Valve Job...

It was a B!TCH ...but it's done...

After how many miles, how far off were they......just curious...

Jerry

The ODO is on 9700, I had the dealership do it at the recommended 600. They'll not touch the bike again. Every single valve was off by .001-.002 except for the rear exhaust valve. After reading so many times about people only having to adjust one or two valves, and also hearing so many times about dealership techs just "listening" to check the valves, I find it hard to believe that they'd all be that far out of spec if the job was done right at 600 miles.

Thanks Doc, Had a stealer ruin a V-Star 1100 of mine. quiet as a mouse when I took it in and you could hear the knocking a block away when I got it back.....Main reason I got the X is to do my own wrenching.
Gotta do the valves next.

Jerry

Ummm, 1 to 2 thousandths of an inch isn't really off by all that much. When I did mine I had three that were good and two off by 2 or 3 thousandths and one off by eight. If you don't have the proper tools these valve jobs are a little bit of a pain, but not near as bad as on some engines I've dealt with.

The improtant thing is you did it, which means you can do it again and it's one less thing you'll have to rely on someone else doing to your bike. Good job on getting them adjusted.

George

i did mine this past winter and all seems well but have a question while on this topic. when doing the exhaust valves, i notice that they lift up if the feeler gauge isnt totally flat. if they are lifting with the slightest pressure, how can you get an accurate reading? do you have to hold them down or something? i am not doing them again until next winter, but i would like to know now. thanks.

one more quickie. do you guys use a torque valve wrench (4mm) or just use a open ended 4mm. i would never want to mess something up in there.

I used an open 4mm as per poison's guide on the OB. It came in a set of ignition wrenches from sears. It also had a 10mm wrench in the set that was tiny and made some of the adjusting easier. All in all, I think I used 3 different 10mm wrenches to get into the various tight spaces. The lock nuts on my valves were pretty dang tight and took a bit of work to get loose. I didn't figure that .001-.002 was all that bad, it was more that there was only one valve that was in spec. Most people seem to only need to adjust one or two. Also, the write-up neglects to mention that you need a 24mm wrench or socket to get the exhaust valve covers open. I had to spend an extra half hour making a Sears run that could have been taken care of at the same time that I was getting the feeler gauges. But, as George said, I've got the tools now, and a little experience, so the next go round shouldn't be so tough.

Ahhh, I see now. I thought you were concerned that they were out too much, but rather just found it odd that five out of six needed adjustment. I guess that makes more sense now that I re-read your old post.

The main thing is to don't make this harder than it is. Relax, pay close attention but don't try to overcomplicate things. I guess to me these thigns are terribly simple compared to some of the mechanical/machining operations I deal with regularly so I'd as soon adjust the valves as change my oil. (then again some people have a hard time with oil)

You have the best aid avaliable, you have a friendly bunch of misfits waiting here to help if you run into trouble.

George