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To Get Valves Adjusted or Not on 998?
- Thread starter Crisis
- Start date
BLUEKNIGHT911
Sadly Passed Oct 2024 - RIP
WELLLLLLL NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT
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:
ARtraveler
R.I.P. Dwayne
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:
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:
Bob Denman
New member
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:.
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:.
SpyderAnn01
Active member
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.
BLUEKNIGHT911
Sadly Passed Oct 2024 - RIP
MEMBERS
:clap::clap::clap:Your welcome from all 3 of us :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:.............. Mike :thumbup:
TicketBait
RT-S PE#0412
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.
Crisis
New member
Turns right over every time. Thanks
tecnodog7
New member
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!
Crisis
New member
:agree::bowdown:
007james
Member
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.
jtpollock
New member
: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
no service on the valves. thanks to all high mileage rider for replying :bowdown: jtpollock
Bob Denman
New member
A pictures of Jim's digital display...
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
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
Last edited:
ARtraveler
R.I.P. Dwayne
It's your money, and it's your choice. :bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:
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
Corpssgt
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