Valve clearance adjustment procedure

[gorana]

Hi,

I'm a happy VTR1000F -2000 owner in Sweden.
I'm about to do some service on my VTR.
Valve clearance adjustment, fail safe mod for the CCT's, arrange for easy carb balancing, TPS, and some more.
I have found so much help and info here, which is highly appreciated.
I will follow Chris detailed guide for the fail safe mod, which I think is great. (I will actually first mount new CCT's, drive the bike a couple of weeks, and then do the mod.)
As it has appr. 24000 kms on the clock, it's time for valve clearance checking and adjustment.
I have read a lot about valve clearance adjustment, but haven't found any detailed guide. I have also read the service manual about adjusting the valves, but I'm not completely sure about one thing.
Is it possible to do both cylinders at the same time, i.e. measuring and removing all shims, to be able to order the ones required?
If possible, this would save a lot of time.
If I would do one cylinder at a time, I would have to order the shims for this, wait for them to arrive, and then do the other cylinder, order shims, etc.
What worries me about doing both together, is to be able to have control of the chain all the time.

Here's a pic of my VTR.

Cheers,
Goran

[Pete.L]

Is it possible to do both cylinders at the same time, i.e. measuring and removing all shims, to be able to order the ones required?
If possible, this would save a lot of time.
If I would do one cylinder at a time, I would have to order the shims for this, wait for them to arrive, and then do the other cylinder, order shims, etc.
What worries me about doing both together, is to be able to have control of the chain all the time.

Yes it is possible.
I would start by removing the cam covers and inspection caps first. Measure all the gaps first by turning the crank over by hand to each cylinders specific timing mark. You only need to remove the cam shafts and measure shims if any of the gaps are out of spec.
If any are then I would get a piece of paper and write down what the gap is for that particular valve (label them, number them what ever works for you)
Then you can remove the cam shaft(s) and measure the shim for that individual valve (front/rear, inlet/outlet).

The valves on these bikes don't often go out of spec so you might not even have to measure any sims. worse case scenario and a couple are out of spec you still get to only make one order and speed up the process.

Pete.l

[tony.mon]

Why not just buy a Hot Cams shim kit? That way you have all the shims you need at hand.

And yes, you can do both. Measure the first cylinder gaps, turn to the second one, measure those gaps, then pull the cams out to measure the shims. Don't mix them up!
Then reinstall, and turn the engine to the correct point for the first cylinder once again and pull those shims out for measuring.

You now know which ones need changing, and to what sizes.

[gorana]

Is it possible to do both cylinders at the same time, i.e. measuring and removing all shims, to be able to order the ones required?
If possible, this would save a lot of time.
If I would do one cylinder at a time, I would have to order the shims for this, wait for them to arrive, and then do the other cylinder, order shims, etc.
What worries me about doing both together, is to be able to have control of the chain all the time.

Yes it is possible.
I would start by removing the cam covers and inspection caps first. Measure all the gaps first by turning the crank over by hand to each cylinders specific timing mark. You only need to remove the cam shafts and measure shims if any of the gaps are out of spec.
If any are then I would get a piece of paper and write down what the gap is for that particular valve (label them, number them what ever works for you)
Then you can remove the cam shaft(s) and measure the shim for that individual valve (front/rear, inlet/outlet).

The valves on these bikes don't often go out of spec so you might not even have to measure any sims. worse case scenario and a couple are out of spec you still get to only make one order and speed up the process.

Pete.l

Hi Pete,
Thanks for the info!
Cheers,
Goran

[gorana]

Why not just buy a Hot Cams shim kit? That way you have all the shims you need at hand.

And yes, you can do both. Measure the first cylinder gaps, turn to the second one, measure those gaps, then pull the cams out to measure the shims. Don't mix them up!
Then reinstall, and turn the engine to the correct point for the first cylinder once again and pull those shims out for measuring.

You now know which ones need changing, and to what sizes.

Hi Tony,
Thanks for the info!
I will need to change alla shims. I was thinking of buying a Hot Cams kit, but the ones I looked at had 3 shims of each size, and many shims to thick for the VTR. I still might have to buy separate shims.
Cheers,
Goran

[tony.mon]

You'll be fine with a kit.
I've never found that I needed more than three of the same size. Remember you can reuse the ones you take out.

[RodneyT]

I, too, am about to adjust the clearances and also undertake the CCT mod on a 1997 VTR of unknown mileage which I believe hasn't run for about 6 years. I got the bike very cheap but its in very tatty condition with clutch and brake master and slave cylinders all gummed up, covered in grunge that will need lots of elbow grease, totally shot fork seals and lots of rust on the fork stanchions. I will slowly do it up as time and money allow.
The motor has good compression and the cam lobes don't look at all worn. The valve clearances were all OK except for the rear inlets which are a bit tight at 0.127mm.

I have a couple of questions which I'm hoping are fairly straightforward:
1) I have a bunch of 9.5mm diameter shims that I bought for my Triumph Sprint years ago and have only had to use once. I see that Honda specifies the shims as 9.48mm diameter. WiIl these fit the VTR?
2) I have bought some new CCTs and am going to do the mod as per sirch435's method (have already done this on my '05 model and it was pretty straightforward) but was wondering if I need to get the motor going to allow the tensioners to settle in before doing the mod or can I turn the motor over for a while on the starter motor with the plugs out once the new CCTs are in and then do the mod?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Here's what the bike looks like when I got it. All the fairings were off, as were the tank, airbox, and carbs. Doesn't show all the accumulated grime, dust, wasp nests, etc but it appears to all be there.

[tony.mon]

1 yes
2 no need to let them settle, just do the mod based on the measurements from the old standard ones then check that you have about a half turn of slack afterwards as per the guide.

[RodneyT]

Many Thanks, Tony. That's today's job sorted, then

[RodneyT]

Hi All
I have developed a spreadsheet to help with working out what shim sizes are required when checking the valve clearances because I don't trust my arithmetic!
Not sure how to send to anyone interested as it appears only pictures can be posted. If anyone wants a copy, send me your email address by PM and I can email it as an attachment to you.
The sheet is protected except for cells where data needs to be entered but there is no password. I've used the clearance ranges from the Haynes manual but the sheet calculates clearance to be at the midpoint of the range if adjustment is needed. Anything greater than 0.03mm from the midpoint (+ or -) is considered outside spec.

This is what it looks like:


Measured clearances are entered in the appropriate cells or, if the clearance is within spec, it will also accept OK. In the examples I've added for front exhausts, the left hand clearance is within spec so 'no change required' is advised. This also displays when OK is entered as the clearance:


If an adjustment is needed, the current shim size is required and you will be prompted to enter this. Once that's entered, the new shim size will calculate. The example below shows the front inlets outside spec and requiring adjustment. The left one still needs the current shim size, whereas the right one has the current shim size entered:


If the suggested size of shim is unavailable, you can enter what size you actually used in the blue shaded cells. In this example, a different size shim has had to be used for the left inlet, while the required size was available for the right inlet:


Once all the required changes have been made, I turn the motor over several times by hand and recheck the clearances. These final values can be entered into the smaller separate table to the right:


I used GoogleDocs to create the spreadsheet but I think I can send as an Excel file as well.

If anyone does want to use it, then let me know.

[sirch345]

That looks very professional Rodney I have to say

When I do the valve clearance check my readings are usually written down on the nearest off-cut of wood/plywood I have lying about in my garage workshop, but then I am a carpenter/joiner

Chris.