Valve clearance intervals

[highland strom]

Hi all just needing to know at what mileage should I have my valve clearance done on my 650 Wee. Bike has just turned 20,000 mile & purrs like a kitten & runs very sweet. Cheers Colin.

[ukiboy]

The manual says they need to be checked at 14500 miles.
Personally I think Suzuki are a bit over cautious with the service intervals - they say plugs should be changed at 7500 miles..
Then they increased the Glee's service intervals from every 3500 miles to 7500 miles..
So perhaps a valve check at 14500 miles is a bit early?

[greywolf]

While the interval may be too short, you haven't established the clearances yet. Do the first one on time. If none are near or below minimum, especially on the exhaust valves, then you can go 30,000 miles before the next check. If all are between the middle and wide end of the range, you can go another 100,000 miles.

[ukiboy]

Fair point. Still, manufacturers do seem to err on the side of caution, possibly excessively so, to allow for the lowest common denominator of owners mechanical ineptitude and lack of sympathy.
I do wonder why Suzuki, at point of manufacture, doesn't set all the valve clearances at the widest permissible setting which presumably would mean a long time and mileage elapses before they need re adjustment.
What's your opinion GW?

[Hondaman]

Bikes are service heavy when compared to the automotive world.
Many cars are bought by fleet buyers who want low running and service costs = long service intervals.
Bikes are generally a leisure purchase, owners are happy(ish!) to pay to have the p&j kept in top order. Dealers are generally smaller & have lower sales figures than a new car dealership. Customers regularly returning for over frequent servicing = £££.

I do all my own servicing, using manufacturers intervals as a guide with my own intervention as I see fit ;)

Changing iridium plugs at 7 1/2k is plain silly, bike coolant is still short life stuff 2-4 years yet all cars have 10yr+ pink stuff.

All in my humble opinion of course

[greywolf]

I've had three DL650s. Two of them had most clearances closer to the minimums from the factory and one closer to the middle. It may be to provide more valve open duration for a very small increase in power. The power/reliability trade off seems to be ever present. That first check is the most important one. A baseline needs to be established first.

[Ian T]

I thought I would share this, just got glee back from recal, nothing needed but the valve clearances are:
EX      FR       CYL
           .20      .20

IN        .12       .14


IN        RR        CYL
            .12        .12

EX         .20        .20

Given this thread are they OK for 30k or should I still stick to the schedule. Bike on 7500 so service done as well.

Welcome your thoughts on this

Ian
         

[greywolf]

All the exhaust clearances are at minimums and it's the exhaust valves that have the most movement. I'd do one of two choices. Either stick to the 14,500 mile schedule or change shims now to get all the clearances somewhere in the top half of the range and not check for 100,000 miles.

[Ian T]

Thanks Much appreciated.

If the exhaust at minimum should they not have done something about it 

[tallpaul]

Speaking from an engineering standpoint if it is in tolerance it is not wrong. Top, middle or bottom it is still in the acceptable range.

[Parademic]

Just had mine done for the second time. First at 15k and the second at 36k.

G


.

[Ian T]

Now it may be me as Sir Terry would say and I have never fully understood the intricacies of shims much prefer push rods and the like.

So if they are on the limit on exhaust side should they not have done them or at least brought em to my attention.

Most probably it me!

[mr_diver]

I did 2 checks on my K6 Wee.
14.5k and 50k.
Valves clearances all smack bang in the middle of spec both times. No adjustments needed.

If a bike comes under recall I'd make sure its done and if not recalled the first check is the important one. After that point I'd leave it another 50k if they were middle spec at the first check.

These valve shim and buckets are more reliable than hydronic valve adjusters or screw and lock nut. Push rod ain't half noisy but simple when taking cylinder heads off.
I'm so glad I never needed to change shims on the Wee. My cx500 would take 20mins to adjust all the valves compared to 3 hours and a tables to work out what shims you need on V-Stroms.