Adjustment at First Valve Check

[craigd]

Some folks on this forum have suggested that it is safe to skip the first valve check. In an effort to help people decide whether or not to skip it, here is a poll to gather some real world data to base a decision on.

 

[Pterodactyl]

Just did my first check at 19,000 miles. One exhaust valve was 0.02 mm too tight. All others were in spec by at least 0.01 mm, but I'm glad I didn't go another 31,000 miles before checking.

My opinion, the first check is the most important check. You will then know where you stand and if you feel you must skip a check, then at least it will be an educated decision and not a guess.

I think an arguement can be made to adjust all your valves when the bike is new. On both my FJR and Tenere it appears the factory is okay with setting the valves to anywhere within the specified range, even if that means being right on the edge of being too tight. If you adjust all your valves 0.02 mm from being too loose, then you will probably never have to adjust them again. That doesn't mean you should not check. Checking valves on the Tenere is mildly tedious, adjusting them is a PITA. I set all the valves on my FJR so they are on the loose side of the mid-point. Just for yucks I checked the again after 5000 miles and they were all mid-range.

By the way, I also checked the valves on a friend's ST with just over 20,000 miles. All his were in spec by at least a 0.01 mm.

 

[~TABASCO~]

I've done this job many times for owners. I would suggest that everyone checks the valves at the first 25/30. Most bike I do at this interval are on the limit. Some are just outside the limit. I would not push to 50 for the first. Onetime I did the service for a guy at about 50'ish. Seven of the eight where out. And two where WAY out.
I won't say you HAVE to do it at 25, but I would suggest no further than 30 and anytime before. Keep in mind, that checking the valves are easy. Changing the shims are not as easy, just time consuming.

So don't neglect, check them to 'make sure', then make your decision. At lest you will know if your good, close, or something needs an adjustment!

Don't put your head in the sand. Lol

 

[snakebitten]

Anyone that knows me around here wouldn't be too shocked that I would be the less cautious one that DID skip the first suggested valve clearance check.
Finally got around to it at about ~45000 miles.

And even then it was just part of a thorough refresh of the whole bike. Fluids, bearings, pivots.....etc.
I got lucky (or blessed, depending on your point of view) and had only a couple out of spec.
I was MORE pleased to find there was no carbon buildup. For whatever reason, that concerned me more.
(I can't prove anything, but when carbon was first discovered on a well maintained Tenere a few years ago, I immediately started using a fuel additive to defend it)

When I got the bike back from the go-over, everything just felt better. Everything. I suspect some portion of that was just psychological, but the tech informed me that what I was describing was certainly related to a fresh throttle body sync, and the servicing of head bearings and such.

Regardless, it feels like a brand new "tight" bike.
If I don't ever crash and destroy it, always a possibility, I'll never part with this thing.
It's already a classic, to me.

 

[Pterodactyl]

Not checking the valves as scheduled is taking a gamble where the odds are in your favor, but if you bet wrong the cost is very high.

 

[snakebitten]

I first checked mine around 30 but didn't need to change any till 64,000 miles.
A couple of exhaust just on tight side.
I checked them again a year ago when I replaced the cam chain, around 120,000 miles All right on still.
I attribute this to extreme babying the bike. Never ridden in the rain, never been down, only ridden by an old man. [at least the last one is true]

Yea, most of us are a lot harder on our Tenere than you are Steve. So we aren't likely to experience the same longevity.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Haven't gotten that many miles with the second Tenere. The first needed one exhaust and a second was on the limit.


While some have pushed it, skipping the first check is a high risk / low reward trade. The exhausts are always the ones to wear tight and as soon as they start to actually leak hot combustion gas by the seat, you're potentially looking at replacing the head of the engine.

 

[tomatocity]

Is this realistic?

At the first valve check if you have all the valves adjusted to the maximum suggested opening would you have to be concerned with the adjustment again?

 

[RED CAT]

I've done 2 valve adjusts on 2 S10s now and they were both out on the 1st valve check. Exhausts are nearly always tight. Intakes 50/50. I wouldn't miss the 1st valve check. Maybe skip the 2 nd one.

 

[Pterodactyl]

Is this realistic?

At the first valve check if you have all the valves adjusted to the maximum suggested opening would you have to be concerned with the adjustment again?

I would not adjust them to max spec; maybe 0.02 mm under max. I don't think you could ever say that you can permanently ignore checking the valves. I'd feel more at ease going further than the recommended interval, but they still neeed checking. As said earlier, checking is not that big a job and it can prevent an expensive mess, but setting the valves as described may mean you do not have to adjust the valves again for a very long time.

