First Valve Adjustment

[Swizz]

I have a 2012 Yamaha FZ8. I'm coming up on 26k which is the recommended valve adjustment interval. I've done all the scheduled maintenance so far myself but never cracked open a motor. So I'm a little leery on the project

I have a service manual and some common sense. Still, part of me says take it to the dealer before I mess my bike up.

How much do dealers usually charge for a valve check/adjustment?
Any mechanic recommendations?

Is it really that big of a deal to do on your own?

[e30addict]

I did my first valve service with shim under bucket last year. I've cracked plenty of motors with the old school valves before and while I wouldn't say it's rocket science, I appreciated having someone who had done it before on that motor guide me.


Not sure on your bike, but it's fairly labor intensive on the Tiger. It took us 6-7 hours to do including driving out to get shims. I had no desire to pony up for dealer service!

[MHenry600]

Inspecting them isn't too bad itself. Changing shims is a bit more involved. If you're relatively mechanically inclined, and take your time, I wouldn't worry about it. Keep things organized and keep track of where everything came from.

If everything checks out at the inspection, then really no reason to go further with the shims etc.

[csmutty]

It's pretty simple as long as everything is in spec. If you have valves out of spec that's when it gets more complicated. In order to check them you basically have to remove gas tank, air box, throttle bodies, and valve cover. Checking them takes 20 minutes or so. If everything is OK just put back together. If not... You're looking at a couple hours and paying a good buddy with pizza. You can do it yourself but depending on your skill level it could be a little overwhelming.

Edit: what Matt said! ^^^^

[Swizz]

Thanks guys. Sounds like I wouldn't have a problem checking them. Adjusting might be another story.

If they need adjustment I'll probably just haul it down the street to a small bike shop.

[loudbeard]

Assume you have the factory service manual? If not, that's definitely step one. A good set of long feeler gauges (~12") is key to getting in to the difficult to reach places. Read you manual to get the valve specs, then order the appropriate gauges to cover your application. You may need to buy two sets if your intake and exhaust specs are far apart.

If you're going to tackle the adjustment, make sure you own a very good torque wrench that can do lower torque settings accurately (~5-10 ft lbs.)

[stoinkythepig]

If you go to all the trouble of measuring them and they need to be adjusted, might as well dive right in and swap some shims. It is not rocket surgery, you just need to measure and record each valve's clearance, remove the cams, determine and record the current shims for each valve, calculate the correct size shim to swap (your service manual will have a chart of you are unable to do subtraction), swap shims, install the cams, re-check clearance and you are back to where you started.

I am reasonably certain that bike takes 7.48mm shims. If you need to do an adjustment, I can probably help you out with shim swapping. I have a 7.48mm kit. That said, shim kits are only like 65 bucks.

[Swizz]

If you go to all the trouble of measuring them and they need to be adjusted, might as well dive right in and swap some shims. It is not rocket surgery, you just need to measure and record each valve's clearance, remove the cams, determine and record the current shims for each valve, calculate the correct size shim to swap (your service manual will have a chart of you are unable to do subtraction), swap shims, install the cams, re-check clearance and you are back to where you started.
I am reasonably certain that bike takes 7.48mm shims. If you need to do an adjustment, I can probably help you out with shim swapping. I have a 7.48mm kit. That said, shim kits are only like 65 bucks.

Your probably right. I should dive in and learn sometime. Not sure exactly when I'm gonna check them but If i get stuck I'll post up here for advice. If i really mess up I'll call for reinforcements. Thanks for the offer

[black]

If you need a hand let me know, I've never done it but I'm somewhat mechanicaly inclined to a degree. ( live in wilmington)