My recently aquired '97 GS500 recently rolled over 12,000 miles, and looking through my Clymer manual, I'm comfortable performing all but disassembling the engine top-end to check clearances at this time.

How important is it to check the valve clearance at the 4,000 mile interval?  Should I take it to a shop and pay them to have it checked?

If you are comfortable taking the tank off the bike and you have the proper tools (feeler guage, torque wrench to replace the cylinder cover, socket to turn the crank (19mm?)), then checking the valves is cake.  takes about an hour.  I had two valves measure tight on my 97 with 10,500 miles.  They weren't badly out, but they were out... so if you haven't personally checked the valves yet, I'd say do it.

now shimming them is another story, 'cause you'll need the shims.  I checked mine myself and took them to a good engine guy when they needed shimming.  The good news is that the GS is shim-over-bucket, so a pro shimming job should only cost you 50-100 bucks.

Quote from: MarlboroManlooking through my Clymer manual, I'm comfortable performing all but disassembling the engine top-end to check clearances at this time.

I interpret this to mean that you're OK with removing the side panels, unhooking the fuel hoses, taking the gas tank off, and unhooking choke and throttle cables ... but not wanting to remove the valve cover.

If I understood you correctly, then I say "go the last yard".  Removing the valve cover does NOT affect any moving parts.  It truly is just a cover, whose main job is to keep oil from spitting out of the crankcase and all over you and the bike.

Measuring the valve clearances with feeler gauge blades is not difficult.  The hardest part is coming into the possession of a set of blades that goes down to the lower service limit (.03mm).  The next hardest part is replacing the valve cover and gasket such that the gasket isn't pinched in the wrong place.  Working slowly and carefully takes care of that.  Alternately, you can "glue" the gasket to the valve cover with gasket sealant to make it a non-issue.

After having just helped Richard work on his valves, I would recommend "the Srinath method" of turning the engine over (to position the cam lobes before measuring).  Rather than remove the right-side engine cover and use a large socket wrench to crank the engine, just put the bike in 6th gear and spin the rear wheel in the normal direction of travel (NOT THE OTHER WAY) until the cam lobe of interest "points to the sky".  Then measure.  If you're a stickler for accuracy, take several measurements at slightly different cam lobe positions and average them or something.

Quote from: MarlboroManHow important is it to check the valve clearance at the 4,000 mile interval?  Should I take it to a shop and pay them to have it checked?

This depends on how much of a perfectionist you are.  If the bike is under warranty I would say to go ahead and have the shop do it.  But if you plan on having it done every 4,000 miles you're looking at a "chunk of change" over time.  If you bite the bullet and go that last yard you can do the measuring yourself and then IF THE CLEARANCES ARE OFF you can decide whether to have the shop do the shim swap to bring everything back to spec.  But I'm guessing that if you make it this far you'll realize that you could do the rest yourself, too!

I predict that after you measure your clearances a few times you will lengthen the interval to 6,000 or 8,000 miles.  But I imagine that first 4,000 miles IS the most important one.  "Early threat detection", and all that.

Quote from: vtlionThe good news is that the GS is shim-over-bucket, so a pro shimming job should only cost you 50-100 bucks

And a DIY job will cost you from $0 to $35 the first time (for the valve spring compressor tool), plus $8 to $12 dollars per shim that's out of spec.

It all depends on your "Money vs Time vs Challenge" continuum!  

MarlboroMan, you have been pm'ed.

Well It depends on how confident you are in the machine.

My bike has well.  Um.. 25,000 miles on it and I bought it with 9,000.  I have never looked at the valves.  She still runs like a champ but I know that they need to be checked/fixed because My idle is a little funny and It always backfires in the morning.    


(seriously)

BIG thank you to scratch for explaining to me how to check the valves (and for swapping me a shim.  )

I've got 4,330 miles on mine. It's not making much noise at all, and it runs fine. Would it still be a good idea to check the valves? On my Virago, I only found the valves out of adjustment once in 23,000 miles(and it was slight). I swithced from checking every 4,000, to every 8,000.  :dunno:

check them... it's not that hard, you might spot other problems before they become serious, and even just a little out of spec might cause some probs....

particularly if you haven't done it before, it's worth it for the experience.

 

Your welcome, MarlboroMan!

Ed, A really good, complete shop will have purchased a full set of shims to work on every bike they have sold (if it's a dealership). It would not make sense to open a shop and not have all the necessary tools and expecially shims. The shop needs to be able to service almost any motorcycle that has been sold by that maker (i.e.: Suzukis from '77(or earlier)-current).

In the old days, I used to be able to just swap shims with the shop. No charge. But, now, some shops will only order shims for me. Luckily, I have found a few shops in my area that are willing to sell the shims that the service department has.

Good luck!

 

Quote from: Ed_in_AzAre a variety of shims likely to be a stocked item at a small town dealer like mine is? If not then my bike will be laid up until I can order them.

WHy should your bike be laid up while you wait?   Assuming that you have the right tools, you can:

* tear the bike down
* check the clearances
* pop and measure each shim that has an out-of-spec clearance (putting the shims back in as you go), and
* put the bike back together[/list:u]in a couple hours.

When the new shim(s) come(s) in, do it all over again.  In the meantime, keep riding!  

I suppose you're right, Kerry. I might even be lucky and all is within spec. I did read the scare story of old gaskets letting go after taking things apart.  I hope that's not too common.