Anyone have experience adjusting valve clearances on a VFR? I just bought a 95 with 32K miles and this has never been done.
Never done it on a motorcycle. Have done it on a few dirtbikes. Which were also overhead cam engines. Not hard to do, but time consuming. Also you have to take quite a bit of the bike apart to get to them. Doesn't hurt to try, if all goes well, great! If not, you could always take it in. I'd do mine, if I didn't have the v-tec engine. I personally do as much work as I can, saves me money and gain knowledge about my bike.
First get the Honda Service manual for your bike. One or more cams will need to be removed to change clearances, and the job must be done EXACTLY RIGHT or severe damage could result.
Don't buy a Clymer manual, get a Honda service man. Bad things can happen if you don't know what you're donig. Don't want to scare you. I have the know how. But not alot of time to help. Pvt msg me if needed. Good luck
I did do a Valve job a number of years ago on a Yamy thumper 600 but I think this is out of my leaque. I'll leave her be for now and put it under next years budget.
Yes...lots of it. For someone with moderate mechanic skills, measuring tools and a shop manual, I'd say its pretty 'do-able'. If changing oil is the extent of your experience and the whole 'valve lash' inspection thing is a mystery, maybe let someone else handle it or skip it altogether. There's definitely some snafu's you can get yourself into. Your VFR, the cams being gear driven, is easier than the cam chain models.
there are several how-to threads on here and vfrdiscussion with pics that will be useful. I personally haven't done it, but think I could manage between the how-tos and the fact that I have the Honda service manual. Are you just gonna buy lots of shims or are you gonna wait and measure, then order them?
Wait and buy the shims as you need them. Chances are everything will be in spec and you won't need any. Also, it'd be kinda spendy to cover all the possibilites in advance. You could check ahead with your local Honda dealer, they may have a selection to sell over the counter. Actually, you'd be surprised how often you can swap a couple shims around and make everything come out without needing to buy any at all.
you know SLOVFR and I have chatted about doing the valve check. I believe he is overdue also. He rides a 4th gen and I ride a 5th gen. Are the shims the same cause I'm thinking between the two of us, we could probably get it done without having to buy any or at least very few... Plus, he knows way more about that kind of thing than I do... Although I talked to my stealership about it and their price was pretty reasonable I thought...
On my old Kawasaki's if the shims were tight I just sanded them down on a piece of glass with 600 wet/dry sandpaper and miked them, never had a problem and I got them closer than some availible shim sizes.
I did a valve check on my '98 with a shop manual, having never checked the valves on anything before that. There were parts that had me thinking "oh, crap, I am in over my head" but eventually I percervered. I did have to bring in some assistance at two points. The first was when it came time to remove the throttle bodies, I was really pretty sure I had loosened the screws on all 4 hose clamps, and yet I still couldn't get the assembly off, wait no, that wasn't for the valve check, never mind. The only time I asked for help on the valve check (they were in spec, so I didn't have to make any changes) was just to check how tight the gauge should be when you slide it in and out. As it was my first time, I wanted to make sure I was doing it right. I just had a friend who is more mechanically inclined pop over and check my work before I put it all back together. It took me much longer than a shop would have charged me for, sure, much much longer. But I did it myself, and could do it again in less time. I also had the satisfaction of knowing it was done right.
Oh, there is also a company where you can buy a divided box with all different sized shims. Much cheaper than buying individual parts from Honda and you know you allready have what you need. I am at work, so I don't have my "favorites" with me, but I believe it is the same company that makes the Pair Valve shutoff plates that so many people bought.
My 91 had the valve cover off every 16,000 and valves were always in spec. I did this up to 30,000 and since then it has not been off for an additional 40,000 and it still runs like a clock. I may check the carb balance in the near future but thats about it. Main thing is to ride the bike.
That sounds like a questionable idea in this case. These shims are so small you'd end up sanding your fingerprints off too. Also, if you don't keep the shims perfectly square (pretty difficult if you need to take off a significant amount of material), I would think it would put a 'sideways' force on the tip of the valve stem which just can't be good.
Um, yeah you can say i got experience. Check out this thread I made on this subject: http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/16474-tips-5th-gen-valve-clearance-inspection.html
A wet stone or wet sand paper on glass works! Just make sure you make figure eights and not just back and forth. I did ducati shims like this and they were small compared to those old shim spitting kawi motors which had em the size of nickels. Also have seen people use sand paper and glass on a TZ head/a piece of glass is a usefull thing to have in your shop. I have used a nice piece of concrete to remove the glaze on brake pads, but enough of my top secret agent stuff though.
