1983 saber valve clearance question, help me!!

So, I bought an 83 that needed a complete carb cleaning due to sitting for two years. Started but ran rough with some backfiring and a bit of noise so I removed the carb to replace 4 bowl gaskets. I am checking the valves as per the Honda manual, which specifies .12mm but all valve clearances but 1 seem way to tight. They are showing about 2 mm of thread over the nut. I did allign the T1-3 with the casing mark and t2-4 as well to check them all. Can't get the .118 feelers to slide in. I tried to loosed one and found that the screw could be turned way out and the valve spring seemed to decompress so I wonder if they are way too tight (so how did it run for the last owner?...he says fine). Question, if you allign the T1-3 with the casing mark and loosen the valve nut and unscrew until the gap between valve stem and adjusting "bolt" is measurable, is this correct or is there another method? Don't want to put it together and then find it's wrong or damage the engine.
Any help will be appreciated. My direct e-mail is pbarbati@trebnet.com Thanks.

 

I believe Honda used some sort of plasic gauge for valve adjustment mine are suppose to be .006 and could only get .004 gauge under tappet hope you get this figured out.

 

The lobes in the cylinder that is being adjusted should be roughly at 10 and 2 for TDC marks to be lined upish, in the ball park.. Just a basic rule of thumb for any engine. Here is a shity pic I found to help explain it. Good luck.
Imageshack - tdcfeelergaugeplacement0qj.jpg

 

The Sabmag group has information on how to do this correctly. The Honda manual is nearly impossible to do accurately.

Dig around on http://wiki.sabmagfaq.org for pictures and detailed instructions. Right now, the site seems to be down, but check later - it is an active site.

 

thanks for valve clearance advice but one short question

Thanks for all of the advice. The last bike I operated on was a cb350 twin.
So, to rehash symptom, ran rough, cleaning carb, checking valve clearances and found that all but one were pushing down on stem even at TDC. Logic tells me that all were way too tight. Should it have even idled with tight valves and is this a contact valve/piston design (will I have bent valves from valve-piston contact?) Thanks again. Hope to return the favour soon.


peter B,
Beeton, Ont.

 

Here is the link:

ValveTrain/ValveClearanceAdjustment - SabMagFAQ

The 'Two Feeler Gauge' method seems to be the preferred way to go about setting the valve lash.

Hope this is of help. Let us know how you make out.