take them to a machine shop, new valves etc., let it go too far and a valve stem breaks, the head goes thru a piston, bends the rod and possibly the crank too
your bike, your choice
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2,389 Posts
All good advice. Mine had two valves slightly out at 15,000 miles. Most of the wear and break in changes in clearance at the valves will be early on.
This is important. If you do it, record what is loose and tight for future reference. Draw a diagram of the valves with clearnces. If a shop does it write on the ticket you want the clearances recorded for each valve.
Why is this important. If your valves were close to spec at 15,000 or were a little on the loose side, the next check can wait a long time. If some valves are tightening on you, check again at 30,000.
A tight valve will cause issues like stated already and will be silent. A loose valve you will hear...and will cause no harm until way way loose.
This is important. If you do it, record what is loose and tight for future reference. Draw a diagram of the valves with clearnces. If a shop does it write on the ticket you want the clearances recorded for each valve.
Why is this important. If your valves were close to spec at 15,000 or were a little on the loose side, the next check can wait a long time. If some valves are tightening on you, check again at 30,000.
A tight valve will cause issues like stated already and will be silent. A loose valve you will hear...and will cause no harm until way way loose.
I just did my first valve check myself last week - K3 DL1000 with around 20,000 km (I know, I need to get out more...).
I found 3 valves out of spec - 2 intakes (on seperate cylinders) & 1 exhaust (rear). The other valves on each of these cams were also very close to the tight tolerance, so I replaced all 6 shims on these 3 cams, to set all valves to (as near as possible) the middle of the range - .15mm for intakes & .25mm for exhaust. The front exhaust valves were both .25mm already, so I didn't touch them. The tightest intake valve was .07mm (spec is .1 - .2).
What I found interesting was that all 4 intake valves had the same shim size from that factory, and both exhaust valves that I changed had the same shim size as each other (but different to the intakes). It made me wonder if they actually fine tuned the clearances at the factory, or just used a standard shim & if it was in the range (or close?) left it at that. This would explain why the first check usually has some valves out of tolerance, and a more sceptical person would suggest it generates more service revenue as well.
Replacement shims were $10 (Australian) each - must be made of unobtainium. On reflection I should have bought a shim set from the US, and sold it on locally after doing my shims. I didn't actually expect to need 6 shims, but I had thought of doing this.
Print out the pages from the manual, make sure you have a low-range torque wrench (1/4" drive is the most suitable), and take your time. Make sure you understand where the cams should be when taking the measurements, and where they should be before you remove them to change shims. Double check this before removing cams, and when re-installing them, and you will be fine.
Cheers, Geoff
I found 3 valves out of spec - 2 intakes (on seperate cylinders) & 1 exhaust (rear). The other valves on each of these cams were also very close to the tight tolerance, so I replaced all 6 shims on these 3 cams, to set all valves to (as near as possible) the middle of the range - .15mm for intakes & .25mm for exhaust. The front exhaust valves were both .25mm already, so I didn't touch them. The tightest intake valve was .07mm (spec is .1 - .2).
What I found interesting was that all 4 intake valves had the same shim size from that factory, and both exhaust valves that I changed had the same shim size as each other (but different to the intakes). It made me wonder if they actually fine tuned the clearances at the factory, or just used a standard shim & if it was in the range (or close?) left it at that. This would explain why the first check usually has some valves out of tolerance, and a more sceptical person would suggest it generates more service revenue as well.
Replacement shims were $10 (Australian) each - must be made of unobtainium. On reflection I should have bought a shim set from the US, and sold it on locally after doing my shims. I didn't actually expect to need 6 shims, but I had thought of doing this.
Print out the pages from the manual, make sure you have a low-range torque wrench (1/4" drive is the most suitable), and take your time. Make sure you understand where the cams should be when taking the measurements, and where they should be before you remove them to change shims. Double check this before removing cams, and when re-installing them, and you will be fine.
Cheers, Geoff
G
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·Check 'em or else...
The previous replies are correct. The first time is most important.
The previous replies are correct. The first time is most important.
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522 Posts
As my Vee has been ridden easy by me and the former owner I found that none of the valve were out of spec on my Vee when I did the valves at 15K miles. They were all middle of the road to slightly on the loose side.
The inspection kinda sucked, but I was glad I did it.
The inspection kinda sucked, but I was glad I did it.
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215 Posts
My V has 19,000 miles and I need to do this check. About a month ago I changed the plugs and air filter. I was going to check the valves but ran out of time. My question is how do you remove the radiator from the plastic holder ? I was trying to unplug the electrical connectors but was told that is not necessary.
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215 Posts
Thanks Greywolf, I will have to check mine soon.
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299 Posts
This is very important if you do the work yourself. The Vee is pretty easy as far as bucket and shim engines go due to the gear drives on the cams, BUT, also due to the spring loaded backlash gears it's fairly easy to get a cam installed 1 tooth off from where you intended, especially on the rear exhaust cam where it's kinda hard to see the marks.
After you reinstall the cams make sure to spin the engine through a few times by hand checking and double checking all the marks line up exactly as they are shown in the manual. Just take your time and if you are unsure, double check or reinstall the cam.
The checking and adjustment positions on the rear cams is different so beware of that. The front is pretty straight forward.
I reworked the shim calculator spreadsheet Warren did to make it easier to work with if you prefer doing your measurements in inches instead of millimeters. I also added some features to make picking the replacement shim easier. You can enter in your desired clearance in a box at the top of the page and it will calculate the best shim to use to obtain that clearance from where you are now for each valve.
If people like this maybe it can be posted someplace better. I'll let the Mods think about that.
What I do is fill out the sheet with the date and then print it, this gives you an easy guide to work from and also a record of what was done.
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