Valve Adjustment Done

[etcswjoe]

Well I completed the adjustments on both bikes (thanks Earl aka Skydoc_17 for shim kit, tool and great price on gaskets). Both bikes had never been done and both had 40K on them one bike took four shims and the other eight. It sure made a big difference in the engine noise and a noticeable increase in performance. I followed the procedure in the tech library and picked Earl's brain some. The whole procedure took a whole day on the first bike and most of a day on the second the procedure it self was a snap however it requires a lot of patience and time.

 

If anyone around me wants to do this I am more than willing to help now that I have done it, just get the stuff you need and give me a shout.

 

By the way $12 saved me at least $400

[kyle]

I'm taking mine in thurs. "dealer" hope it stays under $400. curious to see how many shims and the performance gain. I currently have 45,ooo on the odo. I usedto do my own on other bikes but am low on patience the older i get..lol

[Seaking]

Awesome.. I just recently completed my second valve adjustment on my bike since I've had it.. Goose showed me how to do the job while I was traveling thru Texas one year and he made it look super simple and super deasy to do.. If I recall, all shims needed to be changed out at 56,000 miles. The one I just did at 110,000 miles, only 4 shims needed to be changed out. They were just within spec but since I had everything apart, it was indeed best to change them out. The others were well within specs and should be good until the next inspection.

 

Goose had shown me a little trick of putting a bare knuckle on the tank while riding and if you felt a lot of high freq buzz, it might indicate your shims may be out.. Seeing how close to specs the shims were at 110,000 miles and how little buzz there was this time compared to before he did my valves at 56,000 miles, I'd say that was a good gauge to go by.

 

The guide in the library is quite comprehensive and everything flowed nicely. The little tips and tricks certainly help to make sure you avoid leaks and other surprises.. Apart of the time waiting for new shims to come in (overnight), the task took the better part of a day to complete. I purchased the Yamaha J tool at a great price for the job for a good price..

 

One thing I did do this time was to look closely at my intake valves. Wow, they weren't just dirty, they were encrusted with carbon and junk.. most of it hard caked on stuff.. a lot of it! Gees, no wonder the bike was working so hard.. I used a variety of brass picks and tools to chip away at the stuff until the valves were clean, (working on one valve at a time in it's closed position and getting all that debris out of the ports took a few hours of careful work.. )

 

A week of local touring after that clean up on the valves, I can readily say my gas mileage greatly improved and the bike runs so much smoother and feels stronger. It took away that hard shake on the bike when it was under load in 5th gear.. I can cruise at lower speeds and higher gears without lugging the engine, saving on fuel and extending the range. On the highway at 70 mph, the increased gas mileage is great to see again, and accelerate nicely in 5th gear at speed. The bike feels like it has more torque in all gears, and more 'oomph' to it when I drop the hammer on it.. its like getting a whole new bike again.. so very impressed over the improvement in performance and longer legs on the bike.

 

I'll be curious to see if the valves picked up more junk on them at the next valve check..

[djh3]

I'm going to have to check mine here by about the first of the year. 28k showing. I just re-read the procedure. Man I sure as heck didnt remember reading you had to just about disassemble the dang bike to do it.

[TheKid]

Well I completed the adjustments on both bikes (thanks Earl aka Skydoc_17 for shim kit, tool and great price on gaskets). Both bikes had never been done and both had 40K on them one bike took four shims and the other eight. It sure made a big difference in the engine noise and a noticeable increase in performance. I followed the procedure in the tech library and picked Earl's brain some. The whole procedure took a whole day on the first bike and most of a day on the second the procedure it self was a snap however it requires a lot of patience and time.

 

If anyone around me wants to do this I am more than willing to help now that I have done it, just get the stuff you need and give me a shout.

 

By the way $12 saved me at least $400

 

I probably need to do mine. I know the head gaskets leak a little so plan to do that this winter. Is it worth doing it all at one time? I probably need some help as this will be the first time I would be tearing to engine apart by myself.

 

I would have to ride down to you though to get your expertise.

 

Maybe i should get on the kit list to be able to use it, lol. Thanks VR family

[Cougar]

Joe when can you get here won't be riding until around march anyways

[Flyinfool]

I probably need to do mine. I know the head gaskets leak a little so plan to do that this winter. Is it worth doing it all at one time? I probably need some help as this will be the first time I would be tearing to engine apart by myself.

 

I would have to ride down to you though to get your expertise.

 

Maybe i should get on the kit list to be able to use it, lol. Thanks VR family

 

If you are replacing head gaskets then the shims are real easy, you can do them while the heads are off.

[RandyR]

Have you torqued the heads to spec?

