Did my last valve clearance adjustment

[greenie]

Three C-10's and countless valve clearance adjustments in 32 years of preventative maintenance and no more. The last adjustment on my current ride was done at least 20,000 miles ago and I found two valves (both intake) slightly loose. All others were still spot on. That's usually the case; spend hours getting the plastic off, extracting the #^%$! valve cover, adjusting and reassembly. I can't recall ever finding anything out of whack enough to justify this job. There's more of a chance of collateral damage going in and checking. (on edit: maybe the first 6,000 miles to account for break-in)
A few observations:
1) GTR valve covers have no dowels to secure the spark plug seals. There are shallow holes in the casting but they're too large for the dowels I ordered. Instead I used 3M Weatherstripping adhesive and sealant. It's labelled to seal gaskets too. I applied this yesterday to the narrow channels for the perimeter gasket and the doweless spark plug well gaskets. It sat overnight and held the gaskets in place during reassembly.
2) Some C-10's allow for easier cover removal and replacement. The current ride does not. Maybe the fairing frame sits lower on some. A clamp on the coolant hose above the cover can be rotated so the worm gear is on top instead on the bottom (I did that long ago but still no joy). The GTR cover went in easier than the original came out though.
3) I have been adjusting all valves with the lobes at 12:00. The timing cover remains in place. I can't understand why this method would not work; clearance is clearance.
4) Whatever tool or part I'm looking for is always on the other side of the bike.
5) Lead acid plate batteries last about 3 years now. They used to last much longer. I ordered a AGM battery and will see if it's any longer lasting. Usually when these batteries fail there's no telltale clues; one day the bike starts fine, the next day it doesn't.
6) It's always good practice to start the bike and check for leaks before replacing all the plastic after reinstalling the valve cover. A common place for a leak is along the front edge where the foam rubber air deflector can dislodge the gasket when it's reinstalled. I found that applying some force to move the air deflector away from the engine helps. Over time the air deflector pushes back and conforms with the engine and cover shape.

 

[Merle Lowe]

I got my 95 with 38k on it. From the notes in the manual, the 1st owner did the adjustment at 8k. I got in there at 40k and one exhaust valve was just above 2 thou. That would have been an issue eventually. The other valves were at least safe. All reset in the middle of spec. Almost at 50k now and plan to go in soon and check. Will be interesting to see if anything changed. Not sure if I'm comfortable with never checking, but every 6k seems excessive.

 

[gbyoung2]

Three C-10's and countless valve clearance adjustments in 32 years of preventative maintenance and no more. The last adjustment on my current ride was done at least 20,000 miles ago and I found two valves (both intake) slightly loose. All others were still spot on. That's usually the case; spend hours getting the plastic off, extracting the #^%$! valve cover, adjusting and reassembly. I can't recall ever finding anything out of whack enough to justify this job. There's more of a chance of collateral damage going in and checking. (on edit: maybe the first 6,000 miles to account for break-in)
A few observations:
1) GTR valve covers have no dowels to secure the spark plug seals. There are shallow holes in the casting but they're too large for the dowels I ordered. Instead I used 3M Weatherstripping adhesive and sealant. It's labelled to seal gaskets too. I applied this yesterday to the narrow channels for the perimeter gasket and the doweless spark plug well gaskets. It sat overnight and held the gaskets in place during reassembly.
2) Some C-10's allow for easier cover removal and replacement. The current ride does not. Maybe the fairing frame sits lower on some. A clamp on the coolant hose above the cover can be rotated so the worm gear is on top instead on the bottom (I did that long ago but still no joy). The GTR cover went in easier than the original came out though.
3) I have been adjusting all valves with the lobes at 12:00. The timing cover remains in place. I can't understand why this method would not work; clearance is clearance.
4) Whatever tool or part I'm looking for is always on the other side of the bike.
5) Lead acid plate batteries last about 3 years now. They used to last much longer. I ordered a AGM battery and will see if it's any longer lasting. Usually when these batteries fail there's no telltale clues; one day the bike starts fine, the next day it doesn't.
6) It's always good practice to start the bike and check for leaks before replacing all the plastic after reinstalling the valve cover. A common place for a leak is along the front edge where the foam rubber air deflector can dislodge the gasket when it's reinstalled. I found that applying some force to move the air deflector away from the engine helps. Over time the air deflector pushes back and conforms with the engine and cover shape.

#1: FWIW – early on I found that valve adjustment intervals on my two Connies (’86 & ’95) could extended out to 35K and more….. with the exception of the ’86. Its intakes started closing up around 50K due to its intake valves starting to tulip; exhausts stayed solid. For the ’95, very rarely did I find any valve out of “my” spec. I always adjusted them to the max limit as outlined in the Manual.

Also, I always transferred the dowels and plug well gaskets to the head when I had the cover off. The dowels interfered with the needed clearance to (more) easily slip the cover in place. I also never had much luck keeping the pocket gaskets in place either because they always seemed to get knocked off by the cam chain guide tower. Once transferred, I occasionally put a dab of gasket sealer to hold them in place on the head when putting the cover in place. With the cover in place, it was easy enough to stick your finger down in the plugs well to feel if the gaskets were centered up, and guide them into position if they weren’t. This was before the gasket sealer had a chance to cure. The perimeter gasket was also placed on the head with the cams end pockets smeared with a little gasket sealer, and a few dabs of same at intervals around the mating surface of the head. Maneuvering the cover around once it was in place would usually tell you if the respective gasket ridges have seated in their matching grooves in the cover.

I noticed what you said about the dowel holes in the GTR cover being larger. I made some solid dowels to insure a good seal to prevent the exhaust gases from trying to get past the plug well gaskets. These dowels are the same OD as the originals and a snug fit in the holes in the head to seal the gasses.

#2: Manufacturing tolerances and lack of QC. Some of the early bikes from Thailand (or where ever) had the butt end of the bike skewed from one side or the other. Most noticeable in the way the rear fender surrounded the tire.

#3: An assumption that the cam lobes are perfectly symmetrical. Yes, the bike will run “okay,” but okay to its full potential without going though the full degree wheel routine? The timing marks are there for a reason, use them to insure consistency.

#4: No argument there. I do keep a small HF LED flashlight on each side of the bike when doing whatever. Aging eyes seem to like extra light.

#5: Ever experience the infamous Yuasa Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS)? Their “standard” battery (or private labeled batteries) could take a dump from when you pulled in to get gas, until you went to leave; bike wouldn’t start.

I replaced my original lead-acid in ’01 with a Yuasa YTX20L-BS AGM. It lasted 8 years, and replaced it with an Interstate version of the same type in ’09. It’s still in there. I do keep Battery Tenders on all my stuff now 24/7, so we’ll se how long this one lasts.

#6: Agree, but my front “debris guard” is a piece of shaped plastic with a rubber edge guard. Assume we’re talking about the same thing.

 

[Strawboss]

I'm up to around 15,000 miles on the current adjustment, I don't plan to do it again either.

-Can't remember where I read it so long ago about installing the rocker cover, Looking down onto the engine, start at rt rear corner and slowly while sliding across, slowly rotating it into place, usually works, once or twice I had to start over, to be fair, my bike doesn't seem to have the clearance issues I've heard of here, VERY tight but this method worked good for me.