Valve clearances

[Gemini]

my zx7r has done approx 17k miles,

i dont know when or if ever its had its valve clearance checked/done

my question is, i can see it turning into a pain in the ass job, now i dont mind that, but are there any tell tale signs to suggest you may wanna check them?

it doesnt knock, no rattles (apart from the normal kawasaki rattles), bike runs well, smooth, pulls well

any advice appreciated

gem

[RedexRobB]

Mine was never noisy but when it went in to have them checked, but it made so much difference to how the bike pulled afterwards and how it ran. Only way you will ever know is to check them unless its making god awful noises in which case youll need to look anyway.

Getting to it all is a bit of a mission as there are pipes and all this other crap under the airbox that needs to come off. I got my local machanic to do it, was just as well too cos he found that the bearing on the exhaust cam had cracked and turned out to be a bigger job than expected anyway.

[Scott221]

Its one of those things. Simple if you know what you're doing/have done it before. I wouldnt mind 'checking' mine, but would rather have someone who deffinatley knows what they are doing set them.

[Mori Man]

Valve clearances that tighten up you'll never know until they wreck your engine - they don't make any noise.

You'll only notice running defects if like 50% are out , modern electronics counter act running problems these day's - on new cars you can snap (not recommended) the arc arm of a plug and it will send a bigger charge to make it spark onto the piston crown/head.

some vacuum guages show when they need done and a cylinder pressure test can help too.

Depending on your riding style the "check/adjust" schedule on your shim's will vary , 12k is around norm on most bikes. So at 17K with no record of them being done i would be checking them.

[masterofinsanity]

do you think mine will need doin then at 51k?

[Gemini]

[Gemini]

ok, i think i understand how to do it,

also will b doing it with my uncle whos an experienced mechanic, who has worked on cars with similar valve systems

another question. cam chain? replace at 17000 miles?

[RedexRobB]

Mine had 32k miles on it and as far as i know it still had original everything, ive heard they will goto 50k miles without any problems so probably not worth doing really. Id say its worth more changing something like the tensioner blade. Check out the manual if you got one, if not i can mail it to you and check the service schedule, that will give you a beter idea of what needs to be done at that mileage.

[Gemini]

yeah mail it mate, how much u want for the manual then?

[Jamz]

Valve clearances that tighten up you'll never know until they wreck your engine - they don't make any noise.

You'll only notice running defects if like 50% are out , modern electronics counter act running problems these day's - on new cars you can snap (not recommended) the arc arm of a plug and it will send a bigger charge to make it spark onto the piston crown/head.

some vacuum guages show when they need done and a cylinder pressure test can help too.

Depending on your riding style the "check/adjust" schedule on your shim's will vary , 12k is around norm on most bikes. So at 17K with no record of them being done i would be checking them.

What he said!

You won't know until it eats itself in almost every case, which is rather unfortunate (and expensive).

Checking really is a piece fo piss as long as you have some feeler guages. Changing the shims looks fiddly but equally as easy - getting a proper tool to hold the springs on the arm would be a MASSIVE help.

It's if you actually have to adjust anything else it turns into a complete nightmare, that seems very similar to 'The Rock' where he's buggering about with those strings of green balls full of nerve gas.

You're more than welcome to come and have a look at my old lump - it's pretty much the same engine so I can show you the basics of how to get to it and what to do as far as checking clearences and shims goes.

[masterofinsanity]

surely its gotta be easier to drop the engine tan fiddlying around?

[Mori Man]

When the next motor arrives i will do a photo guide on doing them - they are easy to measure/check.

If your keeping the bike long term you should make yourself a shim chart. Start off with measuring what the gap is and not just that's it's within tolerance (I'll draw a very basic one up when doing), next time you measure them again check the gap size and compare with your last set of numbers. What you want to do is catch valves which are tightening up before they do damage, loose valves cause running problems more than anything else.

When you find a gap(s) that's no longer in tolerance that's when you need to remove the shim and see what number is on it , generally they are available in .05 increments and knowing the clearance size will let you know the next shim size to get.

If your only ever checking within tolerance then you'll need the shim chart in the workshop manual to work out what shim size to replace it with.

when fitting new shims write down the size on your chart as well , with this bike being shim on bucket I would actually take them out one at a time and write in the numbers on the sheet with gap size then as they alter you can order up the replacement shims just before you need them (I'll be doing this on all motors).

I can probably order the Kawasaki tool for holding the rockers out the way for doing this fairly cheaply (will add to my tool kit) but I'll see what can be fabricated easily enough for any one to make up.

Decided at the weekend it was getting too cold to be standing outside to do this

[Gemini]

whats the likely hood of them needing adjusting at 17000 miles?

[rene]

how longs a pice of string? One of them questions that can only be answered by doing it..

Cam chain "should" be good for ever so i've been told but id still change it at 30,000

[Mori Man]

whats the likely hood of them needing adjusting at 17000 miles?

If you run your bike above 90% power then more than likely - visit the redline and beyond more often than not , well on the cards!

iirc , FZ1000 exup motors only needed checking at 42K miles think fireblades are in the high 30's too - not many folks can wring these bikes necks constantly each journey.

I'll be doing my ZRX ones this winter as I take it to the limiter nearly every time I'm out on it , it's at around 9k miles.

Checking costs nothing but time and can save a wedge - got to be worth doing!

PS. Used to do my GPz600R tappets every 3,500 miles - cost a few quid on "O" rings each time but got perfect performance and fuel for the 6yrs I had it. Always set to .15 & .20 across the board