 

[bigbob]

I attribute this to extreme babying the bike. Never ridden in the rain, never been down, only ridden by an old man. [at least the last one is true]

That there is just plain, straight out funny!


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[EricV]

I'm one of those that skipped the first check. But, I have a '12 and back then, in '12, there was no body of data from Super Tenere owners that had actually had valve checks done. I had mine done for the first time at 49k mile in May of '13 and only two exhast valves were on the edge of spec, but all were still in. I did have them shimmed back more to mid range spec. I don't know what the third check would have revealed, as the CCT failed the day I tried to start the bike to take it in for the third check. I had the valves checked recently, after 26k from when my top end was re-built after the CCT failure and three valves, two exhast and one Intake were out of spec. My local shop is so on the ball, (not), that they complied with my request to write down all the numbers when they checked, and then spent 10 minutes trying to tell me I had some "loose" valves and the tech's recommendation was to leave it alone. Problem was, they weren't loose, they were TIGHT, per the numbers. Both the tech, whom argued I was wrong, and the service manager, had to have me show them the math and explain valve clearance before they suddenly understood they were wrong. (Doh! Lower numbers mean a smaller gap, not a larger one!!)

FWIW, I based my decision to skip the first check partly on my personal experience at the time with Yamaha and with my previous FRJ and FZ1, neither of which needed any shim changes at the first 26k valve checks. So for my riding style, break in style, etc, I felt this was safe practice, based upon my experience at the time. The FJR finally needed it's first shim changes at 98k miles. I sold the FZ1 before the first change, but knew the next owner, so had that info. (He had it checked at 26k and all were nicely in spec.)

A valve check, Vs a valve adjustment, has been a difference of about $100 on the Super Tenere. On the FJR, the price was the same either way, with a couple of shops telling me that once they were where they could check the valves, if they had to do the adjustment, it wasn't that big a deal, time wise, at that point. Only the Super Ten has cost me more if I actually needed shim changes.

 

[craigd]

Thanks for all of the input. At 24000 miles all of my exhaust valves were out of spec and all of my intake valves were in. I think the intakes will need to be adjusted at the next check.

 

[SilverBullet]

I didn't see the poll option for skipping the 1st and 2nd checks.

or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th checks also. Lol
I remember reading a thread here from an owner with over 130,000 miles and hadn't even checked his valves yet.

_

 

[fredz43]

My 12 was different than most here, as the first check at around 28,000 found the exhausts in spec but 2 of the intakes were too loose. I thought it ran fine as it was and it might have been my imagination, but I felt that it ran better after tightening up those 2 intakes. I will have my 14 checked at or around 26,000.

 

[WJBertrand]

I hate to mention this for it will just start something, but I’ll say it anyway.
At a Yamaha training class I was at the Instructor said “ whenever you see an interval of 26,600 miles for valve adjustment, that is the maximum allowable mileage that the EPA will let them put in print for manually adjusted valves. NOT what the engineers would have said that they need adjusted.” In other words if Yamaha could have specked a longer interval they would have.

Hmmm I'm extremely skeptical the EPA has anything to do with this. If that were true wouldn't the non-US bikes (where EPA has no jurisdiction) have a much longer inspection intervals in that case?


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[snakebitten]

All I know is it is rather saddening to read on ALL the forums about the Teneres that have suffered from valve related issues.
The things are like hand-grenades every time you head off many thousands of miles from home.
(it's a gorgeous day in Texas and I'm obviously feeling a bit frisky. Fair warning.

 

[AVGeek]

I didn't do the valve check on my bike before I sold it (didn't feel comfortable doing it myself, and didn't trust anyone around here to do it...). That being said, I finally checked and adjusted the valves on my 05 YFZ450 that I have owned since new in March 05. One intake valve need a shim, and the exhaust valves were fine. I was having difficulty starting the motor, and she fired right up after the adjustment...

 

[HeliMark]

All my exhaust valves were out on the first check. Not by much, but out. I will have them checked (beyond my skill) again at the appropriate time. Cheap insurance so to speak, and pretty dang cheap as this has been my only big dollar maintenance expense for this bike in 36K miles so far.

Mark

 

[Nimbus]

I think I re-shimmed all 4 exhaust valves since 3 were tight and I had the cams out anyway. FWIW, on my Yamaha FZ-09, people are reporting very tight valves from the factory and mine were surprisingly tight at 13K (1st check not recommended until 26K). So I call BS on the max service interval limited by the government thing.