Gecko
Registered user
I did my valves yesterday but this time instead of loosening the H&B crash bars and without taking off the tank or front plastic alternator cover. I know the pro's out there probably do this anyway but I just stuck the bike in top gear and gently rotated the back wheel to find TDC in the viewing hole. My daughter was happy to help and she watched the Z....S....and OT appear and then on I went with the fettling. What a time saver it is doing it this way - no need to remove the tank, lossen the crash bars, remove those fiddly allen bolts holding the front cover on and then do it all in reverse to put it back together. Incidently I could remove the cylinder head covers without any problem despite the H&B crash bars.
One strange thing I noted was that both of the rubber seals that sit in the spark plug tunnel seemed to have beginning to detriorate at the same time. They both seemed to be slightly cracked and showing signs of perishing - not something I have noticed before but as I'm at 80,000kms I guess thats nothing out of the ordinary.
The bike was starting to feel buzzy and vibey at certain revs and was surging more than I was used to so I was right to check the valves. One of the inlet valves was way off - almost completely closed and one of the exhaust valves on the other side was well off too when compared to it's running mate.
Just goes to show - don't leave this too long between checks . I think I did this last about 6000km back and it needed doing again before the service schedule 10,000km interval.
One strange thing I noted was that both of the rubber seals that sit in the spark plug tunnel seemed to have beginning to detriorate at the same time. They both seemed to be slightly cracked and showing signs of perishing - not something I have noticed before but as I'm at 80,000kms I guess thats nothing out of the ordinary.
The bike was starting to feel buzzy and vibey at certain revs and was surging more than I was used to so I was right to check the valves. One of the inlet valves was way off - almost completely closed and one of the exhaust valves on the other side was well off too when compared to it's running mate.
Just goes to show - don't leave this too long between checks . I think I did this last about 6000km back and it needed doing again before the service schedule 10,000km interval.
