Valve clearances : TL1000R

[furry]

Right this is foosin my brain up, so lets have some input pls...

Doing the valve clearance on my TL1000R, as it's just done 15'000 miles, and it says that the inlet and exhaust clearances should be between these values...

IN 0.10-0.20mm
EX 0.20-0.30mm

Now I'm under the impression, if the limts are exceeded, you replace the shim, and depending on the shim thickness due to wear, you replace it to make the clearance within the range above...

But bugger me, 3 out of the 4 valves on the rear cylinder, are less than those limits, ie like rather than the distance/gap getting bigger due to wear, it's actually got smaller!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I mean I've checked this time and time again, and I ain't new to doing this, did it on my gs500e which had over 30'000 miles, but I must be loosing me marbles...

I'm thinking that, if it's under the ranges shown then that means they are not excessively worn, so NOT to replace them, would that be a good idea, ie if it's not broken, leave it alone???

Let me know what you think!!!

[furry]

Oh when I mean under, example, the EX min limit is 0.20mm, thats 0.08inches (Sorry I use both I'm a bit demented lol blame the tools not me!!!)

Anyway one of the EX's will fit a 0.07in but the biggest gap of the other EX is 0.06in.

For the IN, 0.10mm is 0.04in, one of them, the gap was only 0.03in, the other IN was well within the limits

Well weird, and me feeler gauge is def ok!

[age]

When were they last done.
they could have been wrong from the factory (friday afternoon job)
or if they have been done by a dealer they could have done it wrong.
ring a dealer up and find out if your doing it wrong.

[furry]

Lo m8...

Well Mr Suzuki is pretty much always spot on, It's the first time this has ever been done on this bike, as it only needs doing every 15'000 miles, which is what the bike has just reached...

Good idea about checking with the garage, the main one here "George Whites" not a good idea, most of their mechanics are newbies being trained up lol so getting hold of an "actual" mechanic there who knows what he's doing is a bit hit or miss, but there is anonther garage called Steve Lynham, I've picked his brains a few times and always got good solid answers out of him so think me will be trying his nonse again, but not 9am in the morning please son the coffee still ain't kicked in lad!!! LOL

Other thing to consider is that to change the shims off mine, I gotta take the camshafts off!!! to be honest, looking at it, I don't think there would be enough room to get a torque wrench in there to do back up the cam chain journel bolts, so would have to drop the engine out the bike!!! arse!

I'm under the impression, that when the bike was new, the shims were "oversized" as during the first 600-1000 miles the engine goes though the most wear to bead it in (this is also due to a very thin oil they put in new jap engines) maybe mine was ridden a bit too softly so the shims didn't get worn as much as they should then, and between then and now, have had little wear since either...

I donno just a theory, again will see what the mechanic says tomorrow, hope he can shed some light on it, there was no excessive noise when the engine was running, I could hear the valves nicely ticking over, I mean it is a Vtwin 1000 bound to hear something!!! LOL Anyway fun and games will let you know how I get on!

[Claud 14.7 to 1]

Maybe the valves have seated "better" (worn) and thus the clearences are less on the "other side".

[Grumpy Git]

As a mechanic who has dealt with this problem I can tell you that it is not uncommon for valve clearences to tighten up, this happens as the valves bed into the seats.
HOWEVER, if the clearences are too tight then the shims must be changed or you risk bent valves at best and new head at worst. all clearances must be in the range given.
Shimming is a pain in the arse job but MUST be done carefully. write everything down on paper, preferably in the same layout as the valves are in the head making clear which side is which.
Measure all the clearences at least 3 times to be sure. Then take out the shims one at a time and measure them (they do wear and the size marked on them can be out). Then work out the size of the shims you need to get the propper clearences.
Once you have put in the correct size shims and reassembled everything spin the engine over a few times on the starter WITHOUT starting the engine ie with the cutout switched off. Then measure all the clearences again. after a pause for much swearing you will probably find some of teh clearences are wrong and you have to go back and repeat previouse steps and start swaping shims again, repeating until ALL the clerences are within tollerance.
Like I said, pain in the arse but at least it doesnt have to be done very often.

This is why I only have bikes with adjustable tappets, they have to be serviced more often but are far more straight forward, especially if you dont have any other transport to go and get the shims whilst your engine is in bits!

[furry]

Ah hah!

Well me being a lazy tosser I only just woke up, couldn't sleep last night lol...

I found the shims on my 500 really easy, just used a shim tool to hold the bucket down, and then pop the shim out, but on this bike foose me I gotta take the cams all off arse!!!

Anyway I still ain't even got round to looking at the front cylinder yet, but thats all far more open so if anything needs doing to that one, it will be far less of a problem

Also I know suzuki bolts are usually tightened past their tensile limit inside engines, so guess I'll have to buy some new cam journel bolts too, arse arse arse lol think I'll replace em with cap heads cos no way is there enough room to get a torque wrench to the rear cylinder exhaust bolts with a size 10 socket on!!! however my 1/4 with a 5mm hex on should fit in there nicely

Well I'm potting about on my 400 which still just about runs so im ok for wheels, but this is the last thing I need to do on this TL so be nice to get it all done and out the way!

[furry]

Done a bit more on this today, took both the cams off the rear cylinder, and worked out the new shim sizes...

went down to george whites, and bugger me they got every size except the one I'm after, so gotta wait till next week now ;( sobs

[furry]

Anyway All done put the engine all back together, only thing I need to do now is to Mod the clutch (to stop it slipping under the shear power of the V Twin) and then I think it's pretty much sorted (Oh gotta do the brakes too, but thats easy enough!)

I reckon should be done just before xmas but a major service like that is only every 15000 miles so might as well take the time to get it right