Hello,
Should I get his costly maintenance item done?
Thanks in advance
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Hello,
Should I get his costly maintenance item done?
Thanks in advance
I would PM " Spyderjockey " ..... He has over 125,000 mi. on His V-twin ...... I think had had them looked at once but not adjusted ............ I'm not kidding ...... Mike :thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Crisis
From your friendly site beta tester.
The subject has come up from time to time. I have owned four assorted 998's.
I faithfully did the valves at 14,000 on my 08. No adjustment needed. $800 spent for nothing.
I waited until 28,000 on my 2010. No adjustment needed. $800 spent for nothing. They botched the job. Did not replace gasket. It leaked over the winter. They replaced on their dime in the spring.
My 2011 is NOT going to get any valve adjustments until around 50,000--if then.
My 2014 is good to go--valve adjustments no longer required.
I am sure that their are dealers that charge for the service and do not even put a wrench to the machine.
It's your money. I do not recommend the valve adjustment service based on 14K intervals. :yes::yes:
First: How many miles are on your bike?
We almost never had anyone report that the valves needed adjusting at 14,000 miles. nojoke
Lots of folks seem to let them go to at least 30,000 miles., before having them checked.
But it's your bike, and your money :shocked:.
I paid for the service at 14,000 miles on my 2010 RT but I truly do not believe that the dealer did anything other than charge me a bunch of money. I had that bike for 59,000 miles and never checked them again.
Thank you all. I'll skip the adjustment.
The members on this site are awesome!
:bowdown:
:clap::clap::clap:Your welcome from all 3 of us :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflb lack:.............. Mike :thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Crisis
I'm late to the party...I am with the not now group. Shims under buckets are much harder to adjust given their location but on the other hand do not need adjusting as often... :thumbup:
I had it done on my 2010 RT for the first 3 years ,I was putting on 12-15 k miles a year and bought a service plan that covered it. Never needed valve adjustment.
Pulled mine apart to check this past winter with 13k on it. The valves were still well within specs. It's hit or miss. Fyi, tight valves typically cause hard starts....
Turns right over every time. ThanksQuote:
Originally Posted by DrewNJ
Honestly, I wouldn't know what to do if it weren't all of you guys who have already gone through and tried and then come back to let us know. I truly and honestly appreciate each and every one of you and THANK each and every one of you who are helping out noobies like myself!!!. YAY for you guys/gals!
:agree::bowdown:Quote:
Originally Posted by tecnodog7
I just hit 54,000 miles on my 2012 998 V-Twin today, and have never had the valves checked or adjusted. From my understanding, if valves with solid lifters need adjustment, then parts are usuually worn, bent, and need replacement, not just adjustment. My motto is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The cost of adjusting valves is worth waiting for my Spyder to at least start running badly. But truthfully, its running better the more miles I put on it. Its just getting loosened up. If valves need adjusting, due to parts wear, they will be loose, not tight, and will sound like a sewing machine. Now if the Spyder is not stock, and has been modified for racing, than its a different gamble to not check the valves occasionally. The " Hype" for the 1330 with Hydraulic lifters is that the valves will never need adjusting. But if you look at a diagram drawing of hydraulic lifters vs. solid lifters, then you will see the lifter buckets need to keep filling and emptying of lubercating oil, which causes more friction than solid lifters do , so the oil should last as long in the 998s as in the 1330s, even considering the higher RPMs in the 998s. Thst's my story, and I'm sticking with it unless proven wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpyderAnn01
:thumbup::clap::yes: this was just the info I was going to ask about with my next post now I don't have to if it's good enough for the pro's it's good enough for me 66 plus thousand miles
no service on the valves. thanks to all high mileage rider for replying :bowdown: jtpollock
A pictures of Jim's digital display...Quote:
Originally Posted by BLUEKNIGHT911
He's got over 133,000 miles on his GS now... :bowdown:
The problem with waiting to do this maintenance is that by the time your engine starts running poorly you've potentially already done damage. Thus the reason for checking clearance is to ensure you don't damage your engine. I don't have much experience with the internals of this engine yet, however I have maintained the valve clearance on a bmw motorcycle and two kawasakis. All three of those bikes needed adjustment at the first interval. All engines are different and so are manufacturer specs. Im positive that the kawasaki plant rolls out engines with the valves in tolerance with no regard to how close to the minimum they are. As valve seats get broken in the valve sets further into the seat. That causes the valve stem to tighten the clearance between the cam lobe and bucket. If the clearance deteriorates enough you can actually smack a valve with the piston. I am not the type to pay some kid the exorbitant amount of money to do this task. I think dealers blow off the maintenance and just charge you for it. If anyone decides to have this done at the dealer demand a shim map with all clearances listed. I will make a how to and video when the time comes to tear into my wifes spyder. Once again I won't say your crazy for not doing the maintenance but there was a mistake in an earlier comment (no offense to that poster) and I wanted to at least set that straight. I hope this helps with understanding for those of you with less experience. Another way to beat the dealer is to insist on them setting the valves to the upper tolerance which is what I do when I do mine. Once again demand a shim map as found and then another one as adjusted. This ensures the maximum amount of time between checking vs adjusting the clearance.
One last thing to make things clear. There is an argument that your bike will run the best at the tightest tolerance. This makes sense because the less clearance will actually open the valve wider. Thousandths of inch we are talking. This does allow that much more air into the cylinder for combustion. I'll take my valves on the loose end of spec though to ensure maximum intervals between adjusting. Getting to the cams is one thing (clearance check) pulling them to adjust the shims is a whole other task and truthfully the part that scares me every time I do it. I once dropped a shim into the head of the bike and they can travel down into the depths of the engine. Luckily mine landed in the top of the engine and I found it with a magnet. I hope this helps.
Semper Fi,
Corpssgt
It's your money, and it's your choice. :bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:Quote:
Originally Posted by corpssgt
Totally agree with spyderman and I wasn't trying to push that any other direction. I was hoping some would find the information useful. Like I said I do my own and its pretty cheap if you don't count the labor its usually just a couple gaskets and possibly shims if it needs adjusted. I understand other people not wanting to do the maintenance themselves.
Corpssgt
Unless you feel there is a definite need for valve adjustment. I would say no. Almost never needed. But then you have the 'Almost' to deal with I suppose.
LOOSE valves do not burn.
TIGHT one do.
My hat off to you sir; you have nailed this issue.
Many will not pay $800 on the hopes their machine will have been right from the assembly line and the valve seat material is holding up to and beyond the service interval. I get that; $800 ain't chicken feed. For that money you should expect a shim map at beginning and end of the adjustment process. Reference to that map during subsequent clearance checks will tell you the speed at which change is occurring.
Too much to be bothered with? Maybe, given the reliability of modern engines, but it ain't gonna be cheap if you burn a valve seat due to insufficient clearances (i.e. "tight" valves).
Pete
Quote:
Originally Posted by corpssgt