Valve Adjustments, have you had it done?

[Goop]

Do you mean "never cease to amaze you" or are you being sarcastic about that post being useful? Tehee.

Hey, I hear Harleys don't need valve adjustments (flame on!):
How to Adjust The Valves On A Harley-Davidson Evolution Motorcycle Engine Best Synthetic Oil, Mobil, Silkolene, Shell

Whoops! I fixed it!

 

[kyle]

Totally didn't mean to be a grammar/writing/style nazi, apologies.

 

[fazerchap]

Mine is due soon, @ 40 000km, now on 36k.Have enquired @ dealer on the price, and was quoted R4500.(south african rand). That is expensive,I am also thinking of another bike( FZ 1).Can get a good used one for R59000, 12000km on the clock.One good thing about our bikes is the 40000 km valve check interval.I believe the other Jap bikes like a Bandit or the Hondas valve intervals are all at about 26000km (I speak under correction here) it's just what I've heard.

 

[FalloutMan]

Just measured mine. All 8 exhaust valves were tight. Only issue is the fact that I can't read what size the shims are. I can't find my dial calipers to measure them either... Odd thing is the one I can clearly read has 181 on it even though the shims only come in multiples of 5s. Does anyone know if they all come the same from the factory or is each valve measured during assembly?

 

[stink989]

Yamaha use shims not in the 5 increments that you can buy. They almost always use odd numbers

 

[FalloutMan]

Yamaha use shims not in the 5 increments that you can buy. They almost always use odd numbers

Yeah found that out via my dail calipers. My dumb ass pulled the shims out and didnt record what came from where so now I have to measure each shim and put them back it then remeasure the clearance :spank: Live and learn. Having only 8 valves on the 990 Adventure sure is easier to manage...

 

[abraxas]

Just finished doing mine, and at 110 000km none were out of spec, AFTER i had the head chemical cleaned and valves reseated, and valve stem seals done.

They were all on the low end of spec, but in spec.

Not hard to do, just back breaking because of the angle. The cams are nicely marked I and E, and you can remove each cam seperately if you wanted.

The chain tensioner is a biatch!! Instead of removing, i found it was enough to use a small flathead screwdriver to unwind it, and a small vice grip to hold it in place. If you remove the tensioner, you'll need a gasket, and patience, and you'll have to remove the clutch bracket to access the tensioner bolts.

The tappet cover is also a mission to get in and out, you have to twist it just so to squeeze between the arms of the frame. A new gasket is not essential, in fact when you remove the tappet cover, the gasket will stay seated in the cover, do not remove it, as you can happily waste a few hours trying to get the rubber gasket to stay still while re-fitting the cover.

The job is easy enough though, tank, airbox, battery, coil and leads, radiator and you're in.

Oh, and have a micrometer at the ready, i couldn't read a single shim, the printing had worn off.

 

[kananaskis]

I am just getting my ride out of the shop (stored for the season)... I had them do the inspect as I have limited tools and even more of a limited ability or time to do it. The bike is at about 49000km (around 29000 miles rough math)... The valves were all within spec. It cost me about 450 from the stealership to have them do it (mechanics time) but since they stored my bike for 5 months heated with a battery tender and all that for only a 100 bucks I figured it was well worth it....

 

[g8anos]

I had mine done by a mechanic at 60.000km

All within specs... He said something about the tensioner and charged me a new one, but I just guess he was a "malakas" and ripped me off.

I'm at 100.000km right now and I'll wait until I reach 120.000km before considering another expensive look-at-it job done.

A friend of mine with a fz6 '04 had never done his valves and is above 100.000km and he hasn't had a problem whatsoever...

 

[fazil]

He said something about the tensioner and charged me a new one

That tensioner part can be vital for the engine. I know people who change it every 30.000 km's as a precaution. So don't blame your mechanic.

 

[philosopheriam]

On a slightly different note, I recently performed a valve adjustment on my buddys 1982 Suzuki GS 650, 16-valve 4-cyl engine. Bike has 24000mi.

I don;t think an adjustment had ever been done on this bike, and I had to swap a couple valves 2-shims down to get them within tolerance.

Long story short, the drivability difference was unbelievable - original compression numbers on each cylinder were around 126, and after the adjustment I have around 150psi on all cylinders.

The bike goes around 15mph faster in 5th gear.

In essence, a valve adjustment is absolutely critical to having a well-running, well-performing engine. Don't neglect it...

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Update, 64,000 miles and I have yet to get one done. At this point, why bother?

 

[philosopheriam]

Update, 64,000 miles and I have yet to get one done. At this point, why bother?

Um, please tell me if you're being sarcastic...

So, I've never changed the oil in my car, and at this point, why bother...

Are you ffing serious...

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Um, please tell me if you're being sarcastic...

