Valve clearance check done!

[Renegade]

Got up this morning and went to the garage to tackle the valve clearance check. Took everything apart per the manual and all went well except for the body side cover. I could not get the rear end of it loose from the bike body. Suppose to lift it off the threaded stud and slide it right off, but it just wasn't happening. In the end I discovered complete removal of the cover is not necessary. Other than this all went well. Some of the screws holding the panels on were quite loose, maybe from vibration? Anyhow finally got to the valves and found the exhaust maybe a smidge loose, so I snugged it up. The intake seemed perfect, so nothing done there. The belt case air cleaner element was filthy. Ran to the auto store then to Ace Hardware to get a "non-flammable" solvent as recommended in the manual for element cleaning. People at the stores had no clue what a non-flammable solvent might be, so the element got a good water rinse, then dried and re-installed. All in all not a big deal to do a valve inspection on the SH. Next time I should be able to cut the total time down to about an hour. BTW, the scoot has 4,200 miles and this was the first time for the valve check.

[bigbird]

What happened to the 600 mile valve check?
I'm sure you got great satisfaction doing this yourself. You saved lots of money, and you know the job was done RIGHT. At a dealer getting something done right is often an expensive crapshoot.

[Renegade]

600 miles was the point when I called the dealer and was told not to be concerned with it. I was gonna take it to the dealer for the check and they could have done a "phantom" check and took my money, so I'm glad they didn't jump at an opportunity to rip me off. Anyway, the scoot was fine---running and performing like day one---so I didn't give it much thought 'til I started interacting on this forum. Someone did a great write up over on a Yamaha Zuma forum about valve clearance that made me finally pull the trigger and do it. My biggest concern was that the scoot could have come off the assembly line with zero valve clearance. Too much gap and I figured the telltale tick would have been there. Yes I am a little proud of myself for getting it done and it's a good feeling knowing I can do it again on this scoot or the next one.

[bigbird]

Yes I am a little proud of myself for getting it done and it's a good feeling knowing I can do it again on this scoot or the next one.

Unless it's a DOHC 4 valve engine using shims instead of screws with jam nuts. Specialized tools are needed for that, including a micrometer, and the ability to remove and reinstall both cams, the cam chain, the tensioner, and the new correct shims.