Video of valve clearance inspection.

[c10]

Hey guys here is what I did today . Some photos coming in a 2nd post below . Now before our Super tech from across the pond chimes in . If any valve is out of spec you must follow timing the cams per spec for removal to change ANY shim under the buckets .
Credit to Rob @Boosted Cycle Perf for the great tune . During the video I speak of what has changed .

 

[c10]

Photos from today .

 

[Bumblebee]

Good video Bryan, you have to get that cool intro into your videos though....

I was/am a whiz at doing valve adjustments in my older Suzukis with the screw adjusters...these bucket and shim adjustments scare me a bit...

 

[c10]

Bill you will probably never have to change them

 

[Mathewrussell52]

c10 thanks for thanking the time to share this. This is what a average DYI needs! It’s not hard or complicated it just showed how easy it really is...
Do you think it’s worth the time to pull the fairings? I have no clue how you were able to pull the throttle bodies with out doing so...

 

[Boosted Cycle Perf]

Nothing tells the true story of a tune like the plugs. Couldn’t ask for better looking plugs.

 

[c10]

Removal of the fairings will make throttle body removal easy for some . I used a thumb drive #3 mm alen socket.

 

[Berlin Germany]

@c10

late but chiming in - loooool

the values of clearance you took look nice and really ok.
(and as the old man I am, I thought before that the values given elsewhere were in mm, but I was wrong - inches were meant - I would like to apologize for this big mistake)

my only thought is when using a feeler gauge, measuring in "mm", the result is probably a little more precise and finer than measured in "inch"
i built an excel sheet for calculating those values and it shows me, that e.g.
0,006 (6/1000) inch can be 14 to 16 / 100 mm (or)
0,009 can be 22 to 24 / 100 mm
so if you want the accuracy of the valve clearance measurement to be "hair splitting" accurate, a measurement in "mm" could be inevitable.

serious offer from "across the pond"
when ever you want these mm - feelers in steps of 1/100 mm from 4 up to 30 / 100 and can´t buy em near you,
write a message and I would order it here in germany and send it to you.
your payment would - i guess and hope - then easyly go via paypal.

 

[Berlin Germany]

Removal of the fairings will make throttle body removal easy for some . ...

i 100% agree
the airbox but also
and the cover of the starter freewheel i allways put off too to turn the motor by hand with a wrench or a ratched

 

[c10]

My feeler gauges are both metric ,and sae . I'll post a photo later today . It is easier here to just say 10 thousandths that .1247 mm for video how to reasons. I prefer mm myself. However America makes measures difficult.

 

[Mythos]

Thanks, Bryan. That's a great video. I have to do my busa valve clearance this summer. I did my 14's about 9 years ago and the last time I checked, it was the same as I had adjusted it. I think the seats wear in about as much as they can in the first 12k miles or so and then the clearance doesn't change much. I've heard of many people never bothering to do a valve clearance check. IDK if that's a great idea but I don't hear of engine damage from neglecting to adjust valve clearance either.

One thing I noticed during my 14's valve adjustment was that there were some scratches on top of one lifter. I think I did that by applying too much force with my feeler gauges during the check. My rule now is, "if it doesn't go in, it doesn't go in." I'd always try the next bigger tape but I wouldn't try to make it go in. If it doesn't slide right in easy or with minimal pressure, that was probably just the valve spring compressing instead of an accurate measurement.

 

[Berlin Germany]

(...) I prefer mm myself. (...)

yeah - the fraction of hairsplitters grow - big lol
but seriously - the meassurement is with "mm" more accurate - the steps of feelers size are 2-3 times smaler than inch.
and if you got a "mm" micrometer , take the thickness of the shims - they show lot of times tolerances of up to 2/100 mm , so for example a 265 can be a 266 or a267.

in deed i already found that hundreds of times.

(...) However America makes measures difficult.

jepp remember - even the really great NASA almost sent a satellite into the orkus because they didn't pay attention to the change of units.
the worst is generally a mix of units - it is better to stay with one, if you want to avoid major inconveniences.

