I can't see where I'm sticking the feeler on the exhaust side. How do you guys do it? Do you take the radiator off so you can see where you're at?

 

removing it would let you see what you're doing better. you might be able to unbolt it and let it hang down so you dont have to drain your coolant.

 

I remove the radiator.

If the time has come to do valve clearances, then its a good bet your coolant is overdue as well - so drop the coolant and get the radiator completely out of the way.

two birds, one stone since youre in there anyway.

 

I changed the coolant as soon as I got the bike so I didn't have to worry about the possibility of it freezing.
Shouldn't be too big of a deal to remove the radiator though I guess, as long as it isn't overly cramped getting to the bolts or stuck on something really good like my throttle bodies. I ended up leaving the throttle bodies on and was still able to get at the intake valves. Not sure why it says in the manual to remove them.


One more question: why should I remove the cam chain tensioner before checking the valves? Is it something to do with the way the automatic tensioner works or does it affect anything to just have that tension on the chain?

 

probably just makes it a little easier to turn over by hand when aligning the timing marks

 

I unbolted the radiator without taking the hoses off and it still gave me plenty of room to work. Every single intake valve was tight. Now I see why the throttle bodies have to be removed. I have to take them off to get to the cam chain tensioner in order to remove the cam. Those rubber pipes are stuck on there like glue.

 

Yup. Big *** flat head screwdriver as a prybar works great, just be easy.
Never tried valves without taking the bike apart first.

 

I grip the hoses with a pair of adjustable pliers, and twist them before pulling them, makes them slip off easily

 

I've got everything adjusted and am in the process of reassembly now. My problem now is I didn't mark which ignition coil came from which cylinder so I don't know where to put them back. Does anyone have the info on which goes where?

Edit: Nevermind. I found a wiring diagram showing which one goes to which cylindre.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ring%20big.png

I noticed the coils didn't really "snap" on to the plugs like they have on my other bikes. They just kind of push down into place with no identifying sound or feeling when they bottom out. Is this pretty normal?

 

no. they should click several times (once for each thread on the spark plug). push way harder. be sure about it, if they aren't seated, it'll probably run alright, but you'll burn your coil and the heat and arcing will eventually cook something.

if they really aren't clicking, there's a little bent metal spring clip thing (the part that makes the clicking sound), it might need to be cleaned or checked, i've seen 'em stick before, but i have trouble believing all your coils at the same time would do that, so i bet you aren't pushing hard enough.

i know you already solved this, but the stock coil wire harness has number labels on it, a bit further down the wire. they're white rings.

this bothered me that you never got a great answer. it's quite the opposite of removing it, you should get a small screwdriver and crank the tensioner screw INWARDS while rotating the engine, so the back side of the chain is tight, that way your cam to crank timing is right on the money. if the tensioner is removed or loose (and who knows what kind of condition it's in), timing can vary by the amount of slack on the front of the chain, which could throw you off a bit if you follow the FSM way of setting the valves. of course the important thing is that you're on the cam base circle, so as long as that's the case, no big deal, you done good.