Valve adjustment

Has anyone done there own valve clearence adjustment that may provide some tips.
Did you have to use the mechanics tensioner stopper tool from honda or is there another way?

[code]Valve adjustment not necessary

tankyuong wrote:

[code]Valve adjustment not necessary

Then why is it part of the maintenance schedule?

Hey tankyuong, you dont have to change the belts, oil, or brake pads either!



Of course thats supposing you WANT you bike to break down.

tankyuong is correct! It is not very often a Silverwing will require a valve adjustment. These motors are just built that way. Take your scooter in to the dealer and they will check it out for you if you think you need it. It's good to have it checked...But most of the time, not needed.

My take----checking is one thing (simple) adjusting with shims another...at home. To be on safe side, check at Honda recommeded first time----if ok, forget and ride the bike until time to sell. My Suzuki GS500E, checked at 1200 miles (simple) put bike together, 15 months later, traded at 64,000 miles---running great---I figured cheap bike, warranty=so what. Most people will never ride enough to wear SilverWing out, anyway.

Sorry,, my mistake for not writing 'valve clearance inspection' as stated on page 3-7 of the service manual. As a licensed 'A&P' airframe and powerplant mech for over 30 yrs I trust myself to do my own work. Just like when working on a aircraft you sometimes learn more effecient and quicker ways of preforming a given task. If those who have preformed the inspection have any recommendatons I would like to here what they are. And Tankyuong is wrong if the valve clearence is not within specs. Hopefully the valve clearances will remain with specified tolerances and no adustment would be required. Thanks for the comments.

I did it on my Burgman 400, probably the first member on BUSA to do it on an 07+ 400. It sounds similar to the Silverwing's setup.

As an A&P mechanic, you'll have no problems at all. I don't have nearly your experience and don't consider myself a mechanic...and I did it.

If you have a service manual, it'll walk you through it fairly well. The hardest thing I found was to remove the body panels to get good access. Maybe the SW is better in that respect.

If you have to change a shim to adjust the clearance, it wasn't that hard. I found the oil caused the bucket to be hard to remove. A magnet helped there and lifted the bucket off.

The common practice, from what the shop told me, is to simply bring in the old shim and pay a small fee to exchange for the new shim. You don't need to buy a complete set of shims, nor do you need to buy a "new" shim. It's a simple mathematical exercise to take the clearance you have now and determine what size shim you need to adjust the clearance.

To get access to the bucket, you have to remove the camshaft. I used some bright colored fingernail polish on both the cam chain and the gear tooth to mark where they were supposed to be in case anything slipped.

I made one mistake that cost me days of frustration. It was so simple to avoid also. The Burgman 400 requires you to take the throttle body off to remove the valve cover. I looked at the sensor plugs and thought this should be easy getting them back to the right plugs. The wire harness pretty much helped, and each one seemed different.

Till I went to put it back together. The only two sensor plugs that could be swapped were right next to each other. I swapped them...and then on each time I took things apart to figure out why the bike wouldn't run...I consistently put them back on wrong.

So I'd recommend marking any sensor plugs with a marker to make sure you don't repeat my mistake.

Checking and adjusting the valves is important. If the clearance is too tight, the valve doesn't get enough time to touch the valve seat and cool. That momentary touching provides the necessary cooling to keep from burning valves.

Chris

mrcaveman, I also am an ex aircraft engineer and to be honest am confused at your initial question.

Surely, having the service manual, (not the bikes handbook), would be the first stop to doing this type of work. As with aircraft manuals. The inspection or task is itemised and as you say, after doing the job once you discover where the corners can be cut to reduce time etc.

No different to working on the 'Wing', buy the Maintenance Manual and follow the procedure for valve adjustment. Makes the task of 'fiddling' less frustrating and shows clearly the layout of associated systems.

Thanks for the comments.

DennisB wrote:

tankyuong is correct! It is not very often a Silverwing will require a valve adjustment. These motors are just built that way. Take your scooter in to the dealer and they will check it out for you if you think you need it. It's good to have it checked...But most of the time, not needed.

What would make you think you need one?

Having taken my whole front end off for inspection and 'overhaul and /or replace where required', I think things like valve clearances are something you would inspect 'if you happen to be in that area' whilst checking or replacing or checking something else.

Unless the valves are giving cause for concern they're probably best left alone. The SW seems to have been blessed with a 'sound' engine, requiring little attention. Premature oil and filter changes work for me.