Valve clearances

[2wheeljunkie]

hey guys, just need a little advice. Got a hornet 900 and its now at 25,000 ks. Manual says its time for the valves to be inspected as well as new plugs be put in. Got a quote from a bike shop that it will take minimum 3 hours to check valves and change plugs. This does not include adjusting them if need be. I dunt know abt valve clearances and was wandering if someone can tell me if it will take this long, is the 3 hours for this job justified? Cheers in advance

[Squiggles]

hey guys, just need a little advice. Got a hornet 900 and its now at 25,000 ks. Manual says its time for the valves to be inspected as well as new plugs be put in. Got a quote from a bike shop that it will take minimum 3 hours to check valves and change plugs. This does not include adjusting them if need be. I dunt know abt valve clearances and was wandering if someone can tell me if it will take this long, is the 3 hours for this job justified? Cheers in advance

Could try AJ @ Motohaus to see what he reckons, theres 16 valves to check after you actually get to them.

[2wheeljunkie]

Could try AJ @ Motohaus to see what he reckons, theres 16 valves to check after you actually get to them.

whats yer take on the 3 hours then?

[The Pastor]

3 hours is slightly on the long side, but not really.

[Thani-B]

I'm going through the same thing with my bike at the moment, except my manual says for 42,000kms. I've been in to various bike shops and had quotes for 1-4 hours. At the last shop I went to the mechanic came out and listened to my bike and told me they didn't need to be done for another 10,000kms or so. So 3 hours sounds in the ok range to me. Best thing would be if you could find someone who knows if they need to be done by the sound like I did.

[avgas]

3 hours is a safe bet, prob only takes 2 hours......but then they forget to put something back and have to open up to put it back.
So I would pay them for the 3 hours.

[bogan]

I'm going through the same thing with my bike at the moment, except my manual says for 42,000kms. I've been in to various bike shops and had quotes for 1-4 hours. At the last shop I went to the mechanic came out and listened to my bike and told me they didn't need to be done for another 10,000kms or so. So 3 hours sounds in the ok range to me. Best thing would be if you could find someone who knows if they need to be done by the sound like I did.

bogan is skeptical as of the earcrometer.



sure you can hear em if they get bad, but best not to let em get to that point, also I don't think you can hear them if the clearance gets too tight. Is also a good time to check the camchain tension/stretch while you're in there I find, though it's pretty rare anything needs to be done there.

Would be a good thing to do for one of your maintainance evenings I would suggest, 80% of the work is just simple dissasembly (just don't drop any bolts into carbs or engine!), which is why it take far longer on some bikes than others.

[Thani-B]

bogan is skeptical as of the earcrometer.

I trust the guy that told me. He's had a lot of experience working on ER6n's.

[2wheeljunkie]

much appreciated guys.

Im having a hectic semester and dont have the time to do it myself, would love to learn how to in the future for sure, but for now, might as well get a mechanic to do it. Once again cheers guys. So tomorrow, i ride a scooter

[Squiggles]

I trust the guy that told me. He's had a lot of experience working on ER6n's.

Did they get done at 24k? (Or whenever the last check was)

[Jonno.]

Get a Haynes and do it yourself. It's pretty simple providing you don't drop shims into the engine

[jono035]

I trust the guy that told me. He's had a lot of experience working on ER6n's.

Fair enough but just for the record, clearances often get tighter rather than looser as the valves wear into the seats. If the clearances are tight then there is nothing to hear. If your clearances get tight enough that the valves are no longer closing properly, you'll have exhaust gases going past a partially open valve, eroding the valves and valve seats. Best case is a solid case of valve lapping, worst case is new head and valves if the seats can't be recut.

Ounce of prevention etc. etc.

3 hours doesn't sound that bad for someone being a bit careful, but it's a little on the conservative side... I'd expect to take 3-4 hours to do the clearances on my VFR myself, and that's generally acknowledged to be 'a bastard'.

Edit: It's definitely a good one for DIY maintenance, especially with a Haynes manual (which will save you more than its cost, the first time you use it)... Strip fairings, tank, possibly drop the radiator off. Remove the carbs. Remove the rocker cover and timing cover. Stick a couple of feeler gauges in between the rockers and shims, rotate the crankshaft to the next timing mark and repeat. Put covers back on, put carbs back on, put fairings/tank etc. back on, ride.

Good time to do a coolant flush, too. Finding that your water pump impeller is evenly distributed through the all cooling galleries is an unpleasant experience.

[doc]

I get charged for 5 hours on mine. I've done it in 3hrs . Never needed adjustment and have done 65,000km. Bit different if they need to be adjusted. Goblin's 900 has done 50,000km and not needed doing yet.

[Thani-B]

Did they get done at 24k? (Or whenever the last check was)

Nope I've never had them done. I'll be going back to him soon to get him to check my bike over anyway, so will ask him again then.

[2wheeljunkie]

I agree with you jono035, i mean i wud love to do it, but time for me is definately not a luxury this semester. so for now my wallet will have to burn.

and doc, the mechanic said that he's pretty sure no valve will need adjusting, he just told me all the possible cost so that way i dunt go "but you told me 3 hours to do it". Its off tomorrow then to the shop. Think im getting a honda lead scooter.