Hi  I recently bought a  94 GS with 10700 miles and wondering if I need to have the valve adjusted and how much is it?  I know its old but Im planning to keep it for a while and maybe pass on to my girlfriend when its time to uprade to a bigger bike.  I read somewhere that  a motorcycle have to have a valve adjusted at 10000 miles to keep the engine last longer and I don't know if the previous owner already have done this.  Is it worth it? or just don't worry about it.   Thanks All.  

Your valves may not need to be adjusted, but after 11,000 miles they should at least be checked.  It's not TOO hard to do if you have the tools.

 * 10mm and 12mm sockets for the side plastic and the gas tank
 * Screwdriver and pliers for the fuel petcock and fuel lines
 * 7?mm socket for removing right engine case cover
 * 17?mm socket for turning the engine over.
 * Good set of Allen wrenches to remove the valve cover
 * Feeler gauge with the thinnest blades you can find  (you're trying to measure between .03 and .08 mm of clearance)
 * Borrow a set of dial calipers that will measure thousands of an inch or hundredths of a millimeter.
 * Don't forget a good manual - Clymer or Haynes.  The Haynes has a great valve clearance chart to help you choose the thickness of any needed replacement shims.

If you haven't wrenched at all before, you may not want to tackle this as your first job.  On the other hand, if I can do it, just about anyone can!

Just make sure that if you take the camshafts off to get to the shims, make sure you get the timing right when you put it back together. That's a mistake I'll only make once  

Whoa, do not remove the cams to get the shims out, oh wait a minute, that's if you don't have the little Kawasaki tool set. It's a little prybar about 3 inches in length with a little ball on the end and a metal piece shaped like a "w". The prybar you use to depress the shim and bucket and the little metal piece is used to keep the bucket depressed while you take the shim out.

To read about other methods for changing the shim(s) -- if it comes to that -- see the old thread

Tools: Do I need the tappet decompressor?

Does the bike sound like it needs a valve adjustment? If I could hear your bike I might be able to tell if it needs an adjustment. Valve adjustments are suggested every 4000 miles, so you could, conceivably, wait until 12,000mi.

Have you changed the oil? That helps too. Again, every 4000 miles. What kind of oil did the previous owner use?

Referring to the other thread, if the tool is only $35ish bucks, I'd go for it. At the time, I had only talked to the shop and they said the tool would be $130. I thought I'd save a few bucks and just do it myself. Without the tool, I had to take the camshafts off. I didn't get the timing right when I put it back together and ended up with a bent valve . Even if you can get the timing right in your sleep, I'd say it's worth $30 just to avoid the labor. Just my two cents.

Scratch I just replaced the engine oil and I don't know if it sound like it need a valve adjustment don't know how that sounds like  
I don't ride on the freeway yet just started riding and I'm here in Union City so If you happen to be in the neighborhood we could probably meet up.  Thanks for the advice guys but I'm not really that mechanically sound yet.

Hmmm.  I coulda sworn that I had a picture of my MotionPro "shim tool" thingie around here somewhere.

OK, I found it!  For anyone who cares....



EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net

I wanted to re-surface a few days old post with a new question.  

Is it OK to ride a bike that's valves are making noises?  Since my bike is a beater/salvage, I've put off the valve adjust until now (I know, I know, I suck.)  It's starting to make slight clicking/lashing noises though, so I'm taking it in soon to have the valves done.  

Is it OK to put a few hundred miles on it in the mean-time, or shall I take the bus as much as possible?

Well My bike has 21,000miles now (I bought it last october with 9,000) and It ticks a little but I have never touched the valves.  I will this xmas break though.  But other than a slight vibration, everything runs fine.

Quote from: JeffDWell My bike has 21,000miles now (I bought it last october with 9,000) and It ticks a little but I have never touched the valves.  I will this xmas break though.  But other than a slight vibration, everything runs fine.

Cool.... it looks like we'll both be finding out the hard way.    

Mine were done by previous owner at 28k, and I'm up to 47k with the valves just starting to click....

Quote from: scratch on October 21, 2003, 04:53:11 PM
Does the bike sound like it needs a valve adjustment? If I could hear your bike I might be able to tell if it needs an adjustment. Valve adjustments are suggested every 4000 miles, so you could, conceivably, wait until 12,000mi.

Hey Scratch, how can you tell by ear if the bike needs a valve adjustment?  How does it sound when it does?   

*edit: of course mine probably does, since it's at ~12,500 mi and I don't know if the previous owner ever did it.

The ticking gets LOUDER!  Some valves on some bikes, mostly air-cooled, will make a little tick, but seriously, properly adjusted valves should make no noise.  My bike was quiet until I changed the oil a hundered miles before I did my valve adjustment Sunday.