poll on valve maintenance

BakerBoy

It's all small stuff.
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
5,454
Location
Golden, Colorado
STOC #
1408
TRUE I do my own inspections and adjustments.

FALSE I let the dealer do my valve setups.

N/A I have never done or had my valves done.

TRUE I see that they are done every 16,000 miles.

FALSE I don't take care of the valves until it is running rough, or the bike needs other service.

N/A The previous owner told me that it is not really needed.

FALSE I found the STOC valve videos
TRUE and spreadsheets very helpful.
I bought my bike new; dealer has only seen it for recalls; I do all my bike's service.

Results of valve checks:
1st check: valves were "in spec" with four inlet valves and two exhaust valves at/near limits. Chose to leave it alone and check again n 16000 miles
2nd check: 3 valves were out of spec. Changed shims on those 3, plus a fourth shim to center an at-limit valve clearance.
3rd check: all were in spec; 1 inlet near limits
4th check: due shortly.

Moral of the story... valves change. For me, peace of mind is valuable.
 
Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
547
Location
Williamsport, PA
STOC #
4138
That's a good question and I would have to look in my kit. It may vary from bike to bike depending on slight variances in the tooling used to build the bike. And thanks for the lead. That price is $5 less per shim than Honda wants.

1.90mm to 2.00mm was the range I had on the last ST1100. I saw some 1.92mm and 1.98mm were installed at the factory.
 
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KTD1911

R.I.P. - 2020/10/13
Rest In Peace
Joined
Jul 14, 2007
Messages
617
Location
Paducah ky
Bike
2018 can am spyderf3
I have 55k miles on mine without valve check and local dealer has informed Me until I notice it running different I don't need to check them.
 
Joined
May 3, 2011
Messages
318
Location
Rochester, NY
Bike
2008 ST1300
STOC #
8441
...local dealer has informed Me until I notice it running different I don't need to check them.
That's not any more true then a mechanic I know who says not to bother checking because if any go out of spec it's the least of your engine problems. Performance changes are subtle and would come on so slowly that they would go unnoticed. By the time you do, damage would happen.
 
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Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
547
Location
Williamsport, PA
STOC #
4138
That's not any more true then a mechanic I know who says not to bother checking because if any go out of spec it's the least of your engine problems. Performance changes are subtle and would come on so slowly that they would go unnoticed. By the time you do, damage would happen.
Ditto that.
When I changed six that were out of spec the bike ran a whole lot better/stronger.
Just replacing a slightly dirty air filter can make you feel a difference in performance.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
155
Location
Marlborough, MA, USA
Bike
2006 ST1300
I am looking forward to performing my first valve check. My 2006 has 18K on it. I wasn't prepared to do the check when I ticked past 16K last summer, but now I am adept at removing all the plastics and have a feeler gauge on the way, so I'm ready to take a look. If the valves are out, I'll order a shim kit and get on it (with some consulting help as necessary from all our friends here.)

Joel
 
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