0.008 - Am I doing this correctly?

Hey 610'ers:

Just got to the valve adjustment on my 2008 TE610 with 990 miles. I'm able to get the biggest Motion Pro feeler gage I've got in there - 0.008! Exhaust and intake. That's way out of specification, but the bike was running fine and not overly noisy.

Could I be measuring wrong? I've not done valve adjustment before (aside from the diesel engine on a sailboat we used to have, where it was easy to get the feeler gage lined up). Could I be forcing the larger gage in? None of the gages (0.002, 0.003, 0.004, 0.005, 0.006 and 0.008) slide in effortlessly. But once in they are all fairly easy to move around.

Here's a shot of the 0.008 gage exhaust (the 0.2 on the gage is mm).



Thanks for any suggestions!

Howard Snell

Looks good to me and sounds about right for the first check... set them back to 0.002" and you should be good to go.

You need two feeler gauges. One for each side. Its the only way to get an accurate reading when you have two valves off of one cam.

.008 is way out. The valves wont dissipate heat to the valve seat, the elephant foot will get pounded, the bike wont make power, and it will sound horrible.

Buy a second feeler guage, then you will have an accurate measurement. Keep sliding guages until one wont fit, your clearance will be the previous feeler.

Hello Mike:

Thanks. I thought something wasn't right. I'll try two gages as you suggest.

The bike definitely wasn't running poorly, nor making a lot of clatter.

I'm glad I got your feedback before putting her back together. It isn't simple to get to these valves....

When I removed the tank the "quick disconnects" disconnected fine, but they sure didn't slow the flow of fuel! Do those things ever work?

At least I'll know to drain the tank first next time. I've seen the a couple of other disconnects recommended and I'll eventually try those.

Howard

Hello Stoker:

Thanks for your prompt reply. I'l try the two feeler gage technique mentioned by Mike. That way I'll have the bases covered! Either way I'll get back to .002 before closing everything up.

Howard

1) close the petcocks.
2) remove the 'cross over' fuel line.
3) plug one end of that fuel line with a phillips screw driver, bolt, vise grips, whatever.
4) use the other end of that fuel line to plug the white 'quick disconnect'
line before it leaks fuel all over the garage!
5) no need to drain the tank

I learned this from Uptite!

I like the golf tee's too.... The good part about draining the tank is that it doesn't weigh anything so it's easy to deal with.... have fun......

Done - Thanks!

Hello Stoker, Mike & Coffee:

Thanks for all of the suggestions - I used Mike's dual gage technique and that seemed to help a lot. I think that someone with a fine touch might be able to feel the resistance OK with one gage, but if you're not certain (as I'm not) then the two gages really take the variation out of the picture. I'm assuming that what happens with a single gage is if you try hard enough you can "force" a larger gage in because the other rocker pivots down a bit and thus leaves more room for the gage. With two gages there isn't a space at the other rocker so the one being measured doen't move? I'm guessing here, but I think I remember my Dad explaining something similar when I was working with him many, many years ago and he'd get a different measurement than I did.

I may try the golf tees for plugging the fuel hose, or I might just take a long ride the day before the next valve adjustment and thus have a nearly empty tank! Sounds like a good excuse for a ride.

Howard

I'm a golfer, do most mc riders golf??? Using tee's is great!!

Nice job with the feeler gauges.

On the fuel disconnects: The Black one(s) shut off when disconnected, the white ones have no shut off. IIRC