Checked my valves today

[jul1us]

First time I checked the valves on a bike, today. Previous owner told me it had been done but didn't seem sure. As I was removing the AIS, it seemed like a good time to do it and DeWoody's video gave me the confidence to do it.

Three of the exhaust valves are very slightly out of spec:

Is this something which needs taking care of immediately or can I ride it like this maybe for another season?

[SkidT]

Great effort for having a go at it.


Be interested in having a look at the video if you’ve got a link to it that you could post please? [size=78%]Need to get around to doing mine at some point.[/size]


Sorry, I can’t help with how soon you’d need to be changing the shims, in order to avoid any damage, but I’m Sure somebody far more knowledgable, will be along soon to answer your query.

[jul1us]

Yes, the checking part is really not that hard, the adjusting part is a little more scary to me as I have read of people having difficulties getting everything back together. Moreover, I don't have a garage or anything like that at my disposal and am working in my front yard which is also shared by my neighbours and once I take everything apart and figure out which shims I need it would probably be standing there for a while until I get those shims. Not an ideal situation.


These are some really excellent videos in a three part series:
(edit: for some reason my posted videos are not showing up so you have to remove the spacing)


youtube .com/watch?v=dL3My_Iw8Wc

youtube .com/watch?v=090E8CV8PU8

youtube .com/watch?v=HFb8FbKpvBc


And in this video you can watch it be done in an engine which is not removed from the bike:


youtube .com/watch?v=w_wPrqW3M8M

[SkidT]

Great. Thanks for the links Julius.
I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to have to do that outside in a shared yard, leaving the bike outside whilst you wait for new shims.

Good to hear that you’ve nearly finished with the Ivan’s upgrade as well. Look forward to reading your thoughts once it’s finished and you’ve put a few miles on it. 👍

[jul1us]

I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to have to do that outside in a shared yard, leaving the bike outside whilst you wait for new shims.

Yeah, I would probably have to reassemble the engine without the shims and then open it again when I have the shims.

[SkidT]

You could buy a Hotcams valve shim set and a vernier calliper to accurately measure the shims. Then you “should” have all you need to do it all in one go?
I have a set (which I bought off of here) to use, when I finally build up the motivation to do the job. Good luck. 👍

[jul1us]

Yes, I thought about that but the downsides on these sets are that you will probably never need 80% of those shims. Also, if you watch DeWoodys video, he basically needed a lot of the same shims and in the other video it was the same (the Hotcam set didn't have everything he needed because it only supplies three of the same).


Having now read everything (mostly forum discussions) I could find on this subject, my conclusion is this: My engine is not in immediate danger but basically all of my valves are on the tight side and could really use a re-shimming which could also improve performance and increase gas mileage.

[midden]

Yes, I thought about that but the downsides on these sets are that you will probably never need 80% of those shims. Also, if you watch DeWoodys video, he basically needed a lot of the same shims and in the other video it was the same (the Hotcam set didn't have everything he needed because it only supplies three of the same).


Having now read everything (mostly forum discussions) I could find on this subject, my conclusion is this: My engine is not in immediate danger but basically all of my valves are on the tight side and could really use a re-shimming which could also improve performance and increase gas mileage.

Seems a lot of wasted time and effort if knowing some valves are out of tolerance, you're not going to reset them.  The way I see it is having the shim kit solves the problem of leaving it apart for any length of time on your drive. Also if as you say the kit only supplies 3 of each size well how lucky you've identified that only three of the valves are out.
As for probably never needing 80% of the kit, you have another option which is to take the bike to the shop pay them to make the adjustments for a small fortune more than the kit would cost you.

[jul1us]

Last night it dawned on me that I might have messed up.


I had transferred the "T" line to my ignition advancer without removing the screw and this was not precise enough. Even though I had also stuck in an allen wrench to confirm the piston is all the way up, it turns out I was not at TDC.


So today I put the original ignition rotor back in and measured again. The bike is still in spec. 


These are the actual numbers:

[SkidT]

Great news!
Are you tempted to do a “Best of Three” valve check? 😁
Out of interest, what mileage is your bike at? And to your knowledge, have they ever been checked / had new shims before?

[jul1us]

Haha, good idea!


My bike has 63 tkm on the clock. I have just bought it and the previous owner who had it for 2 years and didn't ride it much knew the lady who owned it before for 12 years. He told me that her husband did the valve check but that nothing had to be done. Since I took the bike apart anyway, I thought this would be a good time to find out myself and learn something new.

[Edited to fix the tiny font problem: GrahamM - Moderator]

[SkidT]

Haha, good idea!


My bike has 63 tkm on the clock. I have just bought it and the previous owner who had it for 2 years and didn't ride it much knew the lady who owned it before for 12 years. He told me that her husband did the valve check but that nothing had to be done. Since I took the bike apart anyway, I thought this would be a good time to find out myself and learn something new.

[Edited to fix the tiny font problem: GrahamM - Moderator]

Thanks Julius, good to know. That seems to fit with many owners previous experiences that I’ve read on here.
Mainly why I haven’t thus far done mine, with only 32000 miles just passed. I will get around to it………..eventually! 🤗
You can’t rush these things…………….. I’ve only had it eleven years.

[midden]

Private conversation then 

[jul1us]

Yes, I thought about that but the downsides on these sets are that you will probably never need 80% of those shims. Also, if you watch DeWoodys video, he basically needed a lot of the same shims and in the other video it was the same (the Hotcam set didn't have everything he needed because it only supplies three of the same).


Having now read everything (mostly forum discussions) I could find on this subject, my conclusion is this: My engine is not in immediate danger but basically all of my valves are on the tight side and could really use a re-shimming which could also improve performance and increase gas mileage.

Seems a lot of wasted time and effort if knowing some valves are out of tolerance, you're not going to reset them.  The way I see it is having the shim kit solves the problem of leaving it apart for any length of time on your drive. Also if as you say the kit only supplies 3 of each size well how lucky you've identified that only three of the valves are out.
As for probably never needing 80% of the kit, you have another option which is to take the bike to the shop pay them to make the adjustments for a small fortune more than the kit would cost you.

Sorry, forgot to reply.


I guess you have a point, so maybe next time I will do that.


My original plan was to close the engine back up and go to a local mechanic to get the shims but maybe it's less trouble just to get the shims kit.
Another idea was to get a shims kit from Aliexpress where they cost much less...

[midden]

Or look out for a secondhand set if you do come to do it again. I seem to recall a set on here being sold a while back

[SkidT]

I seem to recall a set on here being sold a while back

You do indeed. I bought the set off of Mike (Falcon). Just need to get around to doing the job now. 😗

[robbo]

There’s a dot on each camshaft that lines up with a corresponding reference mark when No1 cylinder is at TDC compression stroke. This acts as a belt’n’braces check when lining up the “T” mark when using the stock ignition advancer.

[PieEater]

I am curious, what difference does it make when measuring valve clearances if the cam lobe is 180 degrees opposite the bucket but the piston is not at TDC? Is it just that the TDC mark ensures that the cam lobe is at the correct spot to take the measurements?