so i went to the honda dealership the other day asking for a valve clearance.
i was thinking it would be $300 but they quoted me $500. i said no and left.
so now i am going to ask my neighbor if he can do it because i see he has a bunch of honda cruisers and works on motorcycles.(not really sure if he knows how)

what tools and parts would i need to accomplish this?

 

u'll need your basic tools. a feeler gauge.. to check the valve clearance ($10 tool). and a magnet to change shims.

you'll need to buy a shim kit.. which is like $70

 

do i need any gaskets?

 

nope. my bike has 35k+ miles on it and i was able to re-use the valve cover gasket.

 

thanks.

 

Yes & no. You might be able to re-use your valve cover gasket (as mnguyen84 mentioned). However, you might not. Buy the gasket & have it at the ready when you do the work. If you don't need it, take it back.

 

To check your valve clearances isn't to hard but to adjust them you will need to remove the camshaft to to get to the shims that will need to be measured with a micrometer. You will then need to do a simple equation to determine what size your new shims will need to be.
You can download a repair manual which will show you step by step on how to do this.