 

[Sandow]

My feeler gauges are both metric ,and sae . I'll post a photo later today . It is easier here to just say 10 thousandths that .1247 mm for video how to reasons. I prefer mm myself. However America makes measures difficult.

You could just use a ruler...thats what I did a couple weeks ago.....

 

[clean]

Thanks for sharing. Getting set to do mine in the next few days.

couple questions:

#1. I was planning to turn the motor over by hand so I could get the cam lobes exactly 180° away from the bucket. how come you didn't turn yours over by hand? ( not criticizing, just wondering )

#2. I was always told the adjustment gets tighter as they wear in, and in turn you should adjust to the loosest clearance with available shims as possible.....but in your check it appears one got a little looser from 24-36k?


when adjusting what do you guys shoot for? the loose end or in the middle?

Thanks.

 

[c10]

Thanks for sharing. Getting set to do mine in the next few days.

couple questions:

#1. I was planning to turn the motor over by hand so I could get the cam lobes exactly 180° away from the bucket. how come you didn't turn yours over by hand? ( not criticizing, just wondering )

#2. I was always told the adjustment gets tighter as they wear in, and in turn you should adjust to the loosest clearance with available shims as possible.....but in your check it appears one got a little looser from 24-36k?


when adjusting what do you guys shoot for? the loose end or in the middle?

Thanks.

Years of doing the valve checks on motors that make for a new pulsar cover gasket to be able to turn motor by hand . The one valve that went from 10 to 11 thousandths was probably a miss read at last check as none of the others changed . Anything in the spec range is fine . Remember shims unless special ordered are 2.75 mm 2.80 mm 2.85 and so on . I use to make my own shims to size with a knife sharpening stone to achieve 2.73 mm vs 2.75 or 2.70 . Running on the tight side equals more lift or valve opening while on lose side less.

 

[kml]

AWESOME video!!!

Thanks.

cheers
ken

 

[clean]

Years of doing the valve checks on motors that make for a new pulsar cover gasket to be able to turn motor by hand . The one valve that went from 10 to 11 thousandths was probably a miss read at last check as none of the others changed . Anything in the spec range is fine . Remember shims unless special ordered are 2.75 mm 2.80 mm 2.85 and so on . I use to make my own shims to size with a knife sharpening stone to achieve 2.73 mm vs 2.75 or 2.70 . Running on the tight side equals more lift or valve opening while on lose side less.

@c10 thanks makes sense.

is replacing the pulsar cover gasket absolutely necessary?

 

[c10]

@c10 thanks makes sense.

is replacing the pulsar cover gasket absolutely necessary?

The busa is a little different than a zx based motor on the zrx from Kawasaki.

 

[Berlin Germany]

@clean

1. you already got the fitting manual? there are two, gen1 or gen2.
if not yet organize it and read a bit. then you understand thet the busa has no pulsar stuff.

2. if you want to check the valve´s clearance read my post (#12) and c10´s post (#10) - he prefers also the metric feelers and those i recommend for a maximum of precision in cooperation with a metric micrometer .
and with that micrometer you´ll find the tolerances ( + 1-2/100 mm) the shims can have.

(...) I use to make my own shims to size with a knife sharpening stone to achieve 2.73 mm vs 2.75 or 2.70 .(...)

3. valve clearance where to set ?
a. for street used bikes (no race track) my experience and philosophy is,
that if you have to replace only one (1) shim (IN or/and EX) take the thickness of all and replace them too to the max clearance shown in manual.
this way the next maintanence to shims is around 15-17,000 miles in the future (and the more milage, over ca. 50-60,000 miles, the busa has the less the clearance gets smaller)
b. if the clearance of ALL shims (IN or/and EX) is equal or over their midrange i leave the shims as they are.

 

[murphc13]

I’ve only done a valve clearance check/adjust on an RSV4.
when taking cams out on the V4 the crank is locked through the alt side for front head and clutch side for rear head.
Can the crank be locked with a specific tool for Busa cam removal when adjusting shims?