17,000 miles since last valve adjustment 1150?

[Carter Turk]

According to my records, which aren't that good, I adjusted my valves last in 06' at 68,000. I now have 85,000 on the clock and thought it would be a good idea before riding from western Washington to middle Michigan at the end of this month. I must have adjusted them sometime in between, but failed to write it down. Or maybe not. When I wrote it down, I used a sharpy on some cabinet in the garage. I used to keep a little log on my old 1100ET, but I guess I'm a bit of a slacker now.

All the valves were between 3-5 thou, but maybe 4 or 5 were a little on the tight side of 3. Not below three, but sorta snug. A few were loose, able to slip a 5 thou feeler with some resistance. The rest were good.

It takes a little motivation on my part to do a valve adjustment, because the lock nut always tightens down a bit after you get a nice setting. Then you end up doing one valve three times to get it right. Overall, it wasn't that bad. 4 bolts for the fairing, 2 for the gas tank, 2 for the side panels, 10 for the valve cover. I have to loosen the coils to get the cover off, I never bother taking the breather cover off. The 1150 has the rubber gasket, which makes thing easier. Looking forward to a roughly 5000 mile roundtrip. I'm probalby not allowing enough time, but we'll see how it goes.

 

[Crescentius]

I would say you are long overdue, especially for a 16 valve. Not sure what the factory recommendation for your bike is (check BassCliff's site for the service manual) but Suzuki recommends every 5,000 miles for the 8 valves, and the 16's with the adjustable tappets are known to lose adjustment much quicker. There's also a guide on BassCliff's site to valve adjustment that may have some helpful pointers.

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

I just checked the valves on my 850 last week. Figured I needed to do it since it had been about 10K miles. None of them needed adjustment.
Oh well I guess it was worth the time.

 

[Crescentius]

I just checked the valves on my 850 last week. Figured I needed to do it since it had been about 10K miles. None of them needed adjustment.
Oh well I guess it was worth the time.

Yeah, definitely not a hard, fast rule that the bike WILL lose adjustment, but it definitely CAN so it should be checked. Especially given the damage maladjusted valves can cause.

 

[ronin1166]

When I had my 16V TSCC GS750E, I remember checking the valves about every 6K miles or so.
I don't recall needing to adjust more than 2 or 3 at a time, and they were never more than .002 - .003 out. Pretty durable valvetrain design.

But I'd say you're due to have a look.

BTW Carter:
Great riding with you Saturday. Good Times, as always.

.

 

[Carter Turk]

The valves are fine, now I have to repair a cracked Kerker exhaust header #1, right at the collector. I'm taking to a local welder guy, who supposedly has a good reputation. We'll see how that goes.

 

[Skateguy50]

are these related? not sure why you need to take the exhaust off for the valves... well on my 650 I dont.

I will say it sounds pretty common to have that happen an I feel very lucky all 8 of my bolts came off fine last summer when I took mine off.

 

[salty_monk]

I have checked 2 8v's recently. One after about 12k+ miles since I last did it. Result all had changed by about 0.01 which bought one into range for a shim swap.

The 2nd one has about 6500 miles on it. I checked it because it's the first one since I put it back on the road so I figured some regular use might lead to some bigger changes... result about 4 shims had changed by about 0.01. All were still in range but I have used the shim club to get shims so that I can set them all up to 0.08.

As long as you know where you are with the 8v's then you can definitely go longer miles than Suzuki stated. Obviously if you have one at 0.05 or 0.04 you should be checking a bit more often such as between 4k & 8k depending on how brave you are...

I don't have a lot of experience with the 16v engines but I am not surprised you can go 15k miles between checks.

I think how hard you run the bike also has an affect, high revs for long periods will definitely cause more wear so those people should check more often.

Dan

 

[Carter Turk]

Skateguy,

No, the 2 things aren't related, but I'm going on a long trip, so I decided to change the oil. To do that the exhaust needs come off with this particular header. All the previous supersport pipes touched the ground, so I had to go with no oil plug or filter access. I knew the crack was there and my jb weld job lasted a few months. The weld job went well and he did on the spot for $15. Can't complain about that. He was recommended by a local flat track race shop in town.

Saltymonk, I do tend to get on it when the road gets twisty, so I doubt I'm easy on the valves, but they were all looking good except for a few snug, closer to .003, valves.

 

[ronin1166]

He does NOT go easy on his valves.

Trust me.

.

 

[Big T]

He does NOT go easy on his valves.

Trust me.

.

Confirmed on that

Carter,

Have you finished a route plan?

Taking Hwy 2 across?

