Newbie Valve Adjustment Qustion

[SeaLander]

I'm trying to do the valve adjustment on my 2001 m750 myself. It has 8,700 miles on it and I think this is the first valve check, I bought it at 5000 miles

I'm pretty sure im at tdc on the vertical cylinder. I spun the tire with my finder over the sparkplug hole and waited until I felt air pushing out, then I aligned the tick marks in the window. Both rocker arms are down and I can feel the piston through the sparkplug hole.

Do you think I'm at TDC?

My next question is that the clearance of both opening shims clearance are very close to .0015" and closing clearance is about .001.I can spin all the shims. Is it possible I don't have to adjust anything? Can my opening clearance be to tight? Should I take my opening shims off and grind them to .002" clearance?

[CMDRDAVE]

Sounds like you are at TDC.  I go thought that same procedure several times until I am confident that I am at TDC.

I set my clearances to LT Snyder's recommendations:
Openers - 0.004
Closers - < 0.002

Your closers sound good if you can spin them.  Your openers sound tight.  You can sand (grind is a strong word) the openers to spec.  Make sure you are using a flat surface, check often and take your time.  Openers are the easy ones to play with any way.

[SeaLander]

Thank you for your response!

So valve the valve clearance can get tighter? I would think that things would get looser with wear and tear. Could you explain alittle on how the clearance can get tighter after use?

[ducpainter]

Thank you for your response!

So valve the valve clearance can get tighter? I would think that things would get looser with wear and tear. Could you explain alittle on how the clearance can get tighter after use?

As the valves and seats wear the valve rises up into the head and the opening clearance shrinks. The closer clearance grows.

This slows as the miles accumulate.

[scott_araujo]

With a small flashlight you can actually see the piston through the spark plug hole, take a look.  Sounds like you're already into things but look into getting an engine turning tool for the next time, it's much more easy to use and precise than spinning the back wheel.  Some of the small models are fairly inexpensive. 

http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=5988913

Also, I always take the belts off to do valve adjustments.  This way you can set the piston at TDC and spin the cam independently.  With the piston at TDC you really can't drop a valve into the engine which is peace of mind.  With the cam free to spin you can check for any binding on the closers easily and rotate the cam with your fingers instead of a wrench on the turning tool or moving the back wheel by hand.

Scott

[SeaLander]

I didn't realize that if I took the belts off I wouldn't be able to spin the engine without that tool so I bought one online. I wanted to take the belts off so I could replace them and check for binding while turing the cam.

Now I have to wait for that tool to come in the mail.

If I put the belts back on incorrectly and just turn the back wheel to find tdc, will I mess up the engine/timeing?

Putting the belts back on is going to be a project in itself because I've never done that before either.

Something else I noticed. The oil level is very low and I see alot of wet oil in the exhaust valve? Could that be because the exahaust valve is too tight? The bike does not leak oil onto the ground.

Maybe I sould bring this bike to a mechanic. I want to learn more about it and I like learning about it but i want to ride this thing as soon as the weather gets better.

[scott_araujo]

It's just much easier to turn the engine with the tool, and you can be more precise.

Even with the belts off, turning the back wheel still turns the engine if it's in gear.  But if the belts are off make sure the valves on both cyls are all closed before you do that, or else with a valve in the open position the piston can come up and hit it.

Getting the belts on and aligned is easy, line up the engine pulley with the arrow on the case, line up the back cam pulley with the arrow, belt on, tension.  Line up the front cam pulley with the arrow, belt on, tension.  I think one of the pulley lines up to a screw instead of an arrow but same difference. 

Even if the belts are only one tooth off it will look misaligned so you can tell pretty easily.  Usually being one tooth off and turning the engine does no harm.  I've read a few accts here of people starting the engine, rough running, stop, check one tooth off, re-install, puuurrrrr!  Once you have them on just turn the engine gently (easy to do with the plugs out) and stop if you feel any binding.

Don't sweat this too much.  Patience is more important than skill.  If you're in over your head post on your local area board and see if someone there with a little more experience can come over to lend a hand.

Scott

[jerryz]

closers at .001'' are fine if you can spin them , I always set mine at that its called zero closer tolerance only on 2v not 4v  motors.Its an old race shop trick makes the bike run really clean.

[dropstharockalot]

Thanks for the info in this thread.  







/////update -
Purhased the engine turning tool in question and performed this operation this weekend.  It seems like everything went according to plan.