valve adjustment

reignman

reignman

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the time has come to check and adjust the valves (as well as some other minor maintenance) on my 07 fz1. the plan was to do it this winter but i was distracted with restoring my sisters ninja 250. two bikes apart in my already crammed garage would have been a nightmare. anyways, spring is just around the corner so i need to get butt in gear and start on mine. ill probably be asking many questions as i go through the process but for starters what do you the easiest and most economical option for valve shims is? i checked with one local motorcycle shop and they say they can only sell me refill packs of whatever size i need (they are more apparel than parts but are basically my neighbors so i had to check there first). do you think a yamaha dealer would sell individual shims or is there anywhere online to order individual ones? or do you think it will be quicker and easier to just buy a valve shim kit?
 
First you have to determine exactly which shims can be moved to new locations (in my case I was able to move 4) then write down the number of all the new shims. I ordered mine from Bike Bandit and I think it took a little over a week to get them which is good because while you're waiting you can get the other stuff done. In my case, I dropped the front end and lubed my neck bearings. The faring and tank were off from the valve check so it made perfect sense to do the neck job with all that crap out of the way. A lot of people don't even check the neck bearings till they're dry and starting to bind. If those things are lubed when they should be, they'll outlive the owner unless he abuses the bike trying to make it stand on it's front end which is a popular way to wear out front ends these days. By the way, the Stock Yamaha manual is very helpful with this job because you'll be taking out both cams before it's done. You'll also need to buy a feeler gauge and then trim it down to fit between the intake cam journals ( the manual doesn't mention that). You should also buy a new valve cover gasket and the gasket that is on the cam chain tentioner. It seems to me, if I remember correctly, that they said to remove the throttle bodies but all you have to take off is the air box in that respect. I'm 2100 miles from home but I have all my documentation and left over shims so if I have any that you need, you are welcome to them. Just PM me with the sizes you need. I'll be back home by about 3/8.
 
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okay thanks. ya i have the factory service manual in pdf form on my laptop so im sure that will be a great help. i ordered some tapered feeler gauges that are at most 1 cm so im thinking the tapered end will be narrow enough for the 5 valve configuration without having to cut them. i guess ill just make a chart, switch the ones i can and determine what ones i need. then ill see if you or any other forum member has some they would like to sell/donate and order the remaining. ill add lubing the neck bearings to the list of other little things to do while i have it apart
 
If you just buy a shim set, then you can be done in 6 to 8 hours. A set should be 100$ or so and you can sell the others. I would never buy individual shims, I had to replace an already exchanged shim because it was not the size written on it. Of course I use my bike daily and do not have the time to wait long but usually finish all tasks within one day.

I would not replace any gasket if it is not broken. Usually the valve cover gasket holds very long. However if you change a non leaking gasket you have the chance of getting a bad one which could cause you more trouble then reusing the old one. Yamaha does not require the change because they know that the gaskets should last much longer than the 26k miles when you do the valve adjustment. Ok if that would be your 3rd adjustment you should think about changing it.
 
Ah one thing which helps really is marking the camshaft sprocket and the timing chain position with white paint before removing the camshafts. Of course you can go by the markings on the camshaft but they are much more difficult to see than the markings on the sprocket and chain, you should be very careful with the position of camshafts and the camshaft bushings, do not mix up any of them, that is very crucial if you take your time and things might be lying around a week or more until you reassemble everything.

Be very slow when you remove the screws holding the camshafts. Just a quarter turn each and in criss cross pattern, takes very long but it is very easy to damage the camshafts if you do it to fast.
 
ya maybe ill wait to order the gasket and see how it looks. having the bike down for a week or so isn't the end of the world since im in ohio and the weather is still pretty crappy. i was planning to use a micrometer to ensure the shims i re use on a different cylinder or get from a member are indeed the listed size. it could save me quite a bit of money if i can re use or get a few from a member
 
todays the day im going to be checking the valves. i got everything taken apart already i just have to pull the valve cover off and check after work. ive been reading things all day about checking them and one thing that caught my attention was to check them at room temperature. do you think it will be a big issue if i check them today while its only about 30f out? i have a little heater in my garage but id be lucky if i got it up to 40f or so in there.
 
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