How to check your valve clearances pictorial

[hasenpfeffer]

hasenpfeffer,

Great work, you are a lot braver than I am.

All the removal/disconnection of the electrics was for slack in the wire harness so the fuel tank/subframe could pivot, right?
Did you pivot the tank and subframe together as a unit or separately?
Do you still think as much needed to be undone, or could you get away with less?

What did you do about the tight intake?
Did you re-shim?

Yes, the wiring harness needs some slack to pivot the subframe. I disconnected the harness from the battery, the ecu was removed, and the 3 connectors in the tail were separated. That's it. All the other relays and fuse blocks remained connected to the harness, just simply slipped off their holding posts.

Yes, the tank and subframe remain bolted together.

I think you need to do everything I did.

There is a chance the wiring harness may not need to be messed with, only because you end up disconnecting most of it around the engine anyway, and maybe that allows enough slack for it? But it still goes all the way up front, so I'm not sure that would work, and still suggest doing what I did. Plus, you don't have easy access to all the engine connectors until you get that airbox out.

The exhaust may be able to be disconnected from the rear instead. In other words, you might be able to drop the silencers and pull the y pipe instead of pulling the manifold pipe. I wasn't positive that y pipe would weasel its way out, though, so I pulled the manifold pipe. It could be harder to get the y pipe back on the manifold pipe, too, since it is pretty necessary to be able to move the manifold pipe around to get the two back together.

Tight intake? The actual intake manifold was not in the way at all. You have to lift the valve cover over the gears anyway and the intake was not a problem. You do have to remove the throttle body. That's a piece of cake, though. Just remove a bunch of electrical connectors, the throttle cable, and 1 band clamp. Make sure the airbox and throttle body have a clean place to reside after removal, they both have grease around the throttle body throat for a good seal and could easily pick up dirt.

I did not re-shim. That was not a project I was prepared to perform at this time. I would not normally have checked the clearance for another 6000 miles anyway, so I'm just going with it. At least I know where I'm starting, and so when I check again, I'll know better about what's going on. RE and others will easily beat me to it though. I'm also taking some, probably misguided, solace in the fact that:

- the specs in the manual conflict with the forks
- the intake spec range in the manual seems small
- my intake measurements are well inside the range of the BMW spec (I know it's a different top end, though)
- the BMW spec had been revised over time so perhaps Husky's current questioned spec could be revised
- my bike is barely even broken in (maybe the bucket and cam are supposed to wear some)

I can also wait to see more data from others and re-evaluate.

EDIT: I just realized the intake you were referring to was the valve. Duh. Looking again, I also am wrong about where my measurements are within the BMW spec.

 

[hasenpfeffer]

A possibly interesting observation. It appears that the torque specifications list in the service manual are ordered according to assembly step. Want to disassemble something? Look at this list and you may have to remove everything from that item and down the list.

 

[RuggedExposure]

For those of you attempting this, and get to the re-assembly phase, if you have one black phillips screw left and can't figure out where it goes, it probably goes here, under the resevoir:

I got the bike back together today and rode it around a bit with new chain, sprockets, oil and air filter.

 

[bluegopher]

For those of you attempting this, and get to the re-assembly phase, if you have one black phillips screw left and can't figure out where it goes, it probably goes here, under the resevoir:

I got the bike back together today and rode it around a bit with new chain, sprockets, oil and air filter.

Congrats! That was a helluva trip.

 

[RuggedExposure]

Also, I developed a fix for the air filter:
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/how-to-fix-the-lovely-tr650-air-filter-setup.34729/

We'll see how it does. I only have to commute one day this week (tomorrow), so I didn't even bother re-installing my rear rack/tail tidy with the license plate or turn signals since I'll be taking it all part again tomorrow evening to work on fabbing up some top racks.

 

[RuggedExposure]

Today I did close to 100 miles pushing the Terra to full blast, no leaks, no check error lights, nada. Looks like it should be good for the next 6k miles.
Did you get yours back together hasenpfeffer?

 

[hasenpfeffer]

 

[Wadejesu]

When it's time to check valve clearance , I'm selling my TR, any takers?

