How many have never adjusted the Valves

[SoCal Rider]

A valve is a device that regulates the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways.

that was too funny,,, made my afternoon,,, thanks

 

[Harpo]

I guess those who've not done them didn't care about keeping up the warranty?

 

[TPadden]

I guess those who've not done them didn't care about keeping up the warranty?

Guess those who've done them had to use the warranty?

 

[jdaniels]

My motorcycle has valves?:

 

[Tor]

My motorcycle has valves?:

 

[Harpo]

Just did my 16K service .. valves all OK. Three exhaust valves have dropped to the 22mm minimum indicating they've lapped down and that I don't have any carbon building up on the seats. I attribute that to Marvel Mystery Oil; same thing in my Drifter. Next time I may need to get some shims. Very nice valve setup in the ST .. little to get out of adjustment with direct cam actuation.

 

[TPadden]

Just did my 16K service .. valves all OK. Three exhaust valves have dropped to the 22mm minimum indicating they've lapped down.........

Did you check them earlier???? It may just indicate the 3 exhaust valves were at the 22 mm from the factory - much more likely IMO .

 

[Blrfl]

I'm with Tom.

--Mark

 

[Harpo]

This was the first time checking for me .. I rather doubt they'd ship out an engine with the exhaust valves at the lower minimum since that leave absolutely no room for them to seat any further without remaining a little bit open during compression. That would burn the valves in no time.

I rather suspect they require their inspectors see the exhaust valves set at .25mm to .28mm and no less when the engines leave the factory.

At any rate, next time I'll know which valves to really scrutinize for further seating.

 

[Figs_ST]

Just shy of 24K miles on my 06 ST; never had them checked. I have changed tires and oil regularly and ridden it like a sane person. I know that eventually I'll need to do it.

 

[Harpo]

After buttoning it all up I discovered an oil leak form the valve cover .. seems I was supposed to use sealant on the rubber seals. Unbuttoned it all again and sealed them up right 'n' tight. Used Permatex high temp orange silicone sealant. The Honda sealant was so thin it was almost invisible .. so I didn't know it was there.

Those long bolts holding on the valve cover are a pain to get back into their threaded bosses inside the heads .. no guidance for them. You just have to keep wiggling them around until they find their threaded holes and start!

 

[dduelin]

We really only need to put a dab of sealant on the semi-circular parts on the front of the head and installing the rest of it dry. That's what Honda recommends. I sealed mine once all around and ended up buying new rubber gaskets the next time because the gasket ridges that run all the way around it become "filled up" with sealant and won't seal the next time without being glued down.

 

[Blrfl]

+1. The rest of the gasket has ridges that seal up when they touch the casing and are under pressure from the bolts. I guess the semicircles don't work out with that, or it's hard to make it work around the sharp corners at the edges, hence the sealant.

--Mark

 

[Harpo]

Well, I'll be replacing he rubber gaskets next time, then. The upper part of that gasket can get out of position when you seat the valve cover because you have to pull the cover up over the camchain sprocket before seating it. I was very careful this time to make sure that didn't happen. The bike's not losing a drop of oil anymore and that's the way I like it. The orange Permatex is proof positive that I did my valve inspection and I have dated photos showing me inside it.

 

[randy the x man]

Well it is 2012 now. I have 87k on the 05 st. Still have not checked the valves. Just came back to this thread to see if anything new. I did see the new vids on the valve adjust process. I was thinking of taking it in to the dealer to have it done. But seems still a lot who have never done it. A few have had to adjust the valves. But I have never seen a post about anyone who ever had and valve problems? HMMMMM? Anybody had any valve problems?

 

[nhdiesel]

I checked my '06 at 49,500 miles and 2 exhaust valves were .001" too tight, while all others were right at min spec, .009". Checking valves is easy...why take chances? Adjusting takes more labor.

Jim

 

[BakerBoy]

Mine at 17k miles has two valve clearances at limits... I left them alone.

At 34k miles those same two valve clearances continued to diverge, plus another was found outside specs: one exhaust clearance became 0.0015" under minimum spec, 0.0025" under nominal. Two intake clearances each became 0.0005" above maximum spec, 0.0015" above nominal. I corrected them, adjusting to get clearances near nominal.

At 46k miles, I rechecked and found a different inlet valve was at minimum clearance limit. I left it alone.

So if I had never checked nor adjusted the clearances, would there be problems? Possibly not. But if I took it to a hot climate, and rode it hard, chances are higher that there could be an issue with damaging the exhaust valves/seats...especially if there was some pre-detonation of the fuel (burning valve seats).

Why chance it?

 

[DaveST]

This has been bugging me about the ST1300.
I believe spec is .010" ex. That's a pretty hefty gap compared to bikes I've had in the past.
We check at stone cold because that's the tightest.
About the same as my cruiser but those were screw adjustment.
I remember spec of .003" both in and ex. on an old Suzuki GS and .003" in. and .005 ex. on an old Honda CB. Both OHC air cooled motors. Leaded gas days. Valve seats were crap. Valves were crap. That's 1/2 the ex. gap of the ST water cooled motor, hardened valves, hardened seats, cams, etc.
How tight would be too tight to burn an exhaust valve on a ST? Valve will be closed with any gap, correct? Closes tight it doesn't burn the valve.
I've measured them 3 times at 15k, 30k, and 45k on my bike and they have not opened up a bit. I mean nothing as close as I can measure.
I know many folks run the motor harder than I do but mine rarely exceeds 6000 RPM when I ride it. Not getting taxed by any means.
I would bet it would take ++300,000 miles to be tight enough to cause an issue even if it was .001" tight. IMO.

 

[George]

Dave, STone cold is the loosest as the materials "grow" (expand) under heat. That's why we worry more about tight than loose when measuring.

 

[nhdiesel]

Yup, what George said. And intake valves have cool incoming air to cool them slightly, while exhaust valves deal with hot air flowing past them, which is why exhaust valves have to have a larger cold gap than intake valves. As for comparing gaps with other engines, there are lots of variables such as valve seat design and material; valve material; head design; speeds the engine turns; timing, fuel, etc. that all affect what the hot gap will end up being.

When I checked my valves, if they were all .001 too loose, I probably would have ignored them until the next check...except for a tiny increase in engine noise, .001 loose wouldn't have had a negative effect. But too tight can have a negative effect under the right conditions. Its highly doubtful .001 tight would hurt anything...my bike has been running great until I parked it last fall. But .001 tight now could equal .002 tight by the next check. Since I was someone who had little maintenance time in the summer, and preferred riding to wrenching, it would most likely be another 25k miles before I checked my valves again, so I wanted to make sure they were right on the money now.