My bike is coming up to 10,000 km. I'm told I should get the valve clearances checked at 10,000 km but I've been wondering if it's just a waste of time and money. Please tell me what you reckon. These days, engines are built so well. Has anyone on here done there's? If so, did they need adjusting? Stefan - New Zealand
I don't think anyone has been keeping count but of the people who have had their valves checked and posted about it, I think it's somewhere between 50% and 75% no adjustment necessary. A few people have found clearances out of spec. Shop checked mine and said they were all in spec @ 10k. I'll probably skip the 20K check unless the bike isn't running right. As for whether it's a waste of time and money, that's something that you can only ever really know in hindsight. Aso for engines being built well and not requiring it... there's a reason why Husqvarna & BMW schedule a check ever 10k for these engines and much less regularly (I think 30k for some BMW 1300cc bike engines) .
Many modern engines run valve check intervals in the 20k mile range. However, most of these engines aren't at their performance limits. In the case of our TR650s, this engine is already stretched to the limits of 650 single performance. There isn't a whole lot of power left to be stroked out of the engine. Once you take an engine close to its max performance, you shorten maintenance intervals. I think the most important valve check of any engine is the first one. Yeah, it might be a pain in the butt to do, but it gives you a firm idea of what is going on in your engine and how fast your clearances are changing. Once you know how things are moving on the inside, you can accurately come up with your own maintenance schedule.
Hi Stefan, I'm up in Tauranga, also due for 10K service (but won't get done until I get back from Aussie in Sept). I would be very keen to know who you get to do it, what they charged, the results (ie did they need to replace any shims) and also. where they got the shims from.
Thanks for the info Nev, that sounds about right (unfortunately @ about $80-90 per hour). Do you know if any of the valves were out of spec?
Eurosport in Asheville checked my valves at 5700 miles. Intake and exhaust were out of spec and needed adjustment. I will definitely have them checked again at 11-12k miles--would love to keep this bike a while. They charged me for 4 hours of labor, I believe.
I checked mine at 7200 miles 2 weekends ago and they were in spec. The service guy told me maybe at 12k they might need to be adjusted but most likely between 18k-24k they would need to be adjusted. He said if they are tight to begin with they will run a long time but depends on how well they did at the factory from the start. So when they do get adjusted the next time I am going to run it about 15k miles or just start checking myself since I am looking at a second bike and can have this one down for a longer period of time.
If your "service guy" said that "if they are tight to begin with they will run a long time'' then don't trust that place. These valves tend to tighten with seating of the valves faster than valve stem wear. If they were looking for the valves to be closer to the tight end of the tolerances then your bike is likely in need of adjustment (loosening/ increasing gap). If you asked for the specs or if they recorded them I would use that to demand the service be done again, or maybe better yet refunded and done by a more reputable place that understands the procedure. Hope that maybe he just misspoke and he meant closer to the loose end of the tolerance than the tight end.
Honestly I am not sure if I misspoke or can not trust the dealer. Personally I do not trust mechanics. I asked and they did not record the measurements and after sitting 5 hours in the show room driving 2 hours there with a 2 hour return I did not have the energy to fight them over it. I did notice they did the check as i could see what was going on. The dealership in Orlando has done a few other owners in this forum as well. Although I do not trust service managers as I was in the car industry for years and normally do my own work. If this was a car I would know exactly what I should be lookng for in any service with a valve check on a motorcycle i am not familiar with the process.
I just had the valves checked on my Strada @7,200 miles. They were all in spec and did not need adjustment. Since we have two Stradas, my Mechanic suggested that we wait until 12,000 miles for the initial inspection on my Wife's TRS650.
