Gen 3 valve adjustment / inspection

Just finished inspecting the valve clearance on my 1990. It went very well with only two valves out of specs. The number 3 cylinder exhaust valves were out about .003 too loose. Easy adjustment, hardest part was scraping the old gasket out. I'm curious if other gen 3 owners hear some faint tapping as a normal sound for VFRs. It certainly subsided some after this adjustment, but there's still a small noise, wish I could describe it better. To me it seems normal but just curious of others opinions. So, I'm hoping now to keep the fairings on for a while, gets annoying to take them off all of the time. While I was in there, I fixed an exhaust leak and adjusted my headlights though I'm still unhappy with were they are pointed.

 

My unit has 76,000 clams on it and I checked lash at 70,000 or so. Prior to that that last check was around 30K. None were out of adjustment and I buttoned up everythihg with no issues. Real easy to get to valve covers even front one once you bungee radiator to front fender :smile:. I get no funny noises other than the seductive gear whine> How was it swapping out the shims on this bike? From what I heard its fairly easy as there are no cam chains.

I lived in NJ once, never again, What kinda lift you got? there are no jaws to hold the front wheel huh. I worked on a lift like that once and had a bike almost vibrate off LOL/my head lights are ok. I have some nice H4 bulbs I should install that I bought in Germany but am lazy.

 

That lift is at a small engine place that my buddy owns, not sure of the type. No problems with the bike being stable, it's very sturdy. The shims swap out very easily, just pull the lifter out and it's under there, pulls out easily with a magnet or some may just fall out. Making sure the cam is positioned properly is another issue, but just take your time and follow the manual for no problems. I installed HID headlights, and I love them. Still want more forward lighting though. I'm going to go for some Denali lights. NJ is a good place to be if you're in the right parts, I grew up here.

 

I meant to post the my bike has 23,000 on the odometer if that helps anyone decide when to pop the valve covers off. I don't think I had to do the service really, but I wanted to have a look inside anyway and had all of the parts on hand. I did forget to order the air breather gasket and re used my old one...it didn't look bad anyway. I do wish I replaced the valve cover bolt washer/gaskets but they weren't too bad.