How Necessary are Valve Adjustments?

motoholic

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I'm getting a carb tuner and I read in the service manual that before carbs can be synched, you should check/adjust the valve clearance and the engine idle. I've been reading that valves probably don't need to be touched until 26,600mi. Has anyone done their own carb tuning or valves that has some advice to offer?

Is it a difficult process for the valves?

Thanks!
 

Gosling1

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Mine were on at 26,000 miles. I check the synch about every third oil change and haven't had any problesm.

I haven't made the time to check them after 55,000 miles. The weather has been too good to do anything but ride.
 

reiobard

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I was told by the dealer when i was going to pay them for a valve adjustment that you will be able to tell when they are out because it will be more difficult to start...
 

Hellgate

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How many miles on your FZ? If you are not at the service interval for adjustment don't bother. Otherwise adjust what you need to do.

In general value adjustment is very important. If the lash is out of spec, eg: too big, it will accerate the wear of your valve stem seat.

I've not done a VA on the FZ but I'm pretty sure it has buckets and not a tappet screw. So it is pretty straight forward if it is buckets.

Can anyone confirm this?
 
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jsp

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On FZ, the valve adjustment requires the remove of the cams and isn't a work to bee done on-the-fly.

The adjustment is done by buckets replacement.
 
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Hellgate

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On FZ, the valve adjustment requires the remove of the cams and isn't a work to bee done on-the-fly.

The adjustment is done by buckets replacement.

Ouch! Are you sure? Usually you go to bottom dead center, compress the valve spring, remove the old bucket and replace it the the correct sized one.

I hate to think what the labor must be, may as well drop some performace cams in there if you've got it that far apart.

That job then is waaaaay beyond my skill level.
 
H

HavBlue

Performance valves, eh? Anyone have any recommendations on what to get and where to get them?

He's referring to alternate cams which would change the run profile and require a change in BCU as the original won't know what to do with the modified cam profile.
 

reiobard

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He's referring to alternate cams which would change the run profile and require a change in BCU as the original won't know what to do with the modified cam profile.

Isn't this one of the main differences between our engine and the R6's internals?
 

Yamahahauler

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This is called a shim under bucket valve system. You check all your clearances, record and buy the approiate shim to bring the valve in question back to specification. Valves will generally close the gap over time as the seat and valve face wear, this also depends on engine speed, load, maintance operating enviroment etc. If your valves are in spec put the cam cover back on and ride. If you do it enough you can get a feel for a certain engine and pretty much know when they will require attention. The V twins will almost always have to be adjusted, they have bigger cylinders and bigger valves. That is the only reason i can come up with as to why they require more adjustment.
 

swigersway

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I have done my own "cam bucket" replacement valve adjustment job to my K1200LT twice. Follow this thread to the the universally accepted "bible" from K1200 LT owners. Valve adjustment - BMW Luxury Touring Community I have not done the FZ yet as it is I only have 585 miles on this new baby. When I do I will edit the BMW how-to and post for all. It is not as hard as you think, if you take your time and carefully follow the instructions.
 

Denver_FZ6

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Ouch! Are you sure? Usually you go to bottom dead center, compress the valve spring, remove the old bucket and replace it the the correct sized one.

I hate to think what the labor must be, may as well drop some performace cams in there if you've got it that far apart.

That job then is waaaaay beyond my skill level.

Bad news... just confirmed in service manual, cams must come out if adjustments are needed. Yamaha's design places the shim (aka "pad") UNDER the bucket. So cam and bucket have to be removed to access shim.

Enjoy!
 

DefyInertia

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Are we positive there isn't a short cut? The manual tells you to take the bike completely apart just to check the tire pressure, know what I mean? For example, I can change both wheels really fast because I skip a bunch of steps I've found to be unnecessary (no I'm not talking about torque wrenches and locktite :D).

anyone know the size of the shims needed for the fz6. Would like to get a shim kit ordered.

read above...I believe it will be different depending on how far out of spec your bike is when you rip it open.
 

4fun

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Are we positive there isn't a short cut? The manual tells you to take the bike completely apart just to check the tire pressure, know what I mean? For example, I can change both wheels really fast because I skip a bunch of steps I've found to be unnecessary (no I'm not talking about torque wrenches and locktite :D).



read above...I believe it will be different depending on how far out of spec your bike is when you rip it open.

The cams need to come out. It should be that difficult for someone who is familiar with engines. The cam chain needs to be removed which can really screw up your timing if not careful. I replaced the valves on our YZ250F which has a top end similar to the FZ but with 3 less cylinders.

Checking the measurement is fairly easy, changing the shims is when you need to take it apart, so even if you don't do the adjustment, checking the measurement could be done and then if needed, have a mechanic do the adjustments.
 

Nelly

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:jawdrop:This is a serious labour costing job. I have done cams and shims on old twins. I would like to learn how to do this defo. I am already looking forward to swigersway's how to.
Come on mate get some miles on it pronto lol.
The one thing I have found more essential than anything when doing valves is time to prep and time to finish.
It is not a job to be rushed, if you know you need your bike latter in the day. forget it.
I once rushed doing a cam belt on my twin, I had completed the job a few times before so felt confident. I was getting short on time and I dropped the master link into the head:eek: I forgot to stuff a rag in the top.
I managed to turn a top-end job into a a bottom end crank case splitting pain in the arse.

Nelly
 
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