I now believe the 600mi valve adjust should be done. All the valve talk got me paranoid. So yesterday I was bumpin' the red line and Kato(the KLX) was trembling a bit over 8000rpm. Well that meant valves, or it was lean. Guess what...VALVES. Here is a simple illustration of the out come.


HERE is a link to more pics. at the top right of the page, go to 'STYLE' and choose 'TRADITIONAL"
Valve shims are 7.48mm

 

Nice photos. I did a valve check at 800 miles and found all my valves to be in the low end of the spec, except for the south-east (in your diagram) inlet valve which was just under the spec. In fact, my measurements are pretty darn close to yours. BTW, I think you have a typo - your north-west exhaust valve shows a change in clearance, but not a change in shim.

I'm currently waiting on my valve shims to arrive to bring all the valves back into the middle of the spec.

I can't help but notice that all your valves had the 295 shim installed from the factory. I was wondering if the factory build tolerances were so close that that they could always use a single sized shim, or whether they had to measure in the right one for each valve? Based on your results, it looks like the factory may just install a single size. If so, that's yet another reason to do a valve check early since not all bikes are going to fit exactly.

-Brian

 

Nobrakes...good eye. I was just getting ready to fix that, but, I didn't save my original, and I'm not doing it again.

Left Exhaust had a 300mm shim from the factory, not a 295mm. DOH!

 

Okay guys. Now we are really getting over my skill level. So if im at 660 miles I should have this service done? I will not being doing this cause I tend to throw things if I get in a bind. So if I take this to my dealer to have this done. How much cash are we talking about?? And What else needs to be done??

 

The 600mi in my neighborhood is about $150 + parts/fluids. That includes them checking everything on the Kawi list. Ask your dealer for a report on the items they checked and/or ajusted. I also did my spokes this weekend, and they weren't pretty... all the sprocket side ones were fairly loose.

 

Great job Tony! How much was that Hot Cams shim set? I'll see if the other area owners here in Dallas want to share one.

 

The right kit 7.48mm is around $90. Kawi individual shims are $11. each. Honda are $4. You can get HotCams refills in 3 packs if i'm not mistaken. You should be able to pick up 3ea 290, 285, and 280mm shims before hand and return what you don't use. The whole process took an hour + parts run. I'm SO happy to have one kawi/honda dealer open on sundays.

 

Ya this seems way beyond my skill level too. Opening up the engine and whatnot seems intimidating. Is it easier then dealing with the carb, which now I can probably do a hell of alot faster since I know how to take things off properly with not as much swearing

 

Pretty simple once you commit. Just need a torque wrench for reassembly. Shout out for a tech day in you neighborhood. It's always more fun with Friends.

 

Is the 7.48mm a typo? Your photos show the 9.48mm kit. I had previously ordered the 7.48 kit, but I wasn't 100% sure and it has not yet arrived. But based on your photos, I then ordered the 9.48 mm kit and was planning to return the 7.48 mm kit. Which is the correct size? My dealer is next to useless and could not tell me which size shims to get.

-Brian