Vulcan 800 - Valve Adjustment

[agnelo]

Hey guys

I have 800 2005 classic with 10500 miles on the m-cycle and still never done the valve checks, so decided to do this now as I was guilty of not doing so at the 6000 mark as mentioned in the manual.

I did take the help of the valve adjustment manual and it has helped me a lot but then I have a lot of questions that I need some help from all who have done this before.

I have the feeler gauge which has 2 values, the top value is .005 and the lower value is .127 & mm mentioned below that. This is how the feeler gauge shows me :
.005
.127
mm

I dont know which value to read. The PDF and the manual says that the value for Intake must be between .10~.15mm and for Exhaust .25~.30mm

My questions are:
1) Which value do I read from the feeler gauge.
2) The intake valve is the valve that is near the Carburetor?
3) I removed the shims out and do now know which was where originally, I put them back to the positions and tried the feeler gauge and the .005 was going without much efforts on the intake side, I could not slide the guage on the other shim. These valve I assume are the intake side.
4) Do I have to turn the crankshaft again to check the Exhaust facing valve?
5) What is a Front Piston at TDC and Rear Piston at TDC?
6) Is it really necessary to change the shims?

Thanks and looking forward to hear from anyone of your guru's out there

Agnelo

[cosmicsclassic]

Originally Posted by agnelo

Hey guys

I have 800 2005 classic with 10500 miles on the m-cycle and still never done the valve checks, so decided to do this now as I was guilty of not doing so at the 6000 mark as mentioned in the manual.

I did take the help of the valve adjustment manual and it has helped me a lot but then I have a lot of questions that I need some help from all who have done this before.

I have the feeler gauge which has 2 values, the top value is .005 and the lower value is .127 & mm mentioned below that. This is how the feeler gauge shows me :
.005
.127
mm

I dont know which value to read. The PDF and the manual says that the value for Intake must be between .10~.15mm and for Exhaust .25~.30mm

My questions are:
1) Which value do I read from the feeler gauge.
2) The intake valve is the valve that is near the Carburetor?
3) I removed the shims out and do now know which was where originally, I put them back to the positions and tried the feeler gauge and the .005 was going without much efforts on the intake side, I could not slide the guage on the other shim. These valve I assume are the intake side.
4) Do I have to turn the crankshaft again to check the Exhaust facing valve?
5) What is a Front Piston at TDC and Rear Piston at TDC?
6) Is it really necessary to change the shims?

Thanks and looking forward to hear from anyone of your guru's out there

Agnelo

OK lot's of questions, i'll try to shed some lite: 1)since these are metric bikes and specs are in metric, use the metric units, in the case you described the .005 is in inches ( this must be a sae set of gauges that also shows metric), the .127 with the MM under is the metric, so basiclly this is .12 (or .13 if you round up ) MM. 2) yes the intake valves are closest to the carb. (ps there's two per cylinder ). 3) If the correct size feeler gauge will not fit then the shim must be replaced with a thinner shim to increase the gap,, ei, if the next thicker gauge fits then a thicker shim will be needed to decrease the gap. 4&5) When the crankshaft is set at front TDC (top dead center ) and the line on the camshaft gear is level with the top of the head then both sets of valves (intake and exhaust ) for the front cylinder are in position to be adjusted, hence when the rear TDC is set the rear valves are in position to be adjusted. 6) changing the shim (thicker or thinner) is how you correct the gap. I hope this helps.

[agnelo]

If the feeler guages that I slide between the rocker arm and the shim are within the permissible value, do I need to make any shim changes?

Thanks for the answers. Once I access the mbike today I will post more questions.

Agnelo

[tkuligowski]

No, as long as the gap isn't too tight or not to loose then you don't make any changes.

[agnelo]

What is the ideal gap size?

[Wiscblue]

Do the valves really get off far enough to justify the time/effort? This seems like something I would do only to mess up something else in the process.

[jdvulcan]

I did my adjustment last week. The bike had 15500 and i dont know if they had been checked before. I had 5 of 8 super tight where .10 was NOT going to fit no way no how so yes it is important. It does not take a whole lot of time. I seen reports of 2 or 3 hours. I did mine just under 2 hours it helps when you have the shim kit at access. It isnt real hard to do. there are short cuts and once you do it you will see.the hardest part is the back cover i found it easier to take it out the throttle side. that took 10 - 15 minutes messing with that (trying to take it out on the clutch side) all and all it isnt bad.

[rustygunner]

Originally Posted by Wiscblue

Do the valves really get off far enough to justify the time/effort? This seems like something I would do only to mess up something else in the process.

Yes they absolutely do get out of adjustment. Eventually you will get zero valve clearence and the valve will burn from no longer sealing. The steel valves pound further and further into the aluminum head. They are always getting tighter, and will never loosen up.

