Valve clearances, please hold my hand....

[Jamoi]

Evening gents, I did have a search for others experience in valve clearance adjustment, but would just like a bit of advice, baby wipes and a rusk...

My clearance measurements are like so:

Tolerance limits: 0.13 - 0.19mm & 0.28 - 0.34mm

They have never been adjusted and the bike has covered around 26k miles.

Do I need to remove the existing shims to work out what sizes to order?

Would you say I only need to adjust the no.3 valve clearance on the Front cyl?

Or do you think I ought to address the others too?

[tony.mon]

Yep, number 3 on the front head needs changing.
.265 is too tight for an exhaust, the tolerance is .29 to .34 so you need to aim at .31 to get into the centre of the range.

To get a bigger gap you need a thinner shim.
Most aftermarket shim sets go in .05 increments....
So you'll need to go down .05, which will lead you to a gap of .315.

Measure the shim you have, and go down one size, fit and re-measure.
Then rotate the engine two crankshaft turns to FT, then re-measure once again.

All the others look good.
Let me know what shim you need, and I can send one over on a swap basis.

[Jamoi]

That makes perfect sense Tony, thankyou. I'll see what size it is tomorrow night (hopefully it won't have changed ) as I need to read up on the removal process.

Do you have to use the suggested "molybdenum disulphide sex lube" ? On the new shim?

[tony.mon]

That makes perfect sense Tony, thankyou. I'll see what size it is tomorrow night (hopefully it won't have changed ) as I need to read up on the removal process.

Do you have to use the suggested "molybdenum disulphide sex lube" ? On the new shim?

No. Ordinary oil is fine for every other time the engine turns over......

The shim doesn't contact anything that moves it- it just sits between the bucket and the tip of the valve stem.
Just make sure they're both clean, put a drop of oil in and assemble.
If it's quicker, so you can get it sorted before the weekend, you could collect it from Clapham where I work during the day- PM me if that is of any use.

[Jamoi]

Perfect

I have a friend who works in Dagenham, perhaps he might be persuaded to nip over to you.

If not I'll take an early day from work on Wednesday and drive down.

You star

[tony.mon]

Perfect

I have a friend who works in Dagenham, perhaps he might be persuaded to nip over to you.

If not I'll take an early day from work on Wednesday and drive down.

You star

Best get the shim out and get measuring, then.
PM me and I'll let you have the address and instructions of how to find my office.

[8541Hawk]

Just to let you know of the "other" option.

While aftermarket shims are in .05mm sets the factory shims are in .025mm steps.

This lets you set things a bit closer to the middle.
For some folks, as long as you are within spec it is good enough.

Me, I have issues....lol, I figure since I'm in there I set them all to the center of spec.

Either way will works in the real world though.

[Jamoi]

Cheers guys, I'm going to double check the clearances tonight as my feeler gauges aren't the best.

I'll remove the shims & PM you Tony

Alternatively, Hawk if I went up 0.025mm on all but no.2 Rear cyl and up 0.5mm on no.3 Front cyl. That would put me in a good position all round wouldn't it?

I never thought I'd be adjusting valve clearances

[sirch345]

Good replies there chaps
In my opinion cranked feeler gauges work better for this job, but of course that could just be me

When removing the side bolt from the cam chain guide make sure you don't drop it down inside the engine. I usually place a clean rag in the cam chain tunnel first just in case. Make sure you completely remove the rag when finished.

I didn't realise you're so young Jamie, you may need a box to stand on



Chris.

[Jamoi]

I lay the bike on it's side and crawl over it

My feeler gauges have the following sizes: 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25, 0.30.

Strange thing is, if I slot the 0.30 in and it's tight, then try 0.20 + 0.10 it's a loose fit!

Isn't that odd?

How close is close enough would you say?! Silly question I know, but as long as I'm on the open side of the tolerance scale I'm peachy right?

I'm hoping to remove the offending shim/shims tonight and work out what I need to replace them with.

Another silly question! Are the engines really that different out of the factory to use different sized shims in a new motor? Obviously they are just suprised that's all.

[Jamoi]

Ok, I have the no.3 shim from front cyl in my hand!

It looks like it has either of the following stamped on it... 190 or 90 or 06 or 061.

I'm guessing 190.

So I guess I need 0.05mm thinner than the one in me hand.

If you can help me out with that size Tony, I'll get it to my mates tonight for him to take to work tomorrow & AP has kindly offered to drop n' swap at your workplace, or I could drive down to yours.....!

The Stag do is feeling achievable now

[VTRDark]

Accuracy is all down to good feeling. With feeler gauges I also check the next size up to what I'm aiming for and if it wont slide in at all ie start to bend, and the size your aiming for slides easily with some slight resistance when removing the feeler, then your good.

Also be careful doing up the cam cap bolts. I usually go with either feel or just under the factory spec to allow for any stretched bolts. They will snap if you overtighten!!! It's a pain in the butt but the torque on the cam cap bolts plus tension on the cam chain will make a difference to clearances so it's best if all 4 bolts are tightened down and cam tensioner tightened up to get an accurate reading with the feeler gauge.

(:-})

[Jamoi]

Cheers Carlos, do you loctite everything up?

[VTRDark]

I probably should but I don't. If you are, then do it last after you have done your final checks and happy with your tolerances, and then check them again as you may find one a little tight or too loose and want to loosen or tighten a bolt a 1/4 - 1/2 turn or something to get things spot on. It depends how fussy you are really.

(:-})

[Jamoi]

I need a 185 shim by the looks of it.