Why you should not neglect your valves.

[airforce1]

MAKES ME SO GRATEFUL TO KAWASAKI FOR THE HYDRAULIC ADJUSTERS ON MY CRUISER!
(yup, won't work for the 14.5K set, but great on cruisers!

Yeah, I did checked my FJR's last week. Intake .15-.22 mm & exhaust .18-.25 mm. 1 intake and 1 exhaust were a tad tighter than the rest but all were well within the manufacturer's designated specifications. It took 4 hrs of plastics/parts removal just to get the valve cover removed. I can't fathom why someone would go thru that kind of trouble just to muck it up intentionally.

[airforce1]

Half of that should do the job nicely.
Really.

grin.

if I have to swing harder than that ....

[rbentnail]

MAKES ME SO GRATEFUL TO KAWASAKI FOR THE HYDRAULIC ADJUSTERS ON MY CRUISER!
(yup, won't work for the 14.5K set, but great on cruisers!

Yeah I know. The 1500 Classic I had before this bike had the hydraulic lifter thingees so I didn't worry about it. I did check my valves again this year and reshimmed 4 of the 16. No biggie since I was going in to do much more.

[oldkawboy]

That all sounds important and thanks for posting the information. At what mileage should I adjust mine, assuming you think I can ( have above average ability I think and want to keep my 82 CSR in great shape. It ahs 22k right now and I am restoring it, so ma interested to know. Is there a test or visual I can perform to determine what shape I am in? Thanks so much.

[got2no]

I recently completed a valve adjustment on my 94 ZX6 with 24,000 miles. I shimmed them towards the larger gap of the specification. They make a little more noise now, but that seems to be expected? I am concerned, in fact pulled the cover again tonight, that at least one of the valves is extremely noisy on initial startup until the oil circulates well. It clicks very loud for a few seconds. Could it be due to the fact that the bucket is now traveling deeper into the head than previously and hanging up there until more oil reaches it? The bucket would have been happily in its worn area of the head until changing to smaller shims caused it to travel deeper into unworn territory? Any suggestions?

[Roofgunner]

You could just re-check the valve clearance. I have only checked valves, shimmed type that is in my ZX-11, the 900 and 750, 650, 550, 440,400 fours/twos, etc. at the shop. I would think your valve shims are about the size of a ZX11. I suppose when you put a new shim in it could have been cocked (not seated all the way), so when you ran the motor it seated and now you have excess clearance. That never happened to me, but there's always a first time. So rechecking the clearance would eliminate that. If the clearance is good, then just leave it. I would assume you put the same bucket back with the same valve so I can't comment as I never had anything like that happen. As far as the valve noise at start-up: if you check all the valves again then look for oil passages that might be blocked. With all this I would, to be ON THE SAFE SIDE, recheck all the valves. Also, if all are OK and there is some increased clatttttttter it could be engine harmonics changing so the sound it makes changes. I remember the 900 Z1's made noise, my Harley transmission makes noise (compared to the Kaw) but that's they way they run. If your ZX6's valves and seats are like the old 900's, you be adjusting those valves until you get 70,000 miles on it, after that it will probably be to just check them.

[got2no]

Thanks for the advice. The noise really bothered me, so I went back into the engine today. Some clearances were a little loose, but within specification. I re-shimmed the necessary valves to bring them close to the center of the specification - I had originally leaned toward the loose side to get more miles between adjustments. I did keep all buckets in their original locations, blew out the oil passages on the camshaft retaining mechanism, pre-lubed all the parts with a generous coat of engine oil, re-torqued everything, re-checked the clearances, and put it all back together. All the clearances are in the middle of the specification. The noise is gone now and the engine runs good.

[Puremad]

Im glad I took the time to read this thread..just wish Id found and read it sooner !! Ive stripped down my carb twice thinking it was defo a carb problem..even swapped plugs and leads
only to discover a tight valve clearance issue on 1 inlet valve in the rear pot....I wanted to punch myself in the head for ruling it out at the start and blaming carb for shiitty lumpy misfiring and vibration !! as it says in here there is a lot of carb blaming issuses going on and people missing the point (like me) check your valves before even thinking about stripping your carb/carbs down

thanks to this post Im a happy man cheers !!!

[Roofgunner]

As a side note I remember a service bulletin regarding the KZ400 twins. Some of them, and I forget which years(late 70's or early 80's) had a surging problem at idle. They wouldn't idle steady. You would think it was the carbs. Not. The fix was a slight increase in valve clearence.

[elr658]

I remember that TSB.