Posted by WD on February 19, 2001 at 03:39:28:
In Reply to: Savage head retorque posted by Andrew Jagoda on February 18, 2001 at 19:05:38:
Use your best judgement on the valve setting. My 98 is pushing 12000 miles, and the valves haven't been touched since the should have been 600 but was actually 1200 mile service. I still get over 70 mpg on long road trips, so this is one area that I won't be tinkering with. I run 20W50 Castrol GTX car oil year round here in the southeastern United States, and there has never been any hint of glitter or other wear indication in the oil. The only schedules to follow religiously are changing the oil at 2500 miles or so (cheap insurance, as two quarts is what, about 3 and a half dollars) and checking the handlebar cap bolts and your spokes at the same time. I've never had the headbolts retorqued, and it leaks no oil or combustion gases around the head or the base of the cylinder. If you start to have a head gasket leak, torque it then, the rest of the time you shouln't have to worry about it.
-WD