The factory manual is available here, for free. See the last post in the sticky in this forum.
My cane was the grey, black and red one. Personally my favorite look for it.

 

Bill , I used color rite ..they have the factory color codes that they mix for you.....no guessing.

 

Got into the valve adjustment chore, very good results!
Compression was so-so before adjustments. All the intake valves were too tight, and some exhaust valves. All set correctly now.
Compression across cylinders is; 1 to 4, 180-200-180-200 psi !!!
Got my bucket of soapy water and wiping away all the dust and dirt accumulation too.

 

 

What was the bump in compression and do you notice a difference on a road test? Been wondering about valve adjustment but was thinking it is not related to hesitation so was going to defer. I have compression around 150 per cylinder with one at 175. I thought this was pretty decent and indicating that power lag could not be a result of valves. Thanks.

 

The difference from before the valve adjustments was huge, from 140 psi before, up to 200 psi after adjustments.
There was almost no clearance on the intake side.
The manual recommends these bikes have valve adjustments every 8000 miles. It ain't hard after you get the radiator and hoses out of the way, and that wasn't so hard. You only have to drain the coolant out of the radiator.
This bike ain't safe for the road yet. The chain is fully stretched and dried up, the brakes haven't been bled, the rear tire is 23 yo and bald.

 

I did a compression test by just lowering the radiator. Perhaps I could get away with that. I have already drained the coolant once to change it

 

I had to remove the radiator to do the valve adjustment. Most valves were IN = 0.005 EX = 0.007. Cylinder 4 IN valves were within spec. I did a post adjustment compression test and the numbers went up; 170, 160, 170, 175 (was 150, 150, 150, 175). Cylinder 4 didn't get a bump but that was also the cylinder with the correct IN valve gap. So just curious, where were your BEFORE adjustment numbers? Were you off by more than 1/1000th? and were all valves tight? I just have to hope now that this small change will help with the problems I see and hear where the bike starts to lurch as it warms up and I start to hear a ticking from the motor (which might not be mechanical, but a soft of pinging which perhaps could happen if the valve is partly open during part of the combustion cycle.

Thanks for all of the guidance.

 

I began with the engine cold, (1-4); 120, 110, 120, 140.
Added oil to each cylinder down the plug hole and got ; 120, 140, 130, 160.
After adjustment; 155, 200, 180, 200.
I had a hard time getting the comp. gauge to sit securely in cylinder #1 plug hole, because the frame was in my way. So it's measurements are not as reliable.

 

Got the wheel cleaned up, new tire mounted, new sprockets and chain installed.
Had to hammer out the axle bolt with a dowel rod, it was jammed up with dried crud between the bearings.
Old tire was 23 years old, must have been the last time the axle was out!

Work space after 6 hours!


Lookin' really good!