 

[Highfive]

Nice work, hasenpfeffer!

Couple thoughts on the passing scene:
1) Radiator comes off the mount pretty easy and can hang by the hoses temporarily. That would make getting to the dreaded Phillips head screw (airbox) easier. I like idea of changing it to hex.

2) I believe you turned the crank correct direction (clockwise from right hand side). Most bikes have mags on left-hand side, and it's always counter-clockwise from over there. So, that would be same direction of rotation. You don't want to be turning it the wrong direction for any significant distance. That can cause some problems. Turning the rear wheel (forward) will also show correct rotation of crank.

3) I couldn't tell from your photos, but are there timing marks on the magneto also? Can't remember off top of my head.....from Rugged's pictorial. The cam lobes should be pointing opposite each other (toward front & rear of bike) when measuring the clearance.....not facing each other. I only asked because you thought the gap measurements seemed wrong or odd. You need to be at TDC (top dead center) of the Compression stroke when measuring, not the Exhaust stroke.

I know....I'm late to the party (again). Bravo for your bold work!

HF

 

[hasenpfeffer]

Thanks, HF!

1) Yes, i had to remove the upper screws of the radiator to remove the phillips screw. Still not the easiest thing to get at. The hex is okay, but it's still tight in that area.

2) Thanks for the info.

3) I did have it at TDC when I took the measurements. The post with my measurements has a picture showing how I had the timing marks lined up with the extra holes in the gears upward. I don't know of any other marks that can be seen on the right side. You can see the cam lobes and the extra holes in the gears so you can kinda get close without seeing the marks.

 

[Lewis]

I appreciate this thread. Two thoughts come to mind. Number one: I am going to leave this to a qualified dealer when the time comes. Number two: Why is the valve check intervals so short? I am enjoying my Strada so far, but it would be nice to see some competition in the big thumper street market. I was thinking something like the DRZ 400 SM I used to have with engine characteristics of the TR650. And just for the record, the OEM Metzelers are woefully short on grip, but it seems not a lot is out there. Miss the Sportmaxes the DR had.

 

[Steve Hards]

I picked up my Strada a few days ago and am loving it. After a diet of gutless singles (2xKLR650, 3xF650, DR650, 2xXT660, Pegaso Trail) this thing really has some serious get-up-and-go (and it's smooooth)..a real delight to ride. A shame then that it's future is so uncertain. Anyway, back to the theme of this thread. I have just done my SV1000 shims, I also did one of my F650's shims, so am not scared of these jobs. But, this does seem overly complicated so I will wait until "the day" until I decide what to do. One thing for sure, I would like to offer a BIG THANK YOU for the guys who have stripped their bikes for the cause. Your experience will be invaluable for everyone else. Just a quick note of interest .....Motorcycle Consumer News (a mag I have a lot of respect for) quotes 1.4 hours for a valve check in their Terra review here .....

http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/model_eval/2013JanTR650.pdf

Pardon!!!

 

[Coffee]

... Just a quick note of interest .....Motorcycle Consumer News (a mag I have a lot of respect for) quotes 1.4 hours for a valve check in their Terra review here .....

http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/model_eval/2013JanTR650.pdf...

Welcome!


Great article, thanks. Especially the part about the 22% reduction in time from 0-60 when compared to the Sertao. Additionally it was good to finally find out who was at least partly responsible for the TR650: "Ralf Klied, formerly with BMW’s F1 engine program".

..But I seriously doubt they actually did a valve check to confirm what they were told, 1.4 hours seems far too little.

 

[spiderman]

My dealer also quoted me a similar time but admitted they hadn't actually done one yet. After researching it more thoroughly he agreed it would take much longer. He actually encouraged me to put it off well past the recommended interval.

 

[thekinghimself]

Well, I took a shot at doing my valve inspection/adjustment this week.
Many thanks to the pioneering efforts of RuggedExposure and hasenpfeffer of course.

I do all my own maintenance usually, but this one is a little scary in that the “official shop” manual has so many omissions. (most notably, removing the airbox)

So here we go.

