Valve Adjustment

[ricks.06]

Dropped the bike off today for the valve check service. Damn! $$$$

I usually do the routine maintenance, but this was a little out of my comfort zone. Good thing it's only needed evry 30K. I'll be riding all over the east coast and then out to Glacier and back from GA this fall, so I needed to have it done beforehand. I WILL learn how to do this for the next one.

Beleive that!

 

[roggiedog]

Dropped the bike off today for the valve check service. Damn! $$$$

I usually do the routine maintenance, but this was a little out of my comfort zone. Good thing it's only needed evry 30K. I'll be riding all over the east coast and then out to Glacier and back from GA this fall, so I needed to have it done beforehand. I WILL learn how to do this for the next one.

Beleive that!

How much are they getting you for? The place I went to is going to charge the same price whether or not an adjustment is needed.

 

[SkooterG]

I WILL learn how to do this for the next one.

Beleive that!

That's what I say too. Right Ray?

How much? My last one was $645 with two valves being shimmed. Freaking ouch! And I have nearly 300,000 miles on FJRs with valve adjustments probably averaging every 30k or so. Freaking ouch! NO MORE!

 

[ricks.06]

Dropped the bike off today for the valve check service. Damn! $$$$

I usually do the routine maintenance, but this was a little out of my comfort zone. Good thing it's only needed evry 30K. I'll be riding all over the east coast and then out to Glacier and back from GA this fall, so I needed to have it done beforehand. I WILL learn how to do this for the next one.

Beleive that!

How much are they getting you for? The place I went to is going to charge the same price whether or not an adjustment is needed.

Same here- The price is the same whether or not they have to make any adjustments. $600! All in labor. This is my local dealer who is actually pretty decent, but damn!

 

[ricks.06]

I WILL learn how to do this for the next one.

Beleive that!

That's what I say too. Right Ray?

How much? My last one was $645 with two valves being shimmed. Freaking ouch! And I have nearly 300,000 miles on FJRs with valve adjustments probably averaging every 30k or so. Freaking ouch! NO MORE!

$600 and change so same as you. Funny thing. As I'm dropping it off, the tech says ,"it's the same cost no matter if we adjust them or not. all of the labor is breaking the bike down- the valve adjustments don't take hardly any time at all." I'm pretty sure I can break the bike down and it sounds like the actual adjustment is not that difficult. Can't wait to hit 60K to give it a try!

 

[ricks.06]

Dropped the bike off today for the valve check service. Damn! $$$$

I usually do the routine maintenance, but this was a little out of my comfort zone. Good thing it's only needed evry 30K. I'll be riding all over the east coast and then out to Glacier and back from GA this fall, so I needed to have it done beforehand. I WILL learn how to do this for the next one.

Believe that!

 

[FJRay]

I WILL learn how to do this for the next one.

Beleive that!

That's what I say too. Right Ray?

How much? My last one was $645 with two valves being shimmed. Freaking ouch! And I have nearly 300,000 miles on FJRs with valve adjustments probably averaging every 30k or so. Freaking ouch! NO MORE!

$600 and change so same as you. Funny thing. As I'm dropping it off, the tech says ,"it's the same cost no matter if we adjust them or not. all of the labor is breaking the bike down- the valve adjustments don't take hardly any time at all." I'm pretty sure I can break the bike down and it sounds like the actual adjustment is not that difficult. Can't wait to hit 60K to give it a try!

I would have to disagree with that. I am not an expert but getting to the valves is only part of it. once you have done a carefull check then there is a lot more to take apart to get the shims out. Then you need to find the proper shims,reassemble the engine, carefully check all the valves again to see if you have it right and if not do it again. at that point change the CCT if there is any question about it and then you ae back to the point you were at when you checked it the first time.

If thats not Hardly any more time than just checking, I might be looking for a more experienced tech.

Do your own work,take your time and double check everything and you will be fine. It's a good idea to source shims ahead of time to save time while it's in pieces. You won't lose track of where you are as easy. :angry:

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

'FJRay' is correct ^^^ above -- it's not too involved just checking clearances; but, if you find ones that need adjusting (changing adj.-shims) the job becomes much more involved.

"...it's the same cost no matter if we adjust them or not."

Either the shop has a 'blanket fee' for looking at your bike?; or, charges for adjusting (whether needed or not)?; or...?

For DIYers, I'd add -- write down (pencil & paper) all your measurements, etc.

