"Bad Valves"?

scottpatton44

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My local mechanic who I generally trust is absolutely NOT a fan of the Super Tenere. I finally "cornered him" and said why. His response was every time we check the valves they are WAY out. I've never checked my own valves, have no knowledge of the process or procedure - but those who have - do you find the same thing?

His contention is "Yamaha isn't using good metal somewhere in there." He's never led me astray on my Wee... but has me nervous.
 

swakop_toe

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What is the milage on your S10?

Mine is on 75,000km l, 2010 1st Edition and have had 2 valve clearance inspections done so far and not once had they had to add shims.

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tntmo

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I don't know if I agree with your mechanic. I did my first valve check a little early, had two valves that needed to be re-shimmed but were just barely out of tolerance. I'm due for my next check now so will see soon.

From what I have seen on this board, some people have had the check done with no valves out of spec, some have had similar to my experience.... and then you have the third group of people who just never check the valves.
 

sky4

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yet you never hear of lunched heads due to valves.

This guy has probably worked on very few of these bikes. they could be heavily neglected.

i've got 91k on mine. valves were checked at 30k and 60k. I don't think it needed shims at 60.
 

Squibb

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schrodinger's valves.
Absolutely - the guy is a quantum mechanic, giving you a cartload of BS.

However, if we are talking comparing a valve check on a DL1000 (your current ride?) with a Super10, then the DL has a simplified system that allows removal of each camshaft without disturbing the cam chain. OK, not as easy as hydraulic tappets on a Harley, nor as difficult as a BMW K1600 6 cylinder, but more room for error maybe.

 

StefanOnHisS10

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Generally these engines are bulletproof and run for many 100K miles. Yamaha went the extra mile to makes these as good as they are.
Did he tell you (in numbers) what is WAAAAAYYYYY out in his book?
 

WJBertrand

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Since it sounds like he’s an independent mechanic I wonder if he’s following the factory procedure. A lot of mechanics (myself included) will just instinctively rotate the cams until the lobe is facing 180° from the follower and check the clearance there. I fell into this trap the first time I checked mine and found massive exhaust valve clearances. Rechecking the manual, I discovered I was supposed to rotate the crank another 71° and then check there. All the clearances made sense once I did that, but it wasn’t intuitive.
Turns out that the exhaust valve decompression mechanism is engaged at the 180° mark holding the valve open and creating the impression that the clearance is way off.
One has to be familiar with this peculiar feature in the Super Ténéré to do the job correctly. I hope he did not try to correct the clearances with the decompression mechanism engaged or you may have exhaust valve(s) with little to no clearances.


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Don T

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My local mechanic who I generally trust is absolutely NOT a fan of the Super Tenere. I finally "cornered him" and said why. His response was every time we check the valves they are WAY out. I've never checked my own valves, have no knowledge of the process or procedure - but those who have - do you find the same thing?

His contention is "Yamaha isn't using good metal somewhere in there." He's never led me astray on my Wee... but has me nervous.
Sorry, but your mechanic is talking nonsense.

Quality-wise the T12 is at least on par with any other bike in its class, and doesn't have a valve issue.
 

Checkswrecks

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My local mechanic who I generally trust is absolutely NOT a fan of the Super Tenere. I finally "cornered him" and said why. His response was every time we check the valves they are WAY out. I've never checked my own valves, have no knowledge of the process or procedure - but those who have - do you find the same thing?

His contention is "Yamaha isn't using good metal somewhere in there." He's never led me astray on my Wee... but has me nervous.
He simply doesn't know the bike because what he said isn't the history of the collective here. If he mentioned early model cam chain tensioners (long since resolved) or some other things, he would have been more credible.
 

sky4

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Since it sounds like he’s an independent mechanic I wonder if he’s following the factory procedure. A lot of mechanics (myself included) will just instinctively rotate the cams until the lobe is facing 180° from the follower and check the clearance there. I fell into this trap the first time I checked mine and found massive exhaust valve clearances. Rechecking the manual, I discovered I was supposed to rotate the crank another 71° and then check there. All the clearances made sense once I did that, but it wasn’t intuitive.
Turns out that the exhaust valve decompression mechanism is engaged at the 180° mark holding the valve open and creating the impression that the clearance is way off.
One has to be familiar with this peculiar feature in the Super Ténéré to do the job correctly. I hope he did not try to correct the clearances with the decompression mechanism engaged or you may have exhaust valve(s) with little to no clearances.


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oh that's interesting... i bet he did.

i've heard of like zero engine problems with these bikes. I think a guy here managed to kill one by not checking valves for 140k miles. Pretty sure an Ebay head got him up and running.
 

gv550

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And why would a motorcycle mechanic hate a particular bike because it requires more work (real or imagined) ?
More work usually equals more money for the mechanic which you'd think would be a good thing for him. If all bikes required no maintenance then we wouldn't need mechanics.....
 

~TABASCO~

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I personally have worked on more Super Tenere's than "probably" anyone on earth........... I call BS on this mechanic, it's just not true. They are NOT always out. All the parts are good and this is a very robust engine platform. With general maintenance this is a 250K + motor.
 

sky4

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And why would a motorcycle mechanic hate a particular bike because it requires more work (real or imagined) ?
More work usually equals more money for the mechanic which you'd think would be a good thing for him. If all bikes required no maintenance then we wouldn't need mechanics.....
the super T is about the closest thing i've owned to a maintenance free bike.... maybe that's why he hates em.
 
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