OMG! If that geezer in Spain sees this he'll be spitting his Rioja into his paella.
That geezer in Spain is at this moment in Cornwall contentedly supping his cocoa.
You certainly know what you're talking about with that last comment.
my exup valve had been broken for a few years. One of the bolts for the cover had snapped and i couldn't drill it out. So with two bolts holding on the cover / housing it didn't go on flush so pinched the valve off centre and jammed it. Anyway, end result was the valve wouldn't rotate so i just removed it. I took the exhaust off to paint the engine and tidy up the bike as i've done 30,000 miles now. With the bolt removed and a helicoil fitted at a local engineering shop i could refit the valve. The result - OMFG [size=78%]- [/size]i could not believe the effect, it was like a new engine was fitted. I thought there would be a minor improvement and had forgotten what the bike was like with the exup working. I'd always keep a *working* valve - also i've been Ivanised (by the Mike incidentally)[ although i will be posting a question about valve operation as it doesn't seem to be resetting to the fully closed position - but the performance is night and day ]
Anyway, end result was the valve wouldn't rotate so i just removed it.
My current fazer has never had its valve looked at in 9 years and 43,000 miles and still works like new.