 

[fljab]

Do your own work,take your time and double check everything and you will be fine. It's a good idea to source shims ahead of time to save time while it's in pieces. You won't lose track of where you are as easy. :angry:

Just to re affirm, this is the shim kit to use, yes? 9.48mm

https://www.procycle.us/images/hotcams/shimkit.jpg

I see the HC kits on Ebay are listed as "03-05" FJR1300, but others elsewhere just list the 9.48mm for FJR1300 with no yrs specified, so guessing the same, but I ask the WOTF...

 

[RadioHowie]

but I ask the WOTF...

BWAHA! "Wisdom of the Forum" from this opinionated bunch of *** teasers?? :rofl:

 

[Crash Cash]

Just to re affirm, this is the shim kit to use, yes? 9.48mm

Yup, they fit my '07 just fine.

 

[fljab]

Just to re affirm, this is the shim kit to use, yes? 9.48mm

Yup, they fit my '07 just fine.

I got a set on order.

 

[carlson_mn]

Breaking down the bike is pretty easy. Measuring and re-shimming, then re-measuring after getting the cams back on and re-torqued actually takes a substantial amount of time.

There's no way in Hell I'd pay $600 to have them checked. It is so damn easy to check them yourself. It's about a 2 hour job in your garage, maybe 2.5 hours all back together and riding again. I'm not much of a mechanic either. A local well-regarded mechanic in the Twin Cities here charges $250 including adjustment. That dealer is making a **** ton of money off people charging $600 to check them.

 

[03HiYoSilver]

Here's the link to the Shim Kit 9.48mm

https://www.procycle.us/hotcams/valve_shims.htm#shims948mm

 

[ricks.06]

Breaking down the bike is pretty easy. Measuring and re-shimming, then re-measuring after getting the cams back on and re-torqued actually takes a substantial amount of time.

There's no way in Hell I'd pay $600 to have them checked. It is so damn easy to check them yourself. It's about a 2 hour job in your garage, maybe 2.5 hours all back together and riding again. I'm not much of a mechanic either. A local well-regarded mechanic in the Twin Cities here charges $250 including adjustment. That dealer is making a **** ton of money off people charging $600 to check them.

Amen to that. I picked up the bike yesterday and low and behold no valve adjustment needed. So..... $600 bucks to simply check things over- not even a reach around :dribble: .

Oh well, I'm coming from Harley where everything is expensive.

Live and learn

 

[fljab]

Oh well, I'm coming from Harley where everything is expensive.

Live and learn

I did too - but I did the maintenance on those as well.

You just have to learn to do the maint yourself; kinda one of those things that the first time it goes slow (well, I'm slow all the time!). Get a service manual, some good metric tools, and use the resources on this forum and before ya know it - voile! - you can do the work!

I will be due for valves soon and that's one of the last "hurdles" I have to learn.

 

[FJReady]

WTF?? 600 clams is a bit out of line. My independant shop charged me $300 for my 60K adjustment. 4 hrs x $75/hr. Two exhaust shims needed adjustment. Threw in a TBS while he was under there for free.

Big dealer shops have a lot of overhead to cover. A local independant guy depends on return customers for his weekly pay.

 

[CAJW]

I always did my own valve checks/adjustments on my ST1100, but somehow wimped out on my FJR due to the cam removal process. About 18 mos. ago, Zac at Roseville Yamaha charged me $335 and did a great job on the other stuff I had them do. Just think, you Zonies could ride over here, get your valves checked and have $300 bucks left over for gas to ride the Golden Hills of California. :yahoo:Next time maybe I'll re read the how to posts here on the board and give the valve check thing a whirl on this steed.

 

[dannymax]

Here's the link to the Shim Kit 9.48mm

https://www.procycle.us/hotcams/valve_shims.htm#shims948mm

Thanks for the link, I'll have a kit on hand for the next go-around!

Seems like the 9.48 mm kit for $79.95, 1.20 - 3.50in., 0.5mm increments, would cover all the bases, wouldn't it?

I wonder why that kit measures the shim size in SAE and the increments between them in metric??? Probly a misprint!

$600 is way too much! It's not that big a job, there's tons of info on this forum to help anyone through it.

I thought I'd 'TREAT' myself to a 'professional' valve lash check/adjust and it turned into a nightmare....ended up tearing it down and re-doing it correctly after all was said & done.