1st bad *** I've been off the forum for quite some time now due to having interests with other toys. Motorcycles, cars, guns, guitars, etc. Have obtained a lot of good information and entertainment from you members in the past, thanks. I stopped in because i remembered Rooks great how to on valve adjustments, this gets me to my second bad.

2nd Bad *** My bike currently has 42,000 miles and has never had or did valve adjustments. I have never noticed any change in power, gas mileage, or any change in engine noise. I know this is no excuse for being lazy especially when you are a journeyman mechanic I just wanted to share my results with you guys to show how bullet proof this motor is (not recommended). No more miles will be put on the bike until i finish valve clearance's, plugs, air filter, oil/filter, etc. thank god i bought a new ktm Super Duke to keep me going while the 14 is down.

Anyways, its good to see a lot of the old members still posting on the forum. It will be interesting where the clearances are after so many miles. Ill post the results when its complete.

And probably never sunk the throttle bodies either. I set mine loose. Run new iridium for said model. So if you are 40k plus miles, wait for it. I threw mine out when the interval came up, or close enough to extend them when I set the valves at 15k. Amazing difference with fresh plugs.

I've only changed oil, filter, sprockets, chain, disks, break pads, and of course tires over the years. I will take your advise on the plugs/sync. Also fuel filter and air cleaner. Im loving the new super duke right now so i can give the 14 (my baby) a full service at a leisurely pace. Cheers Hubster

My last valve check was at 62k miles. None had changed. I decided to not bother checking them again. I now have 80k miles. But don't ask me about rear tires...lol

Mad

I adjusted my valve clearance at 28,500 for the first time. Most exhaust valves were tight. When I checked them about 10k miles later, they were all as I had adjusted them. I don't think they change much once the engine wears in. You might be ok to keep running that motor but since you have a spare bike, might as well check the valve clearance and adjust it if you have the time.

* Last updated by: Rook on 2/20/2022 @ 10:54 AM *

Part of me wants to keep running the bike as is seeing the value is not much but..... I have been running full Synthethic and it may have made a difference.????? If anyone has went longer without checking them please chime in.

maddevill, i like your style, to me its like buyin an extended warranty. I would rather take my chances!! Not recommended

* Last updated by: doug on 2/21/2022 @ 2:14 AM *

At 42K mikes I'd pull an oil sample and send it to Blackstone Labs for analysis. The test results will tell you if all is normal or if certain wear metals/materials are abnormal and this will point to areas of concern.

I would not add one more mile on the bike. Like Rook said, that metal is going to pound that seat and tighten the molecules to a point. And that means the 45° at the valve is going to have a pounding at it too, so you add those two together as they walk up the head, close the shim clearance down, say hello to my new burnt valve(s), lost oil clearance to the shim and cam and wiped those out too.

Signed,
The you can pay me now or pay me later scenario

Ya im going to crack it open and bite the bullet!!! I just hate working on these bikes ever since i had to split the cases on my ZX11 years ago. Frickin plastics and such.

I spent a crap load to have the valves checked at 50,000kms only to be told all were in spec.
In a strange way it pissed me off.

Damn quality Kawasaki design engineers!

* Last updated by: yannih on 2/28/2022 @ 1:14 AM *

I don't even want to know what the stealers want for valve checks in my area. They charge me 100 bucks to mount one stinkin tire.

I bought two sets of shim kits, found enough between both to set the valves loose. There's the high(thin) and low(wide) gap numbers, but the book says to aim for the middle. I set mine at the lower gap and don't breakout of that number.

All this has to stay in-house as much as possible. I'd call a dealer just to ask what the warranty flat-rate number is to change the valve cover gasket? I mean, any deeper like a head gasket is way too many hours. They have to start at some base hour and add it on from there.

I don't think they are stealers if you look at the overhead to keep the lights on, paying off bank interest for inventory, the employees insurance, etc.

That's why the patina is all on you, [in-house], barely a scratch, low battery, etc. That's why, 'we'll get to it when things slow down,' cause we make more money banging out the fast stuff, and hours or a day and a half shot on your bike is triple what we can make in that time, or who knows why your bike is sitting there with their patina, moving every bike outside, day in, day out... waiting.

Signed,
In-House Wrenching Club

Years age they wanted 1500 bucks to adjust the valves on my 92 zx11 which was a lot of money for me at the time. I asked them if i tore the bike down to point of checking the clearances and bring (trailer) the bike to them , what it would cost. They looked at me funny and refused to do the work. What would does it cost these days ???? Yea they need to keep there doors open but at the cost of the few

Hub, I ordered the " The Digi syc" throttle body digital syc tool. I will give it whorl soon. (back ordered until the middle of April. https://thedigisync.com/

* Last updated by: doug on 3/3/2022 @ 7:50 PM *

Replace Sims or just Grind them for proper clearance?
Are the Sims "case hardened" or "through hardened"?

135,000 miles and the 4th valve check.
https://forum.concours.org/index.php?threads/valve-clearance-ramblings.54345/

2008 Connie touched 250,000 miles in 2021-same engine.

Here is my 250K oil analysis compared to my 200K results. I have been using Rotella T6 for approx. the last 225K, there are naysayers I know but it works.

* Last updated by: doubleD on 3/8/2022 @ 4:18 PM *

https://thedigisync.com/product/the-digisync/

Well darn, they offer a group buy. Let me know how that puppy works out. No liquid to suck in and auto-cycles like the tach and speedo for self adjust.

Good on you 250 and still running,,,, i to like the rotella

I will add some plcs of the digi in action when it arrives. In the mean time invested in some metric t handles to make life better. Beer is good