How often should one have the valves adjusted?

ChucksKLRST

Team Colorado
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The ST1300 valve lash should be check every 16k miles as per the maint manual schedule, and adjusted as needed when the clearances are out of published specifications.
 
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Lance, get a Honda factory manual for your bike. It's the definitive source for routine maintenance on your bike. Well worth the cost, especially if you are unfamiliar with it.
 
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Lance, get a Honda factory manual for your bike. It's the definitive source for routine maintenance on your bike. Well worth the cost, especially if you are unfamiliar with it.
The Honda Service Manual is a basic requirement for anyone who performs their own maintenance, but the Owners Manual also has the Honda recommended maintenance schedule. If an owner is inept at wrenching on his own, the owners manual is all that's needed to keep up with when any scheduled maintenance should be performed.
 
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The Honda Service Manual is a basic requirement for anyone who performs their own maintenance, but the Owners Manual also has the Honda recommended maintenance schedule. If an owner is inept at wrenching on his own, the owners manual is all that's needed to keep up with when any scheduled maintenance should be performed.
+1. I have a 1991 ST1100, no experience with the St1300, thanks for confirming the info, Don B. The owner's manual on ALL my Hondas have contained maintenance schedules...that's 16 from 1962-1991. If you choose to do your own tasks, go for the Honda factory maintenance manual and use an illustrated parts breakdown (online at Bike Bandit, Ron Ayers, Partzilla, etc.) as an additional reference, especially if you need to replace parts. Honda dealerships and many local shops in the Jacksonville area can perform all the periodic maintenance for you. Get it done at the intervals specified in the owners or factory manual. Shop around for prices, and check on line for comments on dealerships.
 

ChucksKLRST

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:plus1:
And get yourself the Honda Manual.
The first check is the most important check. At my first 16k mile check I had five valves out of spec. After that only two shims were changed in over the next 115,000 miles
 
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I don't know this for a fact (no way) but I remember reading somewhere that very few Kawasaki C14 owners ever bother with valve clearance checks after the initial one because it's a real PIA to do, even worse if shim replacement is required ~ supposedly even worse than on our ST's. One reason may be simply because it is an inline 4 transversely mounted (just speculating). It wasn't that difficult on my C10, since it had screw and locknut valve clearance adjustment rather than shim replacement to get the valves in spec.
 
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