After the seat, front side panels and radiator cover, I started tackling the wiring in the tail section.
As suggested, I took all the relays and electronics off their hangers to allow for some slack. In retrospect, I’m not convinced this was entirely necessary. More on that observation later.
I took a pic (Just after removing the Reg/Rec) of the tail’s original wining so I might have a snowballs chance in hell of getting it back together as pretty as it was.



As reported, everything just pops off except the regulator with its 2 black Phillips heads and washers.

I did however have an issue with the rear turn signals. The license plate light popped out as expected, but the connectors to the turn signals were deep in the tail section and under the taillight.



There they are on the left. (3 wires, Just barley peeking out under the taillight) I ended up taking the whole taillight / rear fender assembly off to get at those connectors. This involved taking off the 2 rear side panels (with maybe 12 fasteners) and finally the two bolts holding the tailight’s metal bracket to the frame.



Here’s the full ugly when I was done with the tail:




The seat latch cable lets the tail section just hang there.

Phew. At this point I must have 70 little torx fasteners to try and remember where they go back.

I must say, after it was all said and done, I’m not totally convinced that this all needed to be done. I think there is enough slack built into wiring harness to allow the sub frame move the few inches in needs to. I’ll tell you this much for sure, there was no strain on the wiring at tail section with the turn signals or license plate light wires. I could have left them be. Your call, but I would leave the wiring dismantling till last, and then only if needed.

Disconnect the fuel pump tube as described in the other posts.

Now remove the front headpipe from the exhaust. As described, this is a bit of a PITA, but 10 minutes of wiggling and it’s off.

Back to the front of the bike.

 

[thekinghimself]

I’d previously removed the emissions crap, so getting at the Phillips head holding the airbox to the frame was a piece of cake.

R-Side, remove the breather tube from the airbox:


L-Side, remove the radiator overflow tank (I left mine hanging) and other various electrical connectors including the oxygen sensor in the header.


The Red shrink wrapped wires are the booster and temp probe. ( Wuka King)

Now, to crack her open. I loosened the L and R bottom sub-frame bolts. These are the ones that will allow the frame to pivot backwards. The upper sub-frame bolts were a bitch! I ended up using an impact wrench to back the bolts out. As you can see, they used a healthy dose of thread lock on them. (the bluish residue)

Anyway, after the deed is done, she starts to relax and open up a little


This is where it “fell” to when the sub-frame let go. Now you can get to some of the connectors underneath the airbox that you couldn’t reach before. (Again with the Wuka King Connectors in RED and the octopus looking part)

After that, a little wiggling and the air-box almost falls right out and you are left with some hard earned room to work.

 

[thekinghimself]

I did not mess with the bracket to the throttle cable as others did, I just took the whole throttle body off. This is my first fuel injected bike and I was a little nervous… but hell… it’s just a friggin carburetor with wires! As per usual, loosen the pipe clamps on the rubber intake manifold, unplug 3 electrical connectors and tug her off.

Easy peasy. I just let it hang off the left side of the bike.


Note: I did end up (eventually) disconnecting the throttle body from the throttle cable if only to plug the fuel hose back into the fuel pump. I found that on my bike, with the tank tilted up like it was, and the fuel hose out of the fuel pump, it weeped gas pretty steadily. As I was doing the service over the course of a few evenings, I plugged the tube back in and laid the throttle body on the tail section. (I wouldn’t think the fuel pump should leak when disconnected from the output hose, but mine did.

Here’s a good pic of the 2 oil lines and breather hose to be concerned about. Unhook the breather hose from the head, unplug the spark plug wires and muscle out the ignition coils.

At this point it was suggested that I should be able to squeeze the oil lines between the frame and the head, but no dice for me. Rather than try and force it, stress hoses and scratch ole red, I decided to just backtrack and drain the friggin oil.

\

You DO NOT want to mix up the two oils lines when you reassemble, so I marked one set and removed them both. The one on the left is just a breather (or return?) , but the one under (and to the right) is just down line of the oil drain thingy. There’s a ½ a cup of oil still left in there. (marked with RED arrow)


With hoses off: (and Cam Chain Tensioner bolt at bottom)



I pulled the hoses out of the front of the frame and the head comes right out.


