I highly recommend checking your valves much earlier than the manual's 7500 miles. I've got 2700 miles and checked mine today, they are all out of spec except the right intake valve and that one is .002mm in spec, the rest are too tight. It took me less than an hour to get everything stripped off, oil drained, and the valve cover off to check the valves. One word of caution, the 3 bolts holding the valve cover only require 5.75 foot-lbs of torque, ie only snug them with ~ a 4-6 inch ratchet, no need for the full size tools there.

 

+1 on that. You will have a much more expensive repair if you gorilla them down. They thread into soft aluminum.

 

Question?

When should you check them for the first time? I have 750 miles on mine.

 

If you haven't done the carb mods yet and are planning to, I'd say check them then as you will already have the tank, shrouds, seat etc off. The only other thing you would have to move is the coil and thats just 2 bolts and pulling off the sparkplug cap.

 

dropped mine off at the shop yesterday for inspection, rejet/dyno, and valve check.. i was tore as i didnt want to spend the money on getting them checked as it is now ill be payin out the butt for the work gettin done. after reading ur post im glad i decided to have them checked.

 

+1 on getting them checked early. Mine were at the tight end of the spec, but still within, at about 3700 miles. First time was a little tough for me (I'm new to this stuff) and I had help but I could do it again now, no sweat. I treated every bolt as though it was threading into cheese. Get a small torque wrench, bigger ones are NOT accurate that low. I hope this made sense . Come on coffee, work your magic!

 

I think I know the answer, but it never hurts to ask:

Can you use flat feeler guages to check the valves, or should you use the ones with the built in bend?

(I'm thinking the flat ones are Ok, but the ones with the bend are probably more convenient to use.)

Also, if the feeler guages are sized in 0.001" increments, is it better to shoot for a clearance that's just slightly larger than the mid-point of the spec? For example, theexhaust spec is 0.15 - 0.24 mm, therefore midway would be 0.195 mm, so the closest feeler thats larger is 0.203 mm, or 0.008". On the Intake side (following the same reasoning), it would be 0.006". (Can you tell I already have a set of SAE feeler guages?)

And while I've got your attention, here's a totally irrelevant question: Why do feeler gauges always seem to include a couple brass blades?

 

Has anyone found a nice set of metric feeler gauges? There's a set of flat blade gauges at PitPosse.com that I'm considering, but was wondering if anyone had found something else.

I checked my valves at 1700 miles. I have a set of SAE feeler gauges, and they work okay, but I would like to be able to match the valve clearances a little closer. I'm sure it's not necessary, but I'm **** that way.

All of my valves were in Spec, but niether pair were matched. I did not make any adjustments, I'll do that when I change out the cylinder.

One of my intake valves was >.004" (or.102mm) but<.005" (or .127mm). The other one was >.005" (or .127mm) but <.006" (or .152mm).

One of my exhaust valves was >.006" (or .152mm) but<.007" (or .178mm). The other was >.007 (or .178mm) but less than .008" (or .203mm).

 

That makes my brain hurt. Metric feeler gauges would have been a great help.

 

I have both flat and angled feeler gauges. The angled works better for me.

I adjust my valves the exact way you describe. Right in the middle. On the exhaust side, .008 and the intake .006. I always try the next size larger feeler gauge just to make sure they are in the middle. I also think it's better to have them a little loose anyway.

I have no clue why there are the brass feelers in the set. It's a good question.