Valve adjustment tips...

Hey guys/gals...

I'm getting ready to check and adjust the valves on my '87 700 F2. I've never done it to this bike and I was wondering how difficult it is? I'm particularly concered with the front head as there is a lot of stuff in the way (i.e. fan, radiator, etc.). The back valve cover looks like a snap.

I will have the carbs removed when I do this so that should help too. I'm familair with adjusting valves on my Kawi inline 4. I've also got both the manuals (factory and Clymer).

Should I just assume my valve cover gaskets and bolt grommets will be shot when I remove them? How about the o-ring on the timing cover?

Anyhow, any advice/tips are helpful. Thanks! :smile:

 

The gasket on the alternator cover can be cut from stock paper gasket with scissors and an office hole-punch.

Use two same sized feeler gauges. Bend them at a 45 degree angle (not 90 - they will break) and tie them to a string so you don't drop them down the engine.

Using both feeler gauges for each valve on a single rocker arm, slip them under the adjustment screws and adjust the screws. Proper friction is hard to describe - but i've heard it feeling like pulling a sheet of paper out from under a phone book. The next size up feeler gauge should not go in, and the next smaller size should slide in with no resistance.

Remove the feeler gauges and rotate the engine until the cams push up on valves causing tension on the screws. Now you can tighten the adjust screw nuts without moving the adjustment screw.

Rotate the engine back to the "adjust" position and check again. If the valves are off - redo.

Once set correctly, rotate the engine so the adjustment screws are at their highest position to allow clearance for the torque wrench.

Repeat for all 8 sets of valves.

Typically, the valve cover gaskets are reusable if they are not hard.

What usually happens is the bolt cover gaskets loose their "squishiness" and need to be replaced. The cheap method is to put garden hose washers under the chrome washers and that will give you a little more squishiness to seal the valve covers.

Don't over-torque the valve cover bolts. They will bottom out and can't be tightened anymore. I don't use the torque rating in the book. I just tighten them until they stop. If you are using the garden hose washer mod, you may not have to tighten them all the way to the stop. The valve cover gasket should not bulge past the edge of the valve cover/head. I like to set mine to bulge just a little bit.

 

Good tips there and thank you!

So far I got the valve covers removed. Boy I was wrong about the rear one being easier to remove. It was a pain. I had to unbolt the sub-frame so I could muscle the frame out of the way just enough to squeeze the cover out. The front cover popped out no problem once the radiator was swung forward and the fan removed.

I'm planning to replace all the gaskets while I'm in there just because of the age of the bike. It's not that much money to do it.

Anyhow I can already tell that having the carbs out of the bike is almost a must even though the book doesn't mention it.

Here are some pictures I thought I would share...

 

OMG - am I a chicken?

This is great info. Thanks for sharing. I've got a 97 and I just turned over 15K and will need to have mine checked at 16K. I REALLY want to do it myself but am scared I will mess it up or it will take me two weeks to get it done. I have a service manual, but for some reason this just scares the @#$%$# out of me.

 

hustond, if you are mechanically inclined you will be fine. I agree, for some people it might be too much, but if you take your time and follow the service manual usually it's not too bad. The other benefit is that you will know your bike that much better.

 

I finished checking/adjusting all the valves today. Amazingly I only had 1 exhaust valve that was out of spec and it was only slightly tight.

I don't know the history of the bike so I'm not sure of the last valve check/adjustment. From the condition I received the bike in lets just say it wasn't "babied". Right now it has just under 48k on it.

I set all the valves on the loose side of the adjustment spec. Shouldn't have to worry about these for another 12k or so.

 

Valve clearances RC24

Hi guys, sorry if this has been posted elsewhere, I've had a good look but cant find it, I've just got a VF750 with a VFR750 engine in it, the engine number starts with RC24, so I believe that means its an '86? I've just cleaned out the carbs, now that its all apart though I'd quite like to do clearances, so finally to the point!

What are the valve clearances for an '86 VFR750?

Cheers!

Mike