At this point, it just a straight ahead shim under bucket valve adjust. I stopped taking pics at this point. The manuals pictures and procedures were adequate to walk anyone through the adjust.


But….a few things to note:
· Cam bridge bolts have washers! (Madness!)

It would be easy to loose one down the cam chain tunnel. Be careful.​

​

No need to “lock” the engine at TDC as suggested in the manual.
It’s a single and fallls into TDC easily with no tendancy to move at all. Unless you knucklehead it and rotate the crank with a wrench, you will be fine.

· Cam chain bolt is 17mm and very hard to get a wrench on.
I ended up using a 3/8 to ¼ rachet adapter so I could fit in the smaller wrench. Its not tourqed that tight, its just a tight squeeze getting the wrench in.

· Valve shims measure aprox 8.84 mm.

I was hoping they were 10mm shims like in my KTM 950, but allas… they are smaller. (KTM 10mm shim on the right)


So, I went to the BMW dealer where I bought the bike and taked to the tech there. Surprisingly, they had only done one valve adjust on the Terra, sighting most customers are scared off by the cost of the service. (what alternative they have, I don’t know) I did confirm we are indeed doing the valve adjust the “factory” method by opening her up in the middle.

He mentioned they ordered the shims from Husky for that job. I was hoping the tech knew of any comparable BMW Rotax models use the same size shims, but he didn’t know.
Hard to believe Rotax made the engine for husky with different sized shims, but its possible.

I had walked in thinking these were 8.9 mm shims (a common size), and hoping there was a BMW equivalent shim in stock. No luck and not enough info to determine.

They did dig up a “Moose racing” 8.9mm shim kit, and I decided to take a chance to see if they would fit. $6 for 3 shims.

https://www.denniskirk.com/186612.s...m_medium=cse&gclid=CO6E-oKIgbsCFQGVfgodOl4AXg)

They are a little hard to get in (They must be installed very squarely in the hole), but once in… they rotate freely and remove easily with a magnet on a stick. Finally, a lucky break!

I had to adjust 3 of my valves down one shim size. One exhaust valve was still within limits. The only other thing about the Moose shims, is that they come in non-standard sizes. Husky (KTM and BMW) have sizes up and down by 0.05 mm increments (5 thousandths) . The Moose shims are .04 mm increments.

So, bring your math calculations, doodles and measurements with you to the shop. You’ll have to make a decision between these oddly increments shims. As the min and max specs are only 0.05 mm wide anyway, that 0.01 difference may make the difference between landing in spec or not. I was not prepared for this, but managed to make good guesses and nailed the clearances first time.

Assembly is the reverse of dis assembly.

The only struggle I had was lining up the intake of the throttle body with the boot of the air box. Next time I will lubricate both with some armor all. They should slip together much easier.

The header went on easy, with a little clean up of the exhaust carbon at the joint, and some wd40 lubrication it pretty much slipped right on. (don’t forget the exhaust gasket!)

I managed to get her back together without loosing a fastener, NOR having any left over.

I hope this helps somebody. Happy Turkey day.

 

[hasenpfeffer]

Good job! Finally some concrete info on the shims themselves. Yay!

Do you have your clearance numbers for posterity? How many miles/km on her?

 

[nev..]

Hmm... my bike is only 2000km short of it's 10,000 service. I might have to start checking with the shop to make sure someone else books theirs in for a 10,000km service before me, so they have a practice run at it I know the head wrench there did attend the factory training supplied by the local importer, but that was almost 12 months ago.

 

[thekinghimself]

Good job! Finally some concrete info on the shims themselves. Yay!

Do you have your clearance numbers for posterity? How many miles/km on her?

Measured clearances @7000 miles:
Intake. Exhaust
Cyl #1 .006. .015
Cyl #2 .008. .014

Like I said, only the #1 exhaust was within spec. Going down one shim
Put everything good.