So I bent two valves by having the intake timing off and had those replaced. I also had the shop look at all my other valves to ensure they were ok, they took everything apart and only those two valves were bent from hitting the piston. It took the shop a month to get the 2 intake valves in so they checked the clearances for the valves and spec'd them correctly. Got everything back and put it back together according to the manual and the bike cranked right up once it had gas but the exhaust tone wasn't right, after a few minutes I started to hear my cam tapping some valves. So I tore into the motor and started to check my valves and see that none of them are in spec and I have 8 with a zero clearance, so something is wrong. I start to pull the shim buckets and record what size shims are in each and on the right exhaust I see shards of metal and the valve retainer and spring also come out. The valve cotters or valve keepers somehow got out with one being smashed between the retainer and shim while the other one is crushed between the shim and the bucket. So I figured I bent another valve and pulled the head and see some piston damage with the valve that was essentially free floating. I'm curious if my piston is done for or if the damage is small enough that I can get away with it. I asked the shop that did the work why so many valves could be out of spec if they shimmed them correctly and they said that they must have shifted out of their housing when I put the head back on the motor making the clearance smaller. What I'm wondering now is if my piston is ok and if anyone has any insight or advice as of what to do now. Here are the pictures of the piston and I can post my valve numbers if people are curious. Thanks for any replies in advance.

 

ok, so did you drop the head before putting it back on? cause i really dont see how just handling it could cause them to move. also, that shop should be taking a little bit of credit as to it coming apart instead of turning their head to it. did you take the whole bike in for the valve job, or just the head?

 

I just took the shop the head because it was off already. I went and talked to the mechanic that did the work and told him what was going on but his reply didn't help me with the valve keepers coming out. He said that it was something I did installing it that gave the valves the zero clearance. He said that the shims most likely came out of their seats in the retainer when I installed it. I just find that hard to believe because I never tilted the head more than 45 degrees while installing it and before I installed it I had the cams and cam cover sitting on top of it with some bolts hand tight to keep things from falling out. And no I didn't drop the head when I installed it. I just don't know how the keeper could have come out even if the shim fell out of its housing because when I pulled the buckets their was grease on them so they either stuck to the bucket or the retainer.

 

ok, so im gonna go out on a limb here. somebody correct me if im wrong. to adjust the valve clearances, you check the gap between the valve lobe and top of valve, and if its out of specs, then you take it apart and put in different shims to correct the specs right? so if the shop has just the head, how do they know what it needs to be set to without knowing the gap? maybe they just put in factory sized shims? or added shims to the existing ones? i dunno. but to have dislodged a retainer and not realize it? kinda hard. they didn't put it back in right. throw that head through their shop window and say fix it lol.

 

They could have measured the gap as I included the cams and cam covers with the head but I only had five bolts on the top hand tightened. This was just to ensure that the buckets didn't fall out so I don't know how they measured the gap. I guess that I should ensure the valves are seated and check the clearances again but I think that the valve keeper wasn't put in properly on that valve but I can't prove anything. Only thing that I can do is not take my work there from now on. The mechanic said that the shims must have shifted and sat on the retainer to give a zero clearance but I find that hard to believe considering how much grease was inside the bucket.