Preventative maintenance suggestions

[Barriebill]

Hello to everyone, hope you are all well and safe. My 2005 ST1300 has 47,000 and never checked for valve clearances to my knowledge. Except for minor work I have local Honda dealership due most work during off season and storage as well. Coolant,clutch,brake and rear diff. fluids/oils replaced this year. Since I am paying significantly for access to valve clearance check, what other items could be addressed while bike is opened in this area . Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Barriebill]

Hello to everyone, hope you are all well and safe. My 2005 ST1300 has 47,000 and never checked for valve clearances to my knowledge. Except for minor work I have local Honda dealership due most work during off season and storage as well. Coolant,clutch,brake and rear diff. fluids/oils replaced this year. Since I am paying significantly for access to valve clearance check, what other items could be addressed while bike is opened in this area . Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

47,000 kms sorry

 

[Erdoc48]

I don’t know how much work to access the valve train on the 1300, but I would assume not too much more than the 1100. To check them, likely if you can, do it yourself as it’s easy once the valve covers are off. There’s really no other maintenance I could imagine since all your fluid changes are done and there’s really nothing else in the area of the valve cover that needs maintenance. 47K kilometers is about 30K miles, so it really shouldn’t need much of anything.

 

[Kevcules]

Checking the valves isn't the hard part, changing them is a different story I hear. I've got 46,000 kms on mine also and I'm going to check my valves again this winter. I had two intakes at the tight min range 2 years ago.
I would try to access all the rad hoses and snug the clamps up. You will have to remove the rad for good access to most of them.
Remove the spark plugs to inspect them. I use iridium.
If your air filter was never replaced yet, I would run your gas tank down to 1 bar, then you can remove the gas tank without fear of spilling fuel everywhere and inspect/change the filter. You can access a few more rad hoses from the top after the tank is removed.
You should replace the front fork fluid if you haven't yet. The forks are easy to service. Good luck....

 

[Barriebill]

Thanks for suggestions , will see how valve clearances check shows , trying to get few more weeks before winter arrives

 

[klaproth]

I think a lot of the fine folks here are advising you to do all your own work, which may not be plausible OR possible. Yes, the ST is not that bad to work on, but not everyone WANTS to do their own work.

What I read is, is there anything important to be done WHILE the dealer has the plastic off- which may or may not be a moot point. Flat rate amounts for each separate job MAY include taking off and replacing the fairing....a good thing to ask.

One way to save some money ( talk it over with the Stealer beforehand) is to take the plastic off before you take it in, and make it easy on them. Removing the plastic is time consuming, and tedious, but not that hard.

Good luck on it!

 

[Bmacleod]

When you take the valve covers off, I would suggest new washer/gaskets under the cover bolts. These have the largest effect on valve cover sealing and occasionally pop up as causes of leaks in the forums. With the years you have on yours, its cheap insurance to change them out.

 

[jmcarruth]

101k miles on a 2003 ST1300A. Never touched the valves. .Runs fine, idles fine. I am leaving it alone.

 

[mcarver351]

Hopefully your tech is not charging you more than an hour to do your valve inspection. You can save some money reducing the labor time by removing the plastic yourself. Make sure to document where each bolt came from because there are four different sizes holding on the plastic. Just go slow so you don't break anything and follow the youtube video instructions if you don't have a service manual. If the valves have to be adjusted, than you are looking closer to 3 hours especially if the right side needs adjustment. This is due to the difficulty in getting to the cam tensioner screw on that side. Be sure your mechanic documents the clearances on the work order for you so you have the information. It also keeps the mechanic honest when you ask for documentation. The nice thing about the ST1300 is you can drive the bike without any of the plastic. I drove my bike this way for a week after completing a major service, while I put myself through some extreme slow speed and high speed cornering drills. If I drop it in this condition, I don't have to buy any new plastic. I did put the seat on it though I also attached a valve inspection worksheet for you to record your measurements.

 

[Kevcules]

Hopefully your tech is not charging you more than an hour to do your valve inspection. You can save some money reducing the labor time by removing the plastic yourself. Make sure to document where each bolt came from because there are four different sizes holding on the plastic. Just go slow so you don't break anything and follow the youtube video instructions if you don't have a service manual. If the valves have to be adjusted, than you are looking closer to 3 hours especially if the right side needs adjustment. This is due to the difficulty in getting to the cam tensioner screw on that side. Be sure your mechanic documents the clearances on the work order for you so you have the information. It also keeps the mechanic honest when you ask for documentation. The nice thing about the ST1300 is you can drive the bike without any of the plastic. I drove my bike this way for a week after completing a major service, while I put myself through some extreme slow speed and high speed cornering drills. If I drop it in this condition, I don't have to buy any new plastic. I did put the seat on it though I also attached a valve inspection worksheet for you to record your measurements.

