Just done me tappets.

Elsewhere on this site I have posted a short piece on the Bike lift that I purchased from M&P £299.99 + del. You see things from a different perspective with your bike at waist height (plus if your vertically challenged).

Got fed up with the sound of tapping from my engine even after its first service and a special request to pay special attention to their settings. Obviuosly my polite request went unheeded.

Exhaust valve clearance on left top equalled 0.015 in with the lower recording a gap of 0.011in. Engine stone cold!

Exhaust valve clearance on right top equalled 0.014 in with the lower recording a gap of 0.012 in. Engine stone cold!

I did my valves the way I suggested some time back on another thread.
Blow through around spark plug use your breath, compressed air or WD 40 to dislodge trapped dirt around plug. Slacken plug and repeat cleaning operation again.
Plugs out (ones in the centre of head).
Head guards and rocker covers off (3 small torx bolts for the guards and 4 allen key bolts for the cover. SEE TIP BELOW**.
PREPARE FOR A SPILL OF OIL from under the heads.
Bike in 5th gear on centre stand.
Plastic tube in plug hole to determine TDC. (biro works well)
Rotate back wheel in DOR. Direction of normal rotation.
Watch valve action-- Exhaust valves depressed (open) and continue turning until you see Inlet valves open and then close, piston must be near to TDC.
Watch tube or screw driver (if you must) to attain TDC.
Both sets of rockers (the valve actuation arms) should have decernable up and down movement between the valve and the rocker arm DO NOT CONFUSE WITH SIDE PLAY IN THE ARM!
Use either 2 feeler blades of the same dimension or you can just as successfully use only one (if you are carefull). See note below.
Carefully adjust the operating clearance to the settings specified for your bike GS 1150 Ex. 0.012in (0.30mm) In. 0.006 in (0.015mm). Ex. valves at front of head, inlets at rear.
The adjusters are (4 per cylinder) on the ends of the rocker arms and consist of a 10mm (spanner size) lock nut and a 3mm allen key screw. To make an adjustment undo the locknut (anti-clockwise action) with a 3mm allen key inserted into the screw. By turning the screw inwards (clockwise) you will reduce the gap and by turning in the opposite direction (anti-c/w) you will increase the gap.


To get the RIGHT feel for the blade passing through the gap try this first. Put the blade between your (clean) finger and thumb and let your finger and thumb rest on the blades surface, now pull and push the blade back and forth. You should feel a slight resistance and this is the 'feel' that you are aiming to achieve for the adjustment process.

WARNING the components you will be working on are quite strong but you WILL break or damage the valve operating mechanism if you are ham fisted and overly brutal with the tools.

** TIP you may have to slap quite hard with your hand the rocker covers, they tend to stick on a bit, only use your hand then no damage gets done.

When you have adjusted one side, move to the next.

When you have made an adjustment and then tightened the locknut, double check the clearance as it can alter no matter how careful you are.

Now stand back have a cuppa and just look at the job. Familiarise your self with all the bits under the rocker cover so that when the engines running you will have a reasonable understanding as to whats going on whilst you ride.

The rubberised gasket that fits between the cover must be cleaned of all oil to ensure an oil tight finish. Also make sure that the spark plug rubber seal is fitted back to the cover, it may still be down inside the plug hole, prise it out gently with a small screw driver and de-oil it then push it onto the plug tube inside the cover. (Do not worry this is all really quite straight forward)

Right got everything clean all parts accounted for, still got all of your fingers etc. now refit the rocker covers they just push on with little resistance. Screw in the retainers evenly and tighten down by hand untilthe retainer bottoms out nip it just abit further--about a sixteeth of a turn.

Fit all the other parts back and your ready to rock and roll. I may have left out the plug lead removal but you want to find things out for yourself sometimes.

There its easy peasy but think about it, your not in a busy workshop with the manager screaming for customers bikes and you've had time for a tea break aswell. Thats when the finesse goes out of the job and your valves get sod all care.

Hope that was useful and its not to far removed from the BMW workshop manual process.

And if your doing this crawling around on the floor, get a bike lift.

Well done

IMHO I'd never trust a mechanic to do yer tappets.

They stand back and drink tea and forget which ones they have done.

He's Not the Mechanic hes a very naughty boy

LOL (Again)

G.....

Time well spent

First time I did the tappets on my 1100GS I made things worse! I used the same single-feeler-gauge technique I've used on all my jap bikes up to now, but oilheads seem to be extremely sensitive to the tiniest difference between valve gaps. Maybe boxers in general, I don't know?

Then I read "Oilhead Valve Adjustment for Dummies" on advrider, bought an extra set of feeler gauges, and did them again, this time spending perhaps an hour each side getting the gaps exactly right.

When I fired it up I was staggered by the difference. It's now much less vibey, and pulls smoothly from well below 1500 rpm in all gears, whereas before it had tended to snatch and sometimes stall at low revs. It honestly feels like a different engine!

Be careful when you refit the rocker cover as the plug rubber seal can dislodge on the cover earthing tang, causing oil leaks etc,,Run the engine before you replace cyl protectors to check for leaks.,,,( I always check rocker float at the same time, that noise on start up that goes away when warm?,).

Oh the joys of horizontally opposed twins.

Recently did the shims on me 650, it took over an hour of dismantling just to get the head cover off

Then the camshafts had to come out (bucket and shims you see), then I b***ered up the timing - can't wait to be working on a twin again

Do you still have to torque down the heads prior to adjustments on the oil heads?

Double double check

As (ahem) a professional I always check and check again any adjustments that I make, its not that I doubt my abilities its just easier to double check what you have just done. Remeber the tailors moto, measure twice cut once.

So it is with confidence that I say with only one feeler blade I achieved what you are supposed to with two blades. Again as a double check after adjustment I checked the gap with two feeler blades of identical thickness (micrometer checked). Obviuosly with higher mileage engines this might prove difficult due to rocker shaft and arm wear, hence for a high mileage engine I would certainly use the 2 together process; some Hondas use the type of valve operation (Transalp and Africa Twin, Bros and Revere etc).

Yes I must confess the engine does give the impression in being smoother at idle, but I feel this is just because the thing is quieter.

My 3 week old 1150GS is quiet and smooth when cold, but once warmed up, I can hear the tappets chattering away. The bike still runs smoothly though.

It's going in for the 600 mile service on Saturday. Do you suggest I mention it as an issue??

If the tappets are adjusted properly so that there is no noise when the engine is warm, does that mean that the tappets will be noisy when the engine is cold?

The bike is otherwise great...and getting better with each mile!

[v]

voRTex said:

It's going in for the 600 mile service on Saturday. Do you suggest I mention it as an issue??
[v]

Click to expand...

You could mention it, but from reading the above, I would be prepared to spend an afternnon doing it properly myself!

Iain

To voRTex

Re your slight concerns, of course you could stop reading the bits about engines on this site and ride on in (pardon the expression) ignorant bliss. Might do us all a bit of good to ignore the odd rattle and bang or two, clunk click every trip. .....tap..tap..tick!

Vor sprung dor technik = Two hung (as in strangled) technicians.

Men with white coats outside, something about time to put the nutter back in the padded cell.