Valve adjustment q's

[Sweaburg]

Anybody have any idea where I could order a valve adjustment tool from and have it arrive by Wed the 11th at the latest? I've tried looking at bikebandit.com and jcwhitney.com but they won't ship usually for two days or more.

I just got the bike back from my father and noticed a noise that I believe to be a loose exhaust valve and want to get it fixed before I leave on a long trip on Thurs but can put it off until Fri if neccessary. Am I totally S.O.L or is there somewhere that can do overnight shipping for me? The dealership can get the original suzuki part for $237CAD 8O 8O 8O but obviously I don't want to pay that much.

If I'm out of luck, how hard is it to do the adjustment without the tool? I've never done the valves before and have no idea whether this bike has ever had them done...it has 30000km on it so I figure I better get them done anyways.

Other symptoms of the noise:
1) Really only loud when the bike is started cold.
2) The idle is up around 1900rpm when the bike is hot.

Does this sound symptymatic of a loose valve?

Thanks very much,
Randy

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Does your bike take shims or do you have the screw adjusters? My '79 GS1000 takes shims. I've always used the tool. I don't think it can be done with some make-shift thing. Another thing is you may have to order the correct thickness shim. Not all shops have all the sizes. You may be lucky and be able to swap your shims around. You'll need a new valve cover gasket too. Be sure the motor is STONE COLD before adjusting the valve clearances. Over night is best.
I think your high idle may be an intake leak. If the bike idles about 1,000 to 1,300 rpm at cold start up and rises to 1,900 rpm when hot, this is a classic intake leak symptom. Most common cause is poor o-ring(s) in the manifolds or the manifolds themselves or loose manifold clamps.

[jonr]

If you end up needing the shim adjustment tool, try Cycle-Recycle. They have both the tool and your gasket.

Shim tool:

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/tools.htm

Gasket

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/valve_cover_gaskets.htm

-Jon

[AOD]

use CRC2, they rock.

[saaz]

I have found that a loose valve is more noticeable when the bike is warm...a tick tick noise at idle.

I don't have the valve tool. All I use is a large phillips head screw driver, insert under cam and twist to catch the edge of the bucket...depresses the bucket the same as the tool. Use tweezers to get the shim out. I may be lucky having the right sized big screw driver, the tool probbaly would be better.

[Anonymous]

SHIM TOOL

FELLAS, I MADE ONE OUT OF AN OLD SHOCK ADJUSTER TOOL AND WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OLE' BUDDY DREMAL... BAMM NEW TOOL.
WORKS GREAT.. I'LL SEE IF I CAN BUM A DIGITAL CAMERA AND POST A PIC SOON (MAYBE)

[Sweaburg]

I've got the gasket now but looks like I my have to try to jerry rig something ( a pic of your tool would be sweet CAD-GUY) or try the phillips screwdriver trick before I go on Thursday. I would prefer to get the tool and do the job right though. If this is in fact a loose valve could I damage the engine seriously? I'm going on about a 2000km ride this week. If I'm okay to leave the adjustment until after that I'll order the tool and do it next week.

Thanks for all your responses
Randy

[Don Lobacz]

First, you must realize that the valve clearances for your motor generally get tighter with wear, not looser. If a valve got loose then there is some unusual reason. Also, you should know that the valve clearances change very slowly: my GS1000 had 1 valve slightly tight after 45,000 miles. Can you check the compression? If is is good then I wouldn't worry about it until you get back (things have a way of snowballing and you may not be able to ride if you start messing).

[KEITH KRAUSE]

If your ticking sound is a wide tappet clearance, then you may want to wait 'til the trip is done. The factory manual says a wider clearance will result in accelerated wear. I'm not an expert, but I don't think an additional 1,200 miles will wear things out much.
Over the years on several different bikes, I've found it's very common for the clearances to increase. I've probably adjusted 3 loose ones for every tight one, especially the first check on a new or rebuilt engine. I'm not arguing about how things wear and what should happen, I'm just saying this is my experience. Some of these engines I know have gone on for years and many miles with no problems. So the wider clearances did'nt mean unusual wear or the sign of a definite problem down the road. My own bike fit this pattern and after 100,000 miles I had Vance & Hines rebuild the engine. They did replace the valves on my insisting but the cams were fine upon their inspection and re-installed.

[Sweaburg]

Thanks...I will do some more investigating tomorrow about my high idle issues and I think I will leave my valve adjustment until next week when I have the proper tool.

Keep it rubber side down,
Randy

[Anonymous]

Are you sure the engine noise you are hearing is not just the timing chain??
You shouldnt have cam adjust problems with only 30,000 Km's.
I have read other posts where guys have removed their cam chain adjusters and found that the plunger on the damn thing isnt plunging!
I'm going to pull mine out this weekend and have a look to make sure its working right.
There are several posts in here on how to take out the cam chain adjuster and re-install it. Just search for 'cam chain adjust'. Or if you have a Haynes manual it will be in there.

Jeff

[Sweaburg]

Ok...I've decided to leave the adjustment until after the trip. The tool is now ordered and on the way.

I also investigated the high idle problem and the air leak suggestion was right on the money!

Unfortunatley identifying the problem and fixing it were two different matters...Two of the boots betweent the air box and carbs were nearly falling off of the carbs and two had practically pulled themselves loose from the airbox. My roomate and I spent over two hours trying to get those bloody things back on. Every time we tried tighting the clamps they would slip back off. ](*,) The boots were hard and too small. Eventually I went to canadian tire and picked up 4 new, much wider, much uglier hose clamps and screwed them on good and tight. Problem temporarily solved, the bike now idles at 1k revs.

I'll be order 4 new boots but the $18 each is kinda tough to swallow.

If you see a GS850 broken down on the side of the road in Pennsylvania in the next couple a days stop to help me out!!! I'll be easy to spot...just look for a woman screaming at her boyfriend

[KEITH KRAUSE]

We'll keep our fingers crossed for ya'. Safe trip!