 

[Carter Turk]

Big T,

I sorta tentatively laid one out. Hwy 20 to Omak, SE thru the Colville Indian Res to Inchelium, then basically due east on back roads to Priest River in Idaho. I plan to go over Logan Pass in Glacier park to Browining. From there I was thinking Hwy 2, but maybe you or others have suggestions. North Dakota doesn't look too exciting road wise. Once in Minnesota, I was thinking of taking the ferry from Grand Portage, but making reservations and timing it right might be tough. I was told the fast way is about 35-40 hours and I doubt I'm going that way.

 

[Big T]

Yeah, North Dakota is just rolling flatness, no escape there

I'm confused why you'd want to go to Grand Portage and take the ferry

Why not stay on Hwy 2?

I'd vote for Canada 17 (always wanted to go around Lake Superior), you'd need a passport

I'm not clear as to whether you're going to the UP, or northern MI, two different worlds and you have to know the local terminology to know which end of the Mackinaw bridge you trying to end up on. UP is north of the bridge

I'd contact Dan the Man, he's in northern MN and knows the roads there (once you get east of Grand Forks, ND the scenery changes drastically for the better) . A side jaunt to Lake Itasca to walk across the Mississippi is mandatory

 

[Carter Turk]

I guess I was confused too. I forgot I have a Canadian map and 61 & 17 thru Ontario looks interesting. Never been farther east than Alberta, as far as Canada goes. I'm going to Petosky which is a bit north of Traverse City.

Now, it looks like I'm leaving next Monday, as I'm staying at a friends cabin in Winthrop (Hwy 20) with the family before I head east. I'm hoping to pack light, but will carry a tent and sleeping bag. I'll try to take some photos and keep some type of daily log. I'll report back when I return.

 

[Big T]

Yeah, go north around Lake Superior on your way there, come down thru Soo Ste Marie

On your way back, hop the SS Badger at Ludington,MI to Manitowoc, WI

http://www.ssbadger.com/home.aspx

A bit pricey, but it saves a lot of miles

That puts you in the fabulous Kettle Moraine portion of WI. Take letter(County) roads west and south towards Fond du Lac, maybe stop at Road America, one of most beautiful racetracks anywhere

http://www.roadamerica.com/

Keep going west by south to Madison, then west across the river and NW thru the best roads in the Midwest. Just pick whatever one seems to be going your way, basically towards La Crosse

Southern MN is good fading to prairie once again, hit the Black Hills, Devil's Tower, Sheridan,WY to Hwy 14 over the Bighorns.

(If you're into firearms, be sure and stop in Cody at the museum)

Then, you can either go

West to Yellowstone
NW around Yellowstone to Lolo Pass
SW to Jackson, west over Teton Pass and NW to Lolo Pass

Take lots of pictures and post up your adventure

 

[Carter Turk]

Well, I made it back this morning at 8:00 am (Tuesday). Had a long day yesturday, started in Harloton Montana (hwy 12) at 6:15am (there time) and ended up sleeping on the ground outside of Twisp Washington at about midnight, next to highway 20. I did Lolo to Pomeroy Washington then lucked across the Lower Granite Dam at the last minute before the gate was shut. A very cool 3rd string road, with some corners mimicking Windy Ridge. Total mileage was 5364 miles from Bellingham Washington to Petoskey Michigan. 2852 miles there, 2511 miles back. I went around Lake Superior there and did the UP in Michigan into Wisconsin on the way back. My chain gave out on the way there, had one shipped to Michigan. On the way back my clutch cable fragged to a few strands, but I had a spare used one I replaced in South Dakota. I used 2 quarts of oil, less on the way there.

I try to post a few photos soon. What's the best way to transfer from photobucket? Img code or?

 

[Guest]

Copy and past the IMG code
Man that's a haul!
Did you do it on the 1229? What kind of milege did you average?

 

[ronin1166]

I will confirm he was on the 1229.

Carter,
Congrats on The Long Haul. Hope I picked out the correct tools...
Glad you are home safe.

Looking forward to hearing the stories. Give me a call sometime soon.

- TR

 

[Carter Turk]

Chef,

I averaged around 33 mpg. A lot of 80 + mph through the middle states, and still came up with that average. The bike was like a fussy woman when it got hot out. I could hear and feel the power loss. When I was in South Dakota, it was hot and muggy, maybe 90 and I came to a little town to find the road was closed, due to flooding. My odometer read 126 and I needed to go 30 miles to find alternate gas. My Pingel reserve kicked in at 139.5 and I gently droned in hopes of making it. When I got there 156.4 was showing. When I filled up, it took 4.925 gallons. Barely made it.

 

[Carter Turk]

Ted,

You did good, 32mm socket and the chain breaker was a life saver. Thanks my friend.