I have noticed that with more miles on the engine valves do not need adjusted as frequently as they did when the engine was newer.

[Wiscblue]

Is there a good place to get a shim-kit?

Does anyone have a decent write up of how to do this?

[rustygunner]

Shim kit; ebay, $76... and PM Jeff for the PDF cause I forget where I found it.

[jdvulcan]

ebay hot cams $79 every shim you will ever need

[jeffs99vulcan]

Someone say valve adjustment on an 800?!

Here's the PDF: 800 Valve Adjustment

And here was my review after I did it!

Did the valve adjustment last night... Nothing to it! It's always the same story, I get all worked up thinking it's going to be a nightmare and I'll be rolling the chasis of my bike up onto a trailer with a pick-up truck full of removed parts, begging for the dealer not to laugh at me while he sorts it out, but ends up being such a simple process I wonder what the hell I was concerned about in the first place!

The document that I had found and attached in the first post was an awesome help, and when it came time to do the job (last night, wife and kids away camping, no interuptions, no time limit!) it was as easy as recognizing what had to happen, and doing it... meaning, you can look at the bike, see that the valve covers have to come off, and just start removing things that prevent that from happening... it was that simple.

Once again, the document attached was right... for the following reasons:

You don't have to remove everything the manual says you have to, including and especially draining the coolant. Yes, there will be a little spillage, but not enough to even be concerned about topping it off when you're done. Just be ready for it, with maybe some cardboard on the ground and a few bits of rag to plug the hoses once you disconnect them.

You have to be careful to watch hose and tube routing before you start reattaching things... my fuel vent hose was behind the air box when I got the tank back on, but it was a two minute process to fix.

THe ONLY issue, if there even was one, was that it was hard to get the fuel supply hose off the petcock, and I ended up cutting it to get it off. All that meant was I lost a half inch off the end of the hose. If that was my worst problem, then I guess that was a pretty simple one to have!

But in all seriousness, if you are even CONSIDERING performing this maintenance yourself then I'd say you can do it. If you're worried about it, I'd like to suggest that if you know which way to turn a bolt to loosen it without thinking about it, you've got the skills to do this job! I can give you all the detail you want if it helps, but again, the attached document was my bible, I highly recommend it!

Everyone is right about the time too... I removed the first bolt at 6:00, and was starting the bike at 9:00, I worked at a relaxed pace and a couple of neighbours came over to see what was happening. I was washing the bike by 9:30 after a quick run, and back in the house at 10:00. Fortunately I had all night if need be, and I'm pretty sure the next time could be less than 2 hours.

GOOD LUCK, and drop a line if you need a hand or if you haven't had all your questions answered yet!

[tkuligowski]

Originally Posted by agnelo

What is the ideal gap size?

The ideal gap size would be within the specs given.

[Greying]

I just did mine on my 01 800B and no problem. You dont have to take half the bike apart for this. Remove gas tank, be careful how you set it down in regards to the fuel pet ****, the covers do come off without removing any coolant stuff, the valve covers will sit in place very nicely when you put it back together.

Good luck

[agnelo]

I just got the shims out of the rear engine, looks like they are not within the expected range, so I need some help to confirm this.
The rear engine has the intake side shims as follows :
Clutch side ->> Clearance - .051 - Shim numbers are 50
Throttle side ->> Clearance - .076 - Shim numbers are 50
The Exhaust side shims are as follows:
Clutch side ->> Clearance - .152 - Shim numbers are 35
Throttle side ->> Clearance - .152 - Shim numbers are 35
What value shims must I replace this with?

When I try the feeler guage, can there be a negligible resistance or it should slide easily? Im not able to follow the exact method to reading the guage. Please help

Agnelo

[jeffs99vulcan]

Can you read this Agnelo? It's the shim sizing chart... one for inlet, one for exhaust...

[jeffs99vulcan]

Oh, and better slightly looks than slightly tight... they'll tighten over time on their own...

[agnelo]

Thanks Jeff, I have this chart, however, can you please help and guide me how to read the feeler guage correctly?

[Wiscblue]

I'm not completely sure, given the measurements he has listed that I can read that chart either.

Will I be able to do this in two days? That's about all I'll have because I need to do this work at home.

I think I need to read the pdf before I start asking more stupid questions.

Actually the pdf does pretty well of explaining how to choose what to choose. I'm going to be pretty nervous when I tackle this one.
(the example in this thread replaces both intake spacers with 2.45 and both exhaust spacers with 2.25?)

[tkuligowski]

Originally Posted by agnelo

Thanks Jeff, I have this chart, however, can you please help and guide me how to read the feeler guage correctly?

I generally keep going up sizes until I find the guage that won't fit then I go by the previous size that did fit. A little resitance is fine, it's what you want to get an accurate reading, but if your having to force it in there then the guage is too big.