Posted by Rob on April 27, 2003 at 22:47:33:
In Reply to: Re: checking valve clearance posted by TomCat on September 09, 2002 at 15:13:39:
All of the advice so far given seems spot on.
I have just adjusted my valve clearances, the bike only having covered 1500 miles from new, but I was not confident the dealer checked them at the first service as I could not see any marks on the various nuts and bolts to indicate that any work had been done!.
What a pain it was to get it right.
Finding the TDC was easy (exactly as the clymer manual tells you), but the gap you have to adjust to is tiny and it's almost impossible to get the feeler gauges in.
I thought I had it right first time,I was really careful, bolted everything back and started the engine - what a noise, the rattling was terrible.
I had a go next night and it turned out that although I thought the gaps were set right, they were nearly twice what they should have been !
It took two more attempts and I am still not convinced they are spot on !!!
I found that because the gap is so small, you think you have them adjusted right, but if you put a little upward pressure (just using your fingers) it seems to open up a bit.
In the end, I set them in the middle range, by trying to make sure there was a positive drag on the gauge for the middle size, but that the largest would not go in.
It really is an awful job and worse than any car I have ever worked on.
Best of luck - I'd like to know how you got on.
All the best
Rob James