 

My recollection is that there is a Yamaha alert concerning certain 07 engines that were not torqued correctly. If I further remember right, the solution was to re-torque the heads to spec.

 

Adjusting the valves is much simpler than tearing down an engine and shouldn't be compared to that.

[Barrycuda]

Well I completed the adjustments on both bikes (thanks Earl aka Skydoc_17 for shim kit, tool and great price on gaskets). Both bikes had never been done and both had 40K on them one bike took four shims and the other eight. It sure made a big difference in the engine noise and a noticeable increase in performance. I followed the procedure in the tech library and picked Earl's brain some. The whole procedure took a whole day on the first bike and most of a day on the second the procedure it self was a snap however it requires a lot of patience and time.

 

If anyone around me wants to do this I am more than willing to help now that I have done it, just get the stuff you need and give me a shout.

 

By the way $12 saved me at least $400

 

Dion/dhj3 was speaking of doing it. Any extra tips you can share let him/ us know...

[M61A1MECH]

Randy R

You are correct there is a Yamaha campaign applied to certain VINs of the 2007 Ventures for incorrectly torqued head bolts.

 

Kid

It is pretty easy to find out if your bike is one those that needs attention, just call the your dealer and talk with the service manager, give him you VIN and he should be able to look it up and tell if it is due or not.

[Phoneman1981]

Interesting read!!!

[djh3]

Randy it sure seems like it aint far from pulling a head. LOL There sure is alot of stuff that needs to come off for routeen maintence.

[etcswjoe]

Dion/dhj3 was speaking of doing it. Any extra tips you can share let him/ us know...

 

 

I put pictures to the procedure if you want to check it out:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxBL5EDtSvNdb253MWlYQS1XLXc/edit?usp=sharing

[djh3]

Thanks Joe. "Real" pics sometimes give me a better feel of what I'm looking at vs the drawiings in the book. I himmed and hawed for a couple days and just said screw it and bought the tool off e-bay. It looks like the way I put milage on this bike so far every 2 years I'm going to be in there. I seriously doubt any shims will need swapping out this time. But sure as heck I aint got it and they will. Skydoc has a kit he loans out but 1 time of shipping it to and fro and I have just about paid for mine. Besides now If someone down this way needs to in Fla and I got time we can maybe do it. Just seems like so dang much stuff to disasseblt to do routeen maintence. Hyd lifers sure as heck would have been nice. If there is another bike in my future its gonna have them.

[DarrinGT]

I put pictures to the procedure if you want to check it out:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxBL5EDtSvNdb253MWlYQS1XLXc/edit?usp=sharing

 

Thanks for the pics, I just printed and am planning on the valve adjustment after the first of the year, Very Helpful, Nice Job!

[RandyR]

Great write up of the procedure.

 

I'll point out that removing the carbs should be optional. You can adjust the valves without doing that.

 

One does need to remove the spark plugs as you documented. One needs to be very careful that the top of the engine is very clean prior to removing the plugs, and that nothing falls in the plug holes. A fine screen to fit over the plug holes would be a wonderful invention if someone hasn't made something like that already.

[etcswjoe]

Great write up of the procedure.

 

I'll point out that removing the carbs should be optional. You can adjust the valves without doing that.

 

One does need to remove the spark plugs as you documented. One needs to be very careful that the top of the engine is very clean prior to removing the plugs, and that nothing falls in the plug holes. A fine screen to fit over the plug holes would be a wonderful invention if someone hasn't made something like that already.

 

 

I pluged mine with a shop rag and it still let me turn in it but a screen would be great wonder if you could cut a spark plug off, drill it out solder a tube in it and cover the tube with screen. I may have to try that out.

[RandyR]

I pluged mine with a shop rag and it still let me turn in it but a screen would be great wonder if you could cut a spark plug off, drill it out solder a tube in it and cover the tube with screen. I may have to try that out.

 

Just be careful that any rag doesn't get sucked in on the power down stroke

when both valves are closed.

[djh3]

On the newer engines (coil on plug hemi style) cars we allways blow the holes out with compressed air.

[djh3]

PHEW 3 days in on this project and I'm probably a couple hours from firing it up. I'd like to choke the jokers that designed this. It just seems silly to have to take this much stuff apart for something that is a common as valve adjustment.

Good thing I had the tool. Just about all the intakes were to tight. Exhausts were all good I think and only one or two of the intakes did not need adjusting. Man there was some big ol honkers in there. 288-282-285-280 Just about killed my spare 275 to 280 supply.

I will admit I'm probably going a bit slower than some. I'm kind of taking notes along the way. I have now figured out that perhaps there is a better disassembly process than what looks obvious. The air box hootus is a PIA to wiggle out. I can definatly see where 2 guys working on this would be alot more productive.