How critical are valve adjustments

Joined
May 1, 2012
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18
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SoCal
Looking for feedback on St1300 valve adjustments and how often to have it done. On a limited budget now and it is so expensive. Is it critical or just a way for the dealers to make bank? Also checked out a couple of YouTube videos on doing it yourself. Any thoughts on taking that direction? thanks...............
 
Joined
Apr 16, 2010
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Rochester Mn
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2014 FJR ES 2009 WEE
Many have never done it or had it done, some dealers mechanics don't think it needs to be done....YMMV....checking them is much easier than adjusting them.....doesn't cost you anything but time and maybe a gasket if you check them yourself....it won't blow up if you're a few thousand miles past a suggested check and haven't checked them.....ride on, safely.......ff.....BTW, do a search on here of a poll done awhile back on just this topic.
 
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Forgot the most important thing....if there's a Tech Day in your area Bob's your uncle...lots of knowledgeable people to make sure you don't get in too much trouble:D
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2015
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Wasaga Beach, Ont. Canada
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'04 ST1300 Blue STar
I have decided to do mine myself,, and am just getting my act together to get into it next week. I bought a 1/4 drive torque wrench,,, and found my old feeler gauge set. Should I order cover gaskets,,, or wait to see if they are needed. I had a quote from one dealer of $300.cdn plus parts. But I just don't have confidence that I will get as good a job. And that price was with me taking care of all the tupperware,, btw. Maybe I will reconsider the adjusting part,,, but I should be able to do the inspection for sure,,,, Cat'
 

W0QNX

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Looking for feedback on St1300 valve adjustments and how often to have it done. On a limited budget now and it is so expensive. Is it critical or just a way for the dealers to make bank? Also checked out a couple of YouTube videos on doing it yourself. Any thoughts on taking that direction? thanks...............
They are 100% critical. That said they do have a tolerance zone. Myself I see no need to adjust a valve inside of tolerance or even .0005" inches under or .001" inches over. You want to economize then learn to check them yourself. It's not real hard. If you do find one out of tolerance then you may need evaluate if you have the skills to replace the shims.

My first valve required adjustment at 118,000 or so miles. I did check them as needed before that adjustment.
 
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May 14, 2009
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Spokane, WA
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'14 CTX1300
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492
I did mine today for the first time today and believe me I am not mechanically inclined. Fortunately I had help learning how to do it from other local forum members that came to my place. You may want to reach out to the group in your area and see if anyone is willing to show you how to do it the first time around.
 
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So that is pretty interesting, Jeff. With experienced help in mind,,, how did the project go ?? Did you have to change out any shims ?? How long to remove and replace the plastic's. Where the valve cover gaskets ok ?? What is the mileage on your ST now ?? thx,, Cat'
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
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Tacoma, Wa
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2010 ST1300
So that is pretty interesting, Jeff. With experienced help in mind,,, how did the project go ?? Did you have to change out any shims ?? How long to remove and replace the plastic's. Where the valve cover gaskets ok ?? What is the mileage on your ST now ?? thx,, Cat'
Removing the Tupperware takes about 30ish minutes. The check itself 1 hourish. You might want to run through it a couple of times the first go around just for practice. Did mine at 16k and am 2k from needed check. I did not replace the gaskets. Do be careful not to fold a gasket when replacing the covers. You will have a leak.
 

BakerBoy

It's all small stuff.
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Looking for feedback on St1300 valve adjustments and how often to have it done. On a limited budget now and it is so expensive. Is it critical or just a way for the dealers to make bank? Also checked out a couple of YouTube videos on doing it yourself. Any thoughts on taking that direction? thanks...............
There are a number of related threads and discussions that are worth your time. Here's the most recent one: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?151630-poll-on-valve-maintenance
 

RCS

Joined
Jul 3, 2008
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Stamford, CT
There is a YouTube video how to. Figure five hours total for the check and add two hours for any changes, if needed.
 
Joined
May 14, 2009
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55
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Spokane, WA
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'14 CTX1300
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492
I've got around 43k on the bike and it is NTM. The PO did not have a record of when the last check was completed so for peace of mind and a baseline I wanted to do it. The plastic removal took me longer than the 30 minutes noted above. More like a couple hours. I was cleaning a bit as I was going though. Remember, Not Mechanically Inclined at all. I removed the plastic the day prior to the helpers coming over. The gaskets were in good shape. All I had to do was peel off some old gasket sealer and reinstall with some new gasket seal once checks were complete. I also am in the middle of fork seal replacement and unfortunately needed parts that won't be here till Monday so the Tupperware is still off. Honestly I think it should go relatively easy though and think that even for me I should have it back together in an hour or less.
The valve check took about 30m-1hr as there was some instructing going on. All of my valves were within spec so I did not have to do shims. Honestly I am not sure that I personally would do the shims myself. More likely once out of spec I'd probably leave the plastic off and drive to the nearest dealer. I think it is pretty rare they are out of spec but from what I've read on the forum it does happen.

A few helpful things:
-On the forum homepage there is a 'Tupperware Worksheet'. Easy way to keep track of screws, pins, etc.
-In the valve adj forum area there is a 'valve Clearance Worksheet' to keep track of measurements
-Some good UTube videos on removing plastic and doing the valve checks are also available.
-Put a note out on the forum asking for assistance. Forum members are amazing. One of my helpers drove 250+ miles (one way) to help me.

Good luck!
 
Joined
Sep 19, 2008
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423
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CA desert/Montana
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2009 ST1300
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326
Is there a reasonably priced shim kit available? Once I have everything apart, I'd prefer to make any adjustments necessary. I have a shim kit for my KTM950 and an aftermarket one put together for sale was around $80 which was less than 1/3rd of what KTM wanted for the official kit. Something similar for the ST1300?
 
Joined
May 9, 2014
Messages
129
Location
Minneapolis, mn
The first and maybe second scheduled recommended interval are important to check. If they are gonna move, this will be the critical time, from there it's a personal preference if and when you want to check them... For me the second time was at 48K and I bought the bike after the first one as it had 20k on the ticker... One was slightly tighter than spec and 2 were close to the being tight... All 3 were re-shimmed to within spec on the looser side... Remember on the looser side, but within spec, is optimal as a tight or out of spec tight can burn a valve as contact time with the head is lessened and cooling is less...
 

Blrfl

Natural Rider Enhancement
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Fast Blue One
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Is there a reasonably priced shim kit available? ... Something similar for the ST1300?
HotCams has a 7.48mm kit for about $80.

Like John, I have a kit that includes shims, feelers, a micrometer and instructions that I mail around if you'll cover the postage in both directions. George contributed a lot of shims to it, and I'd like to make sure they get used instead of just sitting in my tool chest.

--Mark
 
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