Good advice.....and those charts are real nice!

 

[Sadlsor]

SWEET chart!
Now I gotta go rack up some miles for my 2008's first valve check.
(Yes you read that right - I robbed the cradle.)

 

[rogo]

Make sure to document where each bolt came from because there are four different sizes holding on the plastic.

There is a Tupperware worksheet I came across at a nice tech event hosted by Vinny in Dahlonega years ago. It illustrates where each fastener goes. I’ve removed the plastics enough times that I no longer use the worksheet.
www.ST1300.My427SC.com

 

[ReSTored]

...............Since I am paying significantly for access to valve clearance check.......................Thanks

I don't know how long you plan to keep your bike, but if the clearances are such that one or more shims have to be changed out then the cost of the service goes up significantly. While everything is open tell the dealer that you want all clearances to be adjusted to be in the 50% - 75% of the range and, as above, ask for the before and after worksheets for your records. Get them to write in the shim number (thickness) as well. Incremental cost of this won't be that much vs. just adjusting 3 or 4, but you'll probably never have to adjust them again.

 

[caldercay]

I no longer use the worksheet.
www.ST1300.My427SC.com

That URL doesn't resolve, but I did find this in this site ... it's this it??

Article [13] - ST1300 - Valve Clearance Worksheet | ST1300 Articles

I made up this worksheet to help me keep my valve clearances straight. The idea is to record the actual valve clearance in the little white box for each valve. Also at the bottom is a real quick review on the procedure. Here is what it looks like (low res) And here is a link...

www.st-owners.com

 

[rogo]

That URL doesn't resolve, but I did find this in this site ... it's this it??

hopefully these pics of copies are coherent.
I posted the address listed on the bottom of page.

 

[caldercay]

hopefully these pics of copies are coherent.
I posted the address listed on the bottom of page.

Perfect ... thanks!!

 

[mcarver351]

hopefully these pics of copies are coherent.
I posted the address listed on the bottom of page.

That is sweet! Thank you rogo. I had to keep going back and forth to Partzilla's website, look at the full size diagram, identify the part, click on it and look at the picture to determine the right bolt or plastic fastener. It's crazy how many different sizes Honda used to assemble the plastic on the ST1300. It doesn't make sense to me but maybe that is why the new Honda Goldwing costs 30K

 

[ESB]

So, U are NOT the original owner ?
47,000 KM ?? Shouldnt need valve checks or adjustments
170,000 miles on my '07 ST13 - NO trouble with the
Valves or anything in the top end.
Same mileage & performance as when new.
Good Luck.

 

[mcarver351]

So, U are NOT the original owner ?
47,000 KM ?? Shouldnt need valve checks or adjustments
170,000 miles on my '07 ST13 - NO trouble with the
Valves or anything in the top end.
Same mileage & performance as when new.
Good Luck.

We had twenty bikes in our fleet that were required to be maintained by the factory manual specifications. Some of the 1300's needed adjustment and some did not. Most of the adjustments were on the exhaust side for some reason but it all depends on how the factory sets each individual bike. I would never suggest someone avoid the recommended inspections. Burnt valves or possibly grenading an engine is a lot more expensive than taking off two valve covers, removing two bolts in the crankcase cover, and purchasing a long feeler gauge. By the way, these were fleet mechanics that would do anything to get out of work and were not compensated for doing additional work that was not necessary. I figured someone was going to throw the argument that the mechanics were just trying to make additional money.

 

[Barriebill]

So, U are NOT the original owner ?
47,000 KM ?? Shouldnt need valve checks or adjustments
170,000 miles on my '07 ST13 - NO trouble with the
Valves or anything in the top end.
Same mileage & performance as when new.
Good Luck.

So, U are NOT the original owner ?
47,000 KM ?? Shouldnt need valve checks or adjustments
170,000 miles on my '07 ST13 - NO trouble with the
Valves or anything in the top end.
Same mileage & performance as when new.
Good Luck.

No I'm not original owner , purchased bike with 36,000 kms , no service records