18k Valve adjustment.

[DemonDuck]

Ok I have a question..... How close to the 18k mile service should I have this done? I dont want to mess up my warranty but then I dont anticipate having to use the warranty either. The only reason I am even questioning this is that the service will be over $1k.... sooooo I will have to park the bike for a bit if I want to do it at 18k. I also need to check with Cyclewerkz to see how much they will charge to do it or if they even will do it.

[Striple]

The first valve clearance adjustment past break-in tends to be the most important one, so I would stick reasonably close to the manufacturer's schedule. I just did one for the C-14 back in March. Depending on the bike, it can be a good bit of work (i.e., it is quite time-consuming), but it isn't particularly difficult, and it teaches you a lot about the internal anatomy of your bike. Plus, if you do it yourself, you can be sure that the valve clearances are not only in spec, but that they are as close to ideal as possible. Not to mention, you save a significant amount of money, and you end up with detailed records of your valve clearances that you can use for future references (see attached record of my recent C-14 valve clearance adjustment).

[shilka99]

And theres nothing wrong with doing the valve adjust yourself, then taking the bike to a dealership to finish the rest of the inspection to maintain your warranty. I just did that with Eurosport. I did the oil change (for a third time) then took the bike in for its 600 mile service. With no oil change they just changed a few things in the ECU, general inspection and chain lube for $90 instead of $200+. But most importantly they stamped my service chart for warranty compliance.

[DemonDuck]

If I decide to try to do this myself ..... who wants to help? lol.

[shilka99]

Who else needs a valve adjust done? I'm doing my Ducati right now in 30 minute steps (in between chasing kids). Its very different from an inline 4 but the principles are similar. If a few people needed the work done it would be a great maintenance day, although sometimes a trip to the dealership is necessary when different size shims are needed.

[Striple]

Yeah, I would strongly recommend for each person to order a kit of the appropriate size shims beforehand. Stealerships rarely store a bunch of different sizes (and when they do, it is mostly for usage by their own maintenance department), and OEM shims are not cheap!

A valve adjustment on the C-14 is a full weekend job, or at best a very long day if you have everything you need and have done it a few times.

[U-Turn]

Maintenance day?
I need to do that for the Triumph.

[DemonDuck]

Is it just one kit for the bike?

[Striple]

Is it just one kit for the bike?

Yep. Just make sure that you get the correct kit with the proper sizes for your bike. A complete kit is about $70-ish, whereas individual OEM shims tend to run around $10+ each.

[shilka99]

How can you get the correct sizes before you measure the clearances?
I have a shim kit for the VFR and I'm just finding that I need some alternate sizes for the Ducati. Damn Ducati has only 2 cylinders but 16 shims.
What diameter are the shims for the BMW & Triumph?

[Striple]

Shaun, you can get kits with shims of the proper diameter (which you can do beforehand) that includes multiples of each shim thickness. The only problem that you might run into is that you may need many shims of the same thickness, in which case a single kit may not suffice. I used two kits for the C-14 job.

[shilka99]

I thought when you said correct size you meant height. I'm hoping that BMW and Triumph use the same diameter as Honda as I already have 2 shim kits for my Honda we could pick from if we do move forward with a maintenance day.

[111]

I am interested. I have no idea what to do and would really like the learning experience.

I am over 5K on my bike. If I don't end up doing it on my bike I wouldn't mind helping out.

[milesmiles]

How long does it take to do? And is this something on a maintenance day that we could get done on a triumph? Saying I'm over due is an understatement

[shilka99]

Its a full day job, more if you need to get parts like shims or gaskets. I've been able to do a ZX-7 in about 5 hours, but that was after some practise. The same with the 2-valve ducati, first time took 2 days, last time I did it took 4 hours.
Having only 12 valves will speed things up a little for you but the biggest advantage would be in doing more than one of the same bike at a time. And always have a haynes manual by your side.

ps what size are triumph shims? I have a supply of 7.48mm diameter Honda shims but I cant find anything that confirms what size shims the triumph uses

[milesmiles]

I have no clue. While this is something I would love to learn how to do, having my bike laid up and worrying that I will screw something up worries me.

[shilka99]

Sounds like your next step is to find a haynes manual, find out what special tools are needed, then find a shim kit. And all this would be easier if you could find someone else with the same bike who also wanted to do this work.

[WillK675]

Already done mine. And I have the Triumph Factory repair manual, with all the specs, etc. You will need to get a new gasket as well. When I had cyclewerkz do mine, I got the parts from Eurosport for them.

[milesmiles]

Will I may borrow your manual. I don't have the money to get them adjusted by a shop and I actually enjoy working on the bike and learning

[WillK675]

Will I may borrow your manual. I don't have the money to get them adjusted by a shop and I actually enjoy working on the bike and learning

Bring a thumb drive with you to the next bike night. I've got it in PDF format.

[U-Turn]

Sounds like your next step is to find a haynes manual, find out what special tools are needed, then find a shim kit. And all this would be easier if you could find someone else with the same bike who also wanted to do this work.

Not sure how different the 955 is vs the 675.
I think I have a factory manual around here someplace, I haven't seen it in a while though.
I need to do this. It's never been done, and > 48k on the bike.

[Striple]

I strongly recommend doing your homework before attempting this, especially if you're not prepared to have your bike out of commission for a few days, while you're waiting on parts to arrive at the stealership. Its easy to be 60% into the job, then realizing that there is some gasket, seal, or whatever that should be replaced in the process, which then usually has to be special ordered (Murphy's Law), etc.

Read the factory manual, and make your own notes as you read through the process. Then run searches on all of the brand-specific forums to look for potential trouble spots that people have run into. Have all the parts and multiple shim kits at hand (plus a caliper that is both accurate and precise), and schedule the job for a Saturday (or better yet a Friday). That way, you can extend the job into the following day(s) if necessary, without having to reconfigure the logistics of the upcoming work week, just because you were missing a shim or two in the middle of the job.

[Grinner]

Or just save the hassle and drop it off at cycle werkz and Scott will make sure all the problems are taken care of and the job is done right. There are just some points at which even I just say phuc it cause I need the spare time this is gonna take and dont want to deal with the kind of stresses wrenchin can cause.

[nitzer]

Or just save the hassle and drop it off at cycle werkz and Scott will make sure all the problems are taken care of and the job is done right. There are just some points at which even I just say phuc it cause I need the spare time this is gonna take and dont want to deal with the kind of stresses wrenchin can cause.

Laaaaazy....lol

[Grinner]

Or just save the hassle and drop it off at cycle werkz and Scott will make sure all the problems are taken care of and the job is done right. There are just some points at which even I just say phuc it cause I need the spare time this is gonna take and dont want to deal with the kind of stresses wrenchin can cause.

Laaaaazy....lol

Lazy my azzz! There is only so much time in the day and I have learned there is utter happiness in letting someone else deal with the frustration of something so that I can work on something else less frustrating.
Also, it sometimes ends up being a ton cheaper in the end. Just ask Fixx, he can back me up on this! LOL!