Alright everyone, here's the deal!

I'm looking to do a valve adjust on my CBR. It's probably NEVER been done on this bike. It's LONG overdue, and I'm ready to undertake the mission. This and a carb synch will nearly complete my bike. A dyno run, any necessary carb adjusts, and a final test run will have this bike being completed. No more fancy "farkle" to put on it. Given that everything I need to do the job costs as much as paying some one else, I'm going to risk doing this all myself!



Anyways, I've read a bunch of tutorials, so I am somewhat familiar with the process. This is what I believe is necessary to do the job, would some one with experience confirm it:

1- Tools necessary to get to the motor, remove the spark plugs, and to remove the valve cover.

2- Valve cover Gasket for putting the cover back on when done.

3- Assorted 7.48mm shims, with enough variety.

4- Feeler gauge for measuring valve clearance.


That should be it, right?


Once that's done, I put it all back together, and test run it for a bit, then perform a carb synch and call it a day, correct?

 

Also, for those who have done this, what do you wish you knew in advance? What advice would you pass on to others?


With all this information, I hope to make a "how to" tutorial for our forum.

 

You dont need a new valve cover gasket, They're re-usable, But you will need a notebook and a pencil, To write down everything.

Also, When you remove your valve cover, Don't peel the gasket off the valve cover, Or else its a pain to get it to stay in place when you put it back on, But if you do happen to peal the gasket off, a tiny bit of RVT sealant on it help the gasket to "stick" Onto the valve cover enough for you to put it back on the engine.

Do not attempt while drinking, Beers and numbers dont mix.

Good luck!

 

I have done valve adjustments on car's and on my dirt bike but just didnt care to try on my bike. I took it to my mechanic and he did it for me. He said that f2's are notorious for having valves out of spec all the time.

 

Hi Jesse,

Here are some tips that I can offer, having been through the process myself twice already. First when I bought the bike (apart), and second when I lost a valve keeper and subsequently a valve and had to remove the head & camshafts to replace and reshim.

1 - Keep a clean workspace: remove everything in the area of the cylinder head. That includes radiator (which is required), coils, spark plug wires, gas tank. Anything that is remotely near the area you're working. There's not much space under there.

2 - I'm seconding what was mentioned already; no need to replace the valve cover gasket. It is very thick, not like a normal gasket. In addition, the hold-down screws are special screws which do not allow the valve cover to be tightened to the point of damaging the gasket.

3 - Before loosening your CCT or doing anything with your valvetrain, make your shim measurements first. Then delve into the wrenching.

4 - Dealing with the timing chain. This is really tricky. If you remove the cam chain tensioner, you would expect all tension to be gone and the chain to just pop right off, right? Wrong. The chain will still be too tight to remove. In order to loosen the system, you have two choices. You can either remove one of the two sprockets or you can remove one of the camshaft keepers and "pivot" a camshaft inward toward the engine. I recommend the latter, leaving the sprockets tight. I once had a problem with the sprocket bolts backing out.

So once you remove the CCT, then you loosen the 10 bolts (evenly!) for, say, the EX camshaft keeper. You may have to gently pry it out with a flat blade screwdriver. Gently pop the camshaft out of its line-bored channel. This will give you enough slack in the chain to remove the other camshaft.

5 - I mentioned to be sure to do the criss-cross bolt pattern on the cam keepers. This is the textbook definition of why you should use that technique. Because of the valve springs, the camshaft is constantly exerting uneven upward force on the keeper. And the keeper is just thin, weak aluminum with very long spacings between the bolt holes. If not done with common sense you can yield the metal on the keepers.

6 - Once the camshafts are gone and you have clear access to the little valve caps, be careful when lifting them off. The shims usually get stuck inside the caps due to the oil inside. If you're not careful they will fall out and elude you for several hours while you search for them.

You'll have a blast working on this job. It's just good clean fun. Once you take it apart you'll understand the system perfectly and will have memorized all the parts; it's really simple. I was impressed with the effectiveness of the lubrication. Pressurized oil is the s***. Good luck and let us know your clearances before and after... I was shocked on my to see that after 15k miles it was still perfectly to spec.

 

Oh, also do NOT over tighten your valve cover bolts...They arnt strong bolts and will snap if you over tighten them.

 

What's the torque spec on them? I have a torque wrench but it doesn't do under 20 pounds...



Also, Berga... apparantly I didn't understand the job right. I thought you could remove the spark plugs, resulting in no comperssion, and the manually advance the motor to get each measurement. This job requires removing the cams?

Maybe I need a better walk through!

 

Oh man! Yeah, you need a better walkthrough. Try this one: http://www.musclecross.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=97

Also get a parts diagram of a single valve. You will notice that the shim is beneath the "valve cap", which is directly beneath the cam!

Don't worry about removing the cam... it's fun. Just make sure you understand how to set the timing correctly when you put it back together. And DO use the torque wrench and criss cross pattern when retightening the cam keepers. You probably don't need the torque wrench for the valve cover bolts... just go easy.

 

Keep all your measurements too metric.
The shims are metric and if you start converting its another process to go wrong.

 

OK one more tiny thing before I stop pestering... after reassembly, crank the engine by hand a few full turns before using the starter. So if your timing is somehow wrong, you won't damage anything with interference!