Cycledude
Well-Known Member
I believe the first check is the most important one, if they checkout good the first time I don’t think they will change much after that.
I like this type of system. My old FJ uses shim over bucket and a complete valve adjustment only takes about an hour. Of course it is a really easy and simple bike to work on. I also like the old screw and lock nut system. I have put thousands of miles on both kinds and not had any issues. I am sure Yamaha put the shim under bucket valve system on the ST because it is the same set up on the rest of the bikes. I am not an engineer but the only real issues I see with a shim over bucket is the weight of the shim at high RPM. I am not Valentino Rossi so I don't care!Why they will not use another type of simpler dumper, where it is not necessary to disassemble the entire cam shaft to change a pill that is under the dumper. if the pill was up, with a simple tool the plunger would sink and the pill would be changed. Yeah ... I know ... I'm talking stupid things
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Yamaha is a super conservative company and everything is an adaptation of something else. While they have had shim over bucket designs, the top of our engine is based in a scaled up half of a 4 cylinder. It seems to me the basis was an early R1. Hence the design for high rpm so the shim went under the bucket.... I am sure Yamaha put the shim under bucket valve system on the ST because it is the same set up on the rest of the bikes....
Maybe, the long cam chain, is related to the strokeThe other drawback of scaling up became the really long cam chain, but that's another set of threads.
“Procuring the best, we often spoil what is good”...ShakespeareAnd the inspection/adjustment itself is not risk free -
Where is AL did you get this done?A good shop will charge you $300-$450 for the 26k mile valve check/adjust, depending on if they have to re-shim or not. If no re-shim, only a valve cover gasket and one other. I just paid $300 for that work recently in AL. In UT it used to cost me $435 or so, with shim changes. On the '12 I skipped the first interval and did it at 52k. All exhuast valves were right on the edge of spec, running tight. On the '15 that I just had done, I had it checked at 28k and they were all nicely in the middle of spec still. YMMV. At 16k, you don't need to do this work. The header and ECU flash won't have any impact on the valve train.
Yamaha of Harrison, 1429 Hwy 65 N., Harrison, AR. 870-741-3131 www.yamahaofharrison.comWhere is AL did you get this done?
maybe they finally did one for someone and know what it takes now?A dealer in La. quoted me $485 plus tax today for a valve adjustment today. The same dealer told me $500-$600 a few months ago.