valves

[GARTHXS]

my bike has the 750mod and I seem to be getting a bit of valve chatter is this normal I have 39k on the bike what are the recommended intervals Btw I ride the snot out of it

[Crazcnuk]

My theory is, when in doubt check them.

If nothing else it gives you piece of mind.

[trbig]

The final drive and noisy valves won't have anything to do with the other. The inspection intervals for these isn't realistic.. like every 5-10k miles if I remember right. If your valves are noisy sounding, do a cam chain adjustment. If you ride it like I do mine, even with the proper torque on the adjuster set screw, sometimes centrifigul force of the chain will push the plunger out a bit when I've had some extremely high revs. A quick chain adjustment quiets everything back up.

That being said... if you've never done a valve/shim adjustment, it wouldn't be a bad idea to do since it may have never been done yet.. EVER.


Tod

[GARTHXS]

never

I have put about 6k miles on this bike and I don't know when the last time it was done , I have never done this before but I have the tool , do I need to get a new gasket

[Crazcnuk]

You might. It's one of those, if you have the gasket you won't need it, but if you don't have one, you will need it things!

I've had good luck with the valve cover gasket being ok, but it depends on whether the PO glued it in.

Like I said, check them for your own piece of mind. then set the cam chain as Tr suggested. These are the 2 areas that can cause that annoying 'rattle'

What may slow you down a bit is shims. If your bike has never been checked chances are it will need adjusting.

[trbig]

What may slow you down a bit is shims.

And the fact that the tool you have will be worthless. (If it's the shim holdback tool that you're reefering to.)


Tod

[GARTHXS]

tool

the one I have is the yamaha version

[trbig]

If you find that it works just about as well as the Motion Pro tool, the easiest way is as follows. **Note** If you're a stickler that goes by only what the manual says.. read no further.


Take off your valve cover and carefully measure your valve clearances. Don't just use the smallest and largest clearance clearance feeler gauges to see if it's a go/no go. Find out just what they are.. some may need more than a single size shim adjustment. Carefully write all these numbers down... 4 for the intake side, 4 for the exhaust side.

Rotate the crank back to the "T" mark and make sure the cams line up with their timing marks. (If it was running, they will)

Remove the cam chain tensioner.

Pull the chain guide out between the two cam sprockets, and give the chain a small tug to get some slack in the chain from the exhaust side.

The cam caps are all numbered 1-5 with arrows facing the right side. Carefully remove the screws/washers from all the cam caps and make sure you don't drop anything down the cam chain galley. Anything dropped in the vacinity will go there like a black hole. Remove the cap nuts a few turns at a time each and the cam will slowly rise. Doing it this way will prevent damage to the caps or cams.

With the cam caps off and the cam loose, use a small jewelers screwdriver or similar in the bucket slots provided and remove the shims that need changing. Note what size they are from each bucket since one from another cylinder may be needed at another location. Don't try to raise the cam completely out of the bearings... you want to make sure the cam sprocket stays in the same spot on the cam chain.

After the shims are replaced with the correct size, reverse order. You'll have to get the caps on and the screws started at one end and a couple turns at a time, tighten them until you can get #3 cap on and the screws started. After getting a few turns on the screws for #3, the rest of the screws can be started on the other caps.

Torque the screws to spec, then repeat the process with the exhaust cam.

After you finish and the exhaust cam is retorqued, re-install the chain guide in between the cams, and go back to the left side of the bike. With your left hand, stick your finger through the hole in the front of the motor where the cam chain adjuster goes and push in on that bar with your finger. Slowly rotate the crank CLOCKWISE (To the right) until you get it lined up with the "C" mark.

Loosen your cam chain adjuster screw so you can fully depress (Push in) the plunger. Lock it there lightly with the set screw. Reinstall the adjuster to where it belongs and tighten the mounting screws. Then loosen the adjuster screw so the adjuster plunger strikes the cam chain guide. Torque the set screw and nut to spec (Which isn't very much).

Turn the crank past the "T" mark and keep going until that mark comes around the 2nd time. (The crank spins two revs to the cams' once.) Line up the "T" mark again and double check your cam timing.

Since you never moved anything, it should be pretty foolproof to mess up the timing this way. Slap your valve cover and side cover on and go ride!!

I used to totally remove the cams for this and have since found (Thanks to John) that this really wasn't necessary. It made it a pain to get everything back in time and the possibility of bending valves if you got it wrong.


Tod

[Guy_b_g]

TRBIG,

That's the best description I've seen written up yet of a valve adjustment, (I even copied it and printed it out for my own use). I think that it should be posted to the tech section. Thanks!

[DGXSER]

Awesome Description!

And I will also say that I just did the valve adjustments on my SH with the Yamaha tool, thanks to a local memeber for loaning the tool!, and it worked great for me. I did find that it just would not catch the bucket on the no 1 intake valve. For that one I used a small screwdriver and wedged it between the bucket and the cam (not on the machined lobe area but the rougher circular area) just on the lip part so the shim could be moved. Not a task I would want to repeat across the entire engine for both sides, but not bad for one.

All that being said, Tods method would surely be faster, just riskier IMHO for a guy like me that has never pulled the cams before. I was a little afraid of bending valves. But really, once you have the cover off to work on the valves, checking the timing is very simple.

And also a note of caution as to shim sizes, ours are 29mm......not 29.5 mm, those do NOT fit...DAMHIKIJK. Third time can be the charm!!

[trbig]

just riskier IMHO for a guy like me that has never pulled the cams before.

That's the good part about this method, is you aren't really pulling the cams. Just loosening them one at a time so you can get to all the shims. You couldn't pull the cams out or even get the gears to jump spots on the chain unless you really really tried.. so there's next to no chance of messing up the timing.

What bugs me about the holdback tools, is you are rotating the crank, then trying to hold the valve down and open while you rotate the engine and cams back.. which means the pistons are going up and down also. So you are trying to hold the valve open with while the pistons go up and down. THAT is the method that seems risky to me. (IMHO)

And I see I kept saying screws... when it should be nuts.. lol. Sorry.


Tod

[tw1980]

I have a different method.I remove the plugs so there is no compression and measure each valve and then use the valve shim removal tool to remove any shims that need replacing.After all valves have been adjusted I adjust the cam chain.I adjust it(the cam chain) when the engine is hot.Remove left side cover rotate to c marker, loosen cam chain tension set screw,apply slight pressure clockwise to crankshaft,tighten cam chain tension set screw,replace cover.Note when installing valve shims be sure the side with the markings is facing down,or the next time you won't be able to read the size. Hope I'm not giving bad advise.This seems to work well for me and only takes me about 45 min to an hour. Terry

[DGXSER]

I do see your point Tod,

I know when I did the valve job I never rotated the engine that far that I felt I could get the piston moving that far with the tool in place. With that tool in, you can only rotate it so far as the tool fits pretty tight to the small diameter of the cam lobe anyway. So at most you might get 1/3 of a rotation on the cam. Which I am thinking equates to 2/3 rotation of the crank?

Honestly, after reading your method through a few times I would probably use it if I found my self back in the position of needing to re-shim 6 out of 8 valves again. For one or two or even three, If I had access to the tool I think I would go that route.

[bikerphil]

I use one of those tools for the shims and it works fine. It didn't work at first, so I ground down one side that was too thick and enlarged the hole for the allen bolt. POS out of the package.