Valve adjustment on a Honda RC51

[SwiftTone]

My RC51 is due for some maintenance. The major one is valve adjustment/check. I don't want to bring it to a dealership because simply I can't afford it. I am pretty mechanically inclined but I've never worked on a motorcycle and I'm not confident about doing this job.

So I am looking for someone to either help me do this over some beers + cash if need be, or someone to refer me to someone that won't charge me an arm and a leg to do it.

Any thoughts?

[Kazinator]

Is your bike giving you any signs that you need to check the valves? How many miles do you have on it?

[hondarider102]

Wirelessly posted

Degsy

[nhbubba]

Is your bike giving you any signs that you need to check the valves? How many miles do you have on it?

Outside of mileage, what do you consider signs that the valves need to be checked?
Asked another way: Why wouldn't you check the valves at or near the scheduled interval?

[Kazinator]

Outside of mileage, what do you consider signs that the valves need to be checked?
Asked another way: Why wouldn't you check the valves at or near the scheduled interval?

Ticking sounds...?

[SwiftTone]

I bought the bike with 18k miles a few weeks ago. I'm now approaching 20k. It's a 2 owner bike. The previous owner said he's never had it checked and he's owned it since 13-14k miles. I wouldn't think the 1st owner had it checked/adjusted before 13k. This was the previous owner's first bike so I don't think he thrashed it too hard. Everything I can see looks good, but you never know whats inside the engine.

I don't know what the signs are for the bike needing a valve adjustment. I'd like to just get it atleast checked for peace of mind. There are some noises from the bike but I'm not sure if its normal or not. Nothing sounds terrible but just noticeable. Rather safe than sorry.

[SwiftTone]

Ticking sounds...?

My ears are not that refined so I dont think I know what I'm listening for or hear it at all. The bike has gear driven cams so that itself is "noisey"

[slammp]

over tight valves wont tick, just loose ones - they will burn though...RC51's are known for being within spec almost all of the time but for piece of mind its not a bad idea. I believe Degsy and Bergs are both good resources in this area if either are available.

[nhbubba]

I have always been told that valves that tick are better than valves that don't.

[Ryno]

The RC is real straight forward. Gear driven cams are good thing

[timmyho414]

those valves use shims.
If they are out of spec you will need to remove the shim, bring it to the dealer, have them swap it out for a shim that will bring you adjustment into spec(shim plus+(measured clearance plus/minus out of spec). Its a pain in the ass if you need multiple shims. I did it on one of my ducati's like that. After that I bought a shim kit. If one is available you could buy it and save the driving around. They're normally a couple hundred bucks. If you need multiples of the same size you're screwed. If you have more then one bike that the shim kit will fit it or if you have friends with bikes it will fit and want to start doing valve adjust on the side may be worth it.

something to think about.