Well, I did it. My bike just hit 6000 miles (in just 4 months!) and it was time to do the valve clearance check. Thank God for this site. I had never done anything like this before and I have to admit, I was a little scared. After reading Bob Scott's article and Martin's additional tips, I was confident that I could do it.
First I did all the prep work (making a template for the bolts, making a tool for the cam chain tensioner, etc). Then I started to take the bike apart. When I first checked the clearances, only two were out of spec, both on the exhaust side. One was so tight that I could not get my smallest guage (.03 mm) in it. The other was about .05 mm. I did all this work on Monday. When the shop opened on Tuesday, I bought the necessary shims and went home to put them in and everything would be OK, or so I thought. I put in the new shims re-installed the cam, tensioner and guide, rechecked the clearances, and now one of them was still tight and a different one was now out of spec. DAMN! So now I had to take the cam, tensioner and guide out again. Back to the shop and wouldn't you know it they didn't have the new shims I needed. So now it was off to Simi Valley (a 30 minuite drive) to buy two more shims. Back to the house, re-install everything, re-check, and now one more was out of spec. AGHHH! Luckily this time I had a shim that I needed for this one, a 2.25 mm. Put it in re-checked and it read .18 mm, Just in spec. Now I had to make a decision, live with that one valve borderline loose or go thru the process one more time and use the 2.30 shim I had left over to bring it in the middle range. I said "what the hell" I was getting so fast at taking it apart and putting it back together that I did it one more time. And finally everything was OK. All clearances between .09 and .12 mm. I put everything back together and so far everything seems to be running great. Not a lot of difference though, maybe a little smoother .
If I had any advice it would be two things. Like Martin said, get a micrometer or callipers to read the shims with. Two of mine had no numbers left on them so the guys at the shop read them for me. Second, I found it usefull when taking out and installing the cam chain tensioner to use a 1/4" drive screwdriver handle with a long extension and a swivel head to tighten and loosen the two 8mm bolts. Not for the initial loosening or final tightening, but for all the times in between if you have to keep taking the cam out and putting it back in. This saved me a lot of time and aggravation. I just hand tightened them until the final time when I was done, then of course I used the torque wrench.
Overall even though it took me about a day in a half including the trips to the shop I must say that it wasn't that bad. Next time I'm sure that I can do it in about 4-5 hours max, plus the time it takes to go to the shop. There is a great deal of satisfaction when you do a job like this yourself. Thanks Bob for your article and thanks Martin for your e-mails when you did yours. It inspired me to do it myself!
Mike
First I did all the prep work (making a template for the bolts, making a tool for the cam chain tensioner, etc). Then I started to take the bike apart. When I first checked the clearances, only two were out of spec, both on the exhaust side. One was so tight that I could not get my smallest guage (.03 mm) in it. The other was about .05 mm. I did all this work on Monday. When the shop opened on Tuesday, I bought the necessary shims and went home to put them in and everything would be OK, or so I thought. I put in the new shims re-installed the cam, tensioner and guide, rechecked the clearances, and now one of them was still tight and a different one was now out of spec. DAMN! So now I had to take the cam, tensioner and guide out again. Back to the shop and wouldn't you know it they didn't have the new shims I needed. So now it was off to Simi Valley (a 30 minuite drive) to buy two more shims. Back to the house, re-install everything, re-check, and now one more was out of spec. AGHHH! Luckily this time I had a shim that I needed for this one, a 2.25 mm. Put it in re-checked and it read .18 mm, Just in spec. Now I had to make a decision, live with that one valve borderline loose or go thru the process one more time and use the 2.30 shim I had left over to bring it in the middle range. I said "what the hell" I was getting so fast at taking it apart and putting it back together that I did it one more time. And finally everything was OK. All clearances between .09 and .12 mm. I put everything back together and so far everything seems to be running great. Not a lot of difference though, maybe a little smoother .
If I had any advice it would be two things. Like Martin said, get a micrometer or callipers to read the shims with. Two of mine had no numbers left on them so the guys at the shop read them for me. Second, I found it usefull when taking out and installing the cam chain tensioner to use a 1/4" drive screwdriver handle with a long extension and a swivel head to tighten and loosen the two 8mm bolts. Not for the initial loosening or final tightening, but for all the times in between if you have to keep taking the cam out and putting it back in. This saved me a lot of time and aggravation. I just hand tightened them until the final time when I was done, then of course I used the torque wrench.
Overall even though it took me about a day in a half including the trips to the shop I must say that it wasn't that bad. Next time I'm sure that I can do it in about 4-5 hours max, plus the time it takes to go to the shop. There is a great deal of satisfaction when you do a job like this yourself. Thanks Bob for your article and thanks Martin for your e-mails when you did yours. It inspired me to do it myself!
Mike
