Valve inspection

hardslate

New member
First off, I searched but did not find and how-to's related to this question.

Most forums have folks that have video's or how-to's with images for the valve job. Now I know that the majority on here may not have hit the 16K interval for this job but curious to see who does and posts the how-to.
 

Thumper

New member
If you own a bike, you should invest in a service manual! You don't have to have a degree in mechanics but it really comes in handy if you do any work yourself.
 
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randy1149

New member
16K an overkill.

IMHO valve checking at 16K miles is kind of an overkill especially considering it's labor intensive required to even get at the valves. Me thinks this is a gift to the dealers for those that follow the maintenance schedule to the letter. The air filter replacement is another gift... IMHO.

My experience over 20 years with my last 3 bikes, Vulcan, Goldwing, Valkyrie, all with over 60K miles never had any valves out of spec. Todays valve train with harden valve seats the major wear is from the rocker arm to cam lobe and to the valve stem. A very positive element by Honda was to use rockers that have rollers to ride on the cam lobes decreasing friction significantly. It seems to me when you consider the quality of synthetic oil and how clean engines run today the need to check the clearance every 16K miles in not necessary.

Personally I won't be doing any valve checking (maybe) until at least 30K miles. Since out of spec valves will be loose not tight a tapping sound will occur, I will keep my ears open for it.
 

Steven

Member
The manual says to inspect them every 8k miles. That would be about once a year for me. That seems excessive to me and would be cost prohibitive if I paid some else to do it. It wouldn't be too bad except for all of the body panels that need to be removed. The manual also says that the drive chain should be inspected every 500 miles. I can understand doing this every time we oil the chain, but I've had to adjust mine about every 3,000 miles.

Personally, I plan on taking a trip next year and so at the end of this year I'll take the thing apart and do what needs to be done. I'll probably add power ports too. Right now my bike has about 11,000 miles on it and it seems to be running just fine. I just checked my mpg and I got 69 mpg. That is a little higher than I normally get, but I was running the back roads.
 

randy1149

New member
Steve, adjusting chain every 3K miles? You might benefit with a chain oiler. I have over 7K on my chain with an auto oiler that's not needed for an adjustment yet. It also keeps the chain clean. It does fling oil (that's the way I have it adjusted) which only requires some wiping oil off on the inside of the chain guard and around the license plate mount.
 

Merlin III

New member
IMHO valve checking at 16K miles is kind of an overkill especially considering it's labor intensive required to even get at the valves. Me thinks this is a gift to the dealers for those that follow the maintenance schedule to the letter. The air filter replacement is another gift... IMHO.

My experience over 20 years with my last 3 bikes, Vulcan, Goldwing, Valkyrie, all with over 60K miles never had any valves out of spec. Todays valve train with harden valve seats the major wear is from the rocker arm to cam lobe and to the valve stem. A very positive element by Honda was to use rockers that have rollers to ride on the cam lobes decreasing friction significantly. It seems to me when you consider the quality of synthetic oil and how clean engines run today the need to check the clearance every 16K miles in not necessary.

Personally I won't be doing any valve checking (maybe) until at least 30K miles. Since out of spec valves will be loose not tight a tapping sound will occur, I will keep my ears open for it.

I agree Randy. I use to adjust the BMW valves every 12,000 miles and the adjustment change was marginal. I did more wear and tear to the bike getting to them than it was worth. If you start to see a downturn in performance, among other things, I would check the valves.
 

Steven

Member
Randy, Understood, but I'm pretty heavy and sometimes I accelerate rather briskly. I'll probably replace it late this year and look into an oiler, what kind do you use?
 

randy1149

New member
Randy, Understood, but I'm pretty heavy and sometimes I accelerate rather briskly. I'll probably replace it late this year and look into an oiler, what kind do you use?

I'm no slouch either. I can resist everything but temptation when you can accelerate full throttle thru all the gears and leave all my Harley friends 2 blocks away.

The oiler I have is the Tutoro gravity feed oiler. It's one of the less expensive, uses gravity and inertia to deliver the oil. Here's an installation video on Youtube along with other reviews. There's a knob you turn to control the amount of oil is dispersed.
Mounted to saddlebag mount.
 

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randy1149

New member
I agree Randy. I use to adjust the BMW valves every 12,000 miles and the adjustment change was marginal. I did more wear and tear to the bike getting to them than it was worth. If you start to see a downturn in performance, among other things, I would check the valves.

We're on the same page. If checking the valves was a 1/2hr job I'd probably do it when I had nothing to do. But with this bike like most Hondas it's a project. I'd probably break all the plastic clips getting everything off. The air filter on my GW was a 2 - 3 hours job with all the plastic you had to take off, this bike doesn't look any better.
 

Merlin III

New member
We're on the same page. If checking the valves was a 1/2hr job I'd probably do it when I had nothing to do. But with this bike like most Hondas it's a project. I'd probably break all the plastic clips getting everything off. The air filter on my GW was a 2 - 3 hours job with all the plastic you had to take off, this bike doesn't look any better.

That is one of the things I miss with my BMW oilhead. You can get to everything directly and fast. I wish the Honda had more of a one piece of faring that was BOLTED ON in maybe 4 places. :(
 

Steven

Member
Steve, adjusting chain every 3K miles? You might benefit with a chain oiler. I have over 7K on my chain with an auto oiler that's not needed for an adjustment yet. It also keeps the chain clean. It does fling oil (that's the way I have it adjusted) which only requires some wiping oil off on the inside of the chain guard and around the license plate mount.

I got thinking about this and so I looked it up in the manual. I didn't realize but there is a gauge near the chain adjustment to tell you when to replace the chain. It goes from grey to green to red, red means it's time for a new chain. Mine is still in the grey, so I'm guessing that I'm still good for at least another 10k miles. I do oil my chain often, about every two tanks of gas. A long time ago with a different bike I had a chain and didn't care for it, as luck would have it, I went on a trip and it started kinking on me. I had to replace it mid trip. When I take my trip next year I don't know how far I will be going and so I'll probably change the chain to just to be safe. I'm guessing the trip will be at least 6k miles. Those x-chains look interesting.
 

randy1149

New member
I got thinking about this and so I looked it up in the manual. I didn't realize but there is a gauge near the chain adjustment to tell you when to replace the chain. It goes from grey to green to red, red means it's time for a new chain. Mine is still in the grey, so I'm guessing that I'm still good for at least another 10k miles. I do oil my chain often, about every two tanks of gas. A long time ago with a different bike I had a chain and didn't care for it, as luck would have it, I went on a trip and it started kinking on me. I had to replace it mid trip. When I take my trip next year I don't know how far I will be going and so I'll probably change the chain to just to be safe. I'm guessing the trip will be at least 6k miles. Those x-chains look interesting.

With the mileage you put on your bike an oiler it would most certainly benefit the longevity of the chain and minimizes that clean and oil maintenance requirement along with doubling the life of the chain. I know (from that "other" forum) some people poo poo auto oilers calling them contraptions and such, but they do work. 30K miles on the chain is not uncommon.

X-chains are supposed to last twice that of an o-rings so said here. If so, put an oiler on and the chain could last 40-50K miles.
 
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