So, I've never changed the oil in my car, and at this point, why bother...

Are you ffing serious...

I'm not a mechanic, I do not do maintenance on my bike with the exception of the basics, like oil change and swapping out the battery. Changing the spark plugs I have done once 44,000 miles ago, but my bike is an '06 so it's much more difficult to do than the later models. I have the Iridium plugs installed and I plan on running them until the very end.

I was quoted almost $500 to do a valve adjustment. I am not going to pay 25% of the value of my bike. Unless I feel or hear a noticeable difference or performance, no valve change for me. Plus, a majority of the people who have performed them were within specs anyways.

Is doing an oil change and a valve adjustment the same? Once again, I'm not a mechanic but I figure that they are two totally different things. So yes, I do change my oil every 3500 miles.

I am not recommending everyone to do the same, but just letting people know I have not had one performed on my bike.

It's my bike, and I have sacraficed my bike to all 13,000 members to use it as a test subject to show how well these Yamaha's are built.

 

[Goop]

It's my bike, and I have sacraficed my bike to all 13,000 members to use it as a test subject to show how well these Yamaha's are built.

And, he has a loud horn.

 

[philosopheriam]

I'm not a mechanic, I do not do maintenance on my bike with the exception of the basics, like oil change and swapping out the battery. Changing the spark plugs I have done once 44,000 miles ago, but my bike is an '06 so it's much more difficult to do than the later models. I have the Iridium plugs installed and I plan on running them until the very end.

I was quoted almost $500 to do a valve adjustment. I am not going to pay 25% of the value of my bike. Unless I feel or hear a noticeable difference or performance, no valve change for me. Plus, a majority of the people who have performed them were within specs anyways.

Is doing an oil change and a valve adjustment the same? Once again, I'm not a mechanic but I figure that they are two totally different things. So yes, I do change my oil every 3500 miles.

I am not recommending everyone to do the same, but just letting people know I have not had one performed on my bike.

It's my bike, and I have sacraficed my bike to all 13,000 members to use it as a test subject to show how well these Yamaha's are built.

I'm not arguing the fact that it's your bike and you can do whatever you want with it - my point is that not performing a periodic check/adjustment on your valves is POOR maintenance, plain and simple.

Ever heard of a burned valve? It can happen, and by the time you realize why your bike is losing power, it's time for a valve job. Considering you do not have the mechanical prowess to do a valve job (which is fine, not everyone is a mechanic), this would cost way over $500.

$500 for a valve adjustment - find a new shop, that's ridiculous. There's plenty out there.

 

[Hellgate]

Kenny - On the FZ1 it had 7 out of spec at 24,000. The R6 had 11 on of spec at 7,200 track miles.

With shims they get tight vs loose on the old tappet valve trains.

Sent from my MB508 using Tapatalk

 

[Kaisersoze]

I'm not arguing the fact that it's your bike and you can do whatever you want with it - my point is that not performing a periodic check/adjustment on your valves is POOR maintenance, plain and simple.

Ever heard of a burned valve? It can happen, and by the time you realize why your bike is losing power, it's time for a valve job. Considering you do not have the mechanical prowess to do a valve job (which is fine, not everyone is a mechanic), this would cost way over $500.

$500 for a valve adjustment - find a new shop, that's ridiculous. There's plenty out there.

Have to get the valves checked due to performance issues. Lowest quote around here was $420 if they needed adjustment...mind you that was LOWEST. Highest was 600$. Got the lowest to 275 - 300$ if i stripped the bike down to save on labor. (I already have it apart from trying to diagnose the problem myself.)

 

[Grahamm]

Hi, I've just found this thread because, having taken my FZ6-S ('04 model fuel injected, under-seat pipes, '06 registration) in for its 24k service, I had to have *all* my exhaust valve shims replaced because they were out.

The thing is, they were all out on the *high* side ie loose instead of tight, for instance (to pick one) the figures from the mechanic of the right-side exhaust valve from cylinder one:

Gap Measured: 0.40
Existing Valve Shim: 181
Required Valve Shim: 195

There's also an extra figure of 0.26 which I presume is the measurement afterward.

The clearances are supposed to be from 0.23 to 0.30, but *lowest* figure was 0.30 and the highest was 0.55!

Now I've looked on the web and asked elsewhere and even spoken to a guy from Yamaha UK who says he's never heard of this happening.

The inlet valves were all fine (0.16 across the board), so can anyone suggest what could have caused this and if there's some underlying problem that I should be aware of?

 

[iSteve]

This is unusual. Maybe incorrect from the factory. Could be worn cam bushings but the mechanic would have noticed and it's highly unlikely.

I personally would just do it myself if needed it''s not that difficult a job. My last bike had 72k miles on it when I sold it and only changed two shims. It's still on the road with over 100k with no maintenance other then the oil.