How many have never adjusted the Valves

Bought my 92 last Nov with 47K miles. Checked the valves and one was pretty far out and very noisy, two others were at the loose side of spec. I had them all adjusted when I had the fork seals replaced. So quiet and smooth now.

Blrfl said:

...The thing is that you can't decide not to check based on the fact that only a few ever have to adjust. You could end up one of the few that does and find out about it after an out-of-spec valve has started to cause damage.

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Sure you can. An even better question would be how many ST owners have EVER had any damage caused by a valve being out of spec. My bet is even an out of spec valve at 0 miles would still be the same amount out of spec 100K miles later with no damage (other than valve damage caused by ethanol ).

Either way put me in the don't check em camp.

My mechanic has serviced St's for years and has NEVER had to adjust the valves. He says save your money.

The valve clearance specs on the ST1300 are ridiculously tight. Sure they tend to hold without changing much if at all. The fact of the matter is, the valves could easily be out of spec by the range of the spec with no ill effects.

Ray

The question is, would you bet your engine on it?

--Mark

never checked mine.

If your thought is no damage will be done even if the valves are out of spec then why do you bother to change your oil or check the air in your tires, change your spark plugs or air filter?

Just something for you to think about.

Because those other things have an immediate effect... tires and oil... you can tell when you change them that the bike handles or runs better.

I get 42mpg combined driving and 50 mpg if I keep a steady hand while doing long distance and have since I bought the bike ~90,000 miles ago.

You're supposed to change sparkplugs? Who knew!

TPadden said:

Sure you can. An even better question would be how many ST owners have EVER had any damage caused by a valve being out of spec. My bet is even an out of spec valve at 0 miles would still be the same amount out of spec 100K miles later with no damage (other than valve damage caused by ethanol ).

Either way put me in the don't check em camp.

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I was wondering that myself. I don't recall seeing any posts on that. My st had 2.5k when I got it. It now is around 47k. I have never check either?

Thanks
Randy

Blrfl said:

The question is, would you bet your engine on it?

--Mark

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Obviously several would; the preponderance of repliers it seems . Frankly I'd bet the probability of doing engine damage with valve maintenance is greater than without :bow1:.

Replying from McD's on my way to Big Bend .

Show of hands: How many of you would routinely check and adjust your valves if it were tied to engine performance?

--Mark

OK I admit I need to do this. It is on the list along with replacing my shot thermostat. Oh and I think I have a fork seal leaking again.

I really should wheel the bike over to the main part of my shop so I can work on it.
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A bit of trivia from the old days running bikes at Bonneville. On a couple of production record attempts on Suzuki's and a Motoguzzi we used to loosen the exhaust valve clearance to retard the cam timing and it was worth an increase of a couple of MPH running flat out. It was noisy but went faster - especially on the Guzzi.

Dan

Maybe a better question is...

Who has experienced engine damage or failure because they did not do a regular valve check?

Mike

Blrfl said:

The question is, would you bet your engine on it?

--Mark

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Yup, but I wouldn't let it go further. I check my valve clearances at apx. 32k mile intervals. If a valve was out of spec, I would note by how much and take care of it next time.

Byron said:

If your thought is no damage will be done even if the valves are out of spec then why do you bother to change your oil or check the air in your tires, change your spark plugs or air filter?

Just something for you to think about.

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My thought is, no harm would be done if the valve clearance is not too far out of spec. As an extreme example, this has already been evidenced by a member that had a valve so far out of spec that it was causing abnormalities in the engine's operation and yet no actual damage.

Changing the oil regularly will have a long term effect on engine life.

Maintaining proper air pressure in the tires is a safety issue as well as affecting the life of the tires.

Changing the spark plugs (at some point) will affect the engine performance.

A clean air filter immediately affects engine performance.

A valve slightly out of spec will cause no long term ill effects nor measureably change engine performance.


Ray

You could also ask, how many dealers actually check the valves (vs not checking them and saying that they did) when you take it in for a valve check?

I am glad for this post as Thottle bodies and valve checks have been really bugging me. Now I am not so worried.

If Honda thought checking and ensuring valve clearances were in spec every 16,000 miles wasn't important, why would they put it in the service manual in chapter 3 on regular maintenance along with oil changes?

I must admit, when I purchased the Service Manual I was amazed to find shim changes in chapter 3. That was a little intimidating to me but I learned how to do it and did it. No problem and not hard, it was a process that took time.

Last time was at 50k or so. 3 ex. valves out of spec (tight). Went ahead and brought all ex. valves to the loose side of spec. All intakes were in spec.

RCS said:

If Honda thought checking and ensuring valve clearances were in spec every 16,000 miles wasn't important, why would they put it in the service manual in chapter 3 on regular maintenance along with oil changes?

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To help generate revenue for the dealers. You should have watched that dealer vid before it was restricted.