For all you who have been hearing me talk and talk and talk about trying my hand at a valve adjustment, I'm into it now!

It's foreign territory, but so far I haven't broken, scratched, bent, or lost anything!

Valve covers and gaskets, front and rear, are off, plugs are out and the holes covered with rags.

Now I have some questions before I dig any deeper and, hopefully, finish this job tomorrow night:

1. Is it necessary to remove the cylinder head spacer plates as well, or just recommended (pluses/minuses)?
2. Is there a trick to getting those back-most center bolts out of the valve cover on the rear cylinder? I'll be daggonned if there is clearance between the bolt and frame?
3. According to the tech article, it looks like I can bump the starter to open/close valves, and I want to check the clearances when the valves are in the closed position, is that right?
4. Any other tips/pointers?

All prayers are welcomed.

1. Yes take it off ... it's not big deal but watch out for the dowels.

2. Some of the bolts are hard to get out. I can't remember but you may be able to pull the bolts up and take the cover off without removing them completely.

3. I found bumping the starter is "luck of the draw". Take the plugs out. If you have the bike up then put it in gear and turn the wheel. If it's on the ground then move the bike.

4. Read the Tech Articles. Should be some stuff in there.

Doc

Here's my baby with her guts hanging out!

Soba, read the article written by Odo in the tech section. I think he explains the bolt questions you had. Also agree with Doc, I think I remember you saying you had a jack, get the back wheel off the ground so you can turn the engine over without pushing the bike around the yard..

nice and clean in there...

Flashback wrote:
Soba, read the article written by Odo in the tech section. I think he explains the bolt questions you had. Also agree with Doc, I think I remember you saying you had a jack, get the back wheel off the ground so you can turn the engine over without pushing the bike around the yard..

Yeah, that was a great tip. Certainly more reliable than bumping the starter. I'll go that route.

Learn it all good Soba! I'll be hitting you up for tips soon.

Ratl

Just take your time and you'll do fine. The trick to those bolts is in Odo's article. once loose just lift the cover and rotate it ,it will come off. do the reverse putting it back on. Your picture shows your at the area to adjust them. As Odo said don't go running around the yard watching your valves work

Well, it's official, I don't know what the heck I'm doing. Or I should say, I could probably get this done and feel confident about it if I had directions for a novice and some really decent photos.

Got the covers and gaskets all off just fine. Instructions talk about removing the rocker cover spacer plate (the plate below the covers) and ended up scratching my head for a while until I opened up Clymer's and found out that the '04 and up doesn't have one.

Jacked up the back of the bike and rotated the wheel as suggested here to bring the 1st piston to the top of the stroke and hit the proverbial wall. The things I need to see and really get to are still a smidgeon below the top of the head, just enough I can't get a visual on where the valve stem meets the rocker arm. I tried inserting several of the smallest feller gauges up in there (from 0.015 to 0.030) and, of course, none of them slide through.

So go the other route, right? I'll be pickled if I can see how to get my dial gauge on the tip of the rocker finger, even from the suggested locations for attaching my magnetic base.

So where am I? I cleaned up the parts and put it all back together. Have a scheduled ride this weekend, so I had to have it up and running. I'll tackle this again sometime in the future, hopefully with better, clearer instructions (for a later model)and maybe photos for how to set up the dial gauge with magnetic mount. And maybe a buddy with more experience.

I'm a pretty good wrench usually, and follow directions well. But I guess with no prior valve experience on a bike, I just couldn't fill in the blanks. Coils are wrapped anyway, and the bike fired right up. Also learned more about the bike in the process and a trick for getting a couple of the cover bolts back in.

Sounds like you gave it a darn good try Earl, maybe the next attempt will work out better.