Valve clearance question

[Coasty]

I was checking the valves on my recently purchased 05 ST1300A with 33,000 miles on it. The intakes are all good but it seems all the exhaust I can get the .010 feeler gauge in all of them but it's a snug fit. The .009 is a bit of a snug fit as well. My question is should I bother reshimming them since I can get the feeler gauge in? I have no idea if the valves have ever been shimmed or even checked so I'm just trying to get an idea from those who have already crossed this bridge.

Thanks,
Patrick

 

[dduelin]

A clearance check is passed if you can swipe a .009". If you cannot get the .009 to swipe it is time to reshim that one.

 

[Coasty]

Thanks Dave. I may just put it back together and check them again after I put a few more miles on her. I see most guys don't seem to have to re-shim their valves until they are well above 50,000 miles, what's your experience?

 

[dduelin]

Well, some have needed shimming at the first or second check. It's your bike, your call, but if you get a snug .009 then I'd say they meet Honda's spec of .010 +/- .001" so I'd let it ride until the next check.

My experience was one exhaust could not pass .009 at the 4th check at 86,xxx miles. I had four other exhausts holding at .009 so I moved all 5 back to .010" or the high side of .010 so as not to be looking at doing another one for a long time. They have been stable since then, the last check at 145,xxxx.

 

[970mike]

One thing I would do is put some SeaFoam in the tank as you may have some carbon build-up on the valves with that low of mileage on the bike. I would then keep an eye on the clearances on the valves and re-shim later if they move any.

 

[BakerBoy]

The exhaust valves are 'in spec' at 0.010" +/- 0.001". I'd leave them alone, but would definitely check it again in ~15k mi to see how much additional change has occurred.

I found one exhaust valve at the lower end of spec and one inlet valve at the upper end of spec on my bike's first check ... both of those (and one other inlet valve) gap drifted further by the next check, requiring change, so I replaced 3 shims (and adjusted a few others to 'center' the gap in range). On its next check after that, all valves stayed in range.

 

[RCS]

It is too tight a fit if the feeler gauge comes out with more oil on it than when it went in. The feeler gauge fit should not be snug rather it should be able to slide in and out with little friction. That sounds easy but it is actually difficult. Think of it this way. You know what no friction is and you know what snug friction is. Little friction is in between. You should not have to push the feeler gauge in to measure clearance. You should be able to slide the feeler gauge in and out if the clearance is correct.

I do metric not inches because it gives me a more precise measure - my opinion.

Exhaust valves gaps will tend to close over use so they will only get tighter. I have changed at least one shim during each of the three separate times I checked my valves on my bike with the first one at 15,000 miles.

 

[W0QNX]

I'll agree with the "exhaust will get tighter" crowd. No need to change it until it's out of tolerance in my book. I don't change an in tolerance clearance. I prefer the exhaust on the more gap side anyway and if I have to change shims it goes to max gap setting.

 

[Coasty]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the insight. I am absolutely blown away by the mileage you guys have on your bikes, very impressive. I am going to leave them then check them again next winter to see if they've moved at all. I have Seafoam on my list of things to buy and is usually one of the first things I do with any car/truck/bike.

 

[Arturas]

Hi,
My bike have 44 000ml on clock. I've checked valves clearance, all exhaust and 4 inlet valves were too tight. After reshimming 2 exhaust valves have 0.32mm gaps and 2 inlet valves have 0.22mm gaps What will hapen if i leave them alone?