Valve clearance adjustment

First of all I highly recommend getting the service manual before trying to perform this service. The manual contains step by step detailed instructions. It tells you every bolt you need to remove. It also includes  torque values for reassembly,  lubrication points and pictures for every step of the procedure. I do not have the time or patience to give detailed instructions on this subject. I would rather be riding. This page is only intended to give you a general idea of what it takes to perform this procedure.

To date I have adjusted the valves once on this bike. It took me about 5 hours. I was in no hurry and actually took time to watch a few music videos and take pictures of the bike in that time. Most of the time involved in this is spent during disassembly and reassembly. It only takes a few minutes to measure the valve clearance and make any adjustments necessary. In my case only one valve required any adjustment. It was the front cylinder exhaust valve and it was off only a thousandth of an inch.

As far as hoses and wires go, you have to drain the coolant because you will have to remove the hoses from the thermostat housing above the front cylinder in order to gain the clearance needed to remove the head cover. You will also have to disconnect the sparkplug wires from the plugs, the fuel line and vent hose as well as a couple others.

In order to place the crankshaft in the proper positions to check the valves you will need to remove the access plugs on the left crankcase cover. You will turn the crank with a ratchet thru one hole while looking for the timing marks thru the other. There are 2 separate timing marks, one each for the front and rear cylinders.

The pictures below will give you an idea of what has to be removed in order to get to the valves.

I may add to this page in the near future but in the meantime if you have any questions just shoot me an e-mail at shadowrider2001@hotmail.com