Valve clearance results

[Guest]

OK..I finally got my measurement result. Here goes. I guess technically I only 1-exhaust, 2 intake and 3 intake need replacement. I would be interested your opinions as to what to do. I will join the shim club.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

[Nessism]

You can ride it as is. If you want to make it perfect, change 4I to a 2.65. There is no worry running clearances up to .010 mm.

[hampshirehog]

Looks fine to me though you could put one size smaller shim in no. 4 intake - no problem running a bit wide, say 0.1. Nice fat shims you have there as well - plenty of life left in that one.

PS just spotted Ed beat me to it - but (let's embarass him, especially as he doesn't often get things mixed up), he's got his decimal point in the wrong place...

[081dbx64]

I thought the tollerances were .03 to .08 mm. what is the goal here. to get as close to .08 or .03mm?

[hampshirehog]

You want to get somewhere between the two. Running at .08 means you probably won't have to change the shims next time, running at .03 means you might have to. You can run wider than .08, say 0.1ish without any harm but don't run any thinner than .03 - your valves might not close and you'll burn the valve / seat = expensive fix.

[081dbx64]

Ok. My valves are now adjusted and within specs. Hooked up carbtune and the carbs are balanced. I'm still having problems with idle. Seems to be all over the place and now it does now I seem to have high idle between shifting. Makes for a crappy ride.

Any ideas? My Idle Air Screws are at 1.25, 2, 1 and 2 turns out.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Remind us again what bike we are talking about.

Better yet, just put your year/model in your signature file so you won't have to remember to put it in your post.

What other maintenance have you done? Intake boots and O-rings? Sealed airbox?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[081dbx64]

I have a 1980 GS 550E. The bike was in storage for 20 years. I hired a local motorcycle mechanic to rebuild/clean the carburetors. When he did that he told me I needed new intake boots. They were replaced. I assume the O rings were as well.

I rode it a couple of hundred miles and the idle gives me problems. I checked the valve clearances and although they were in spec since I was there I adjusted them to be at approximately .08 mm clearance.

I then checked the carbs with carbtune...the were pretty much spot on. Although I could not get the carbtune to work unless I turned it upside down. The manual said sometimes you have to do that.

The air box is fine...visually anyway. I took the filter out and noticed it's not a stock filter. It's orange...I remember the other one being blueish green.

I don't know what to think. I tryed turning the air mixture screws a 1/4 turn either way and it does not seem to matter. I notice no difference in idle...so I set them back to the settings made by the mechanic. The bike has never been worked on since I owned it. It always ran fine until after the storage.

I'm thinking of trying the carbtune again today. And probably calling the mechanic and asking exactly what he had done.

[081dbx64]

Ok..talked to the mechanic. He said the O rings were replaced and the o rings in the carburetor were replaced as well.

I hooked up carbtune again. It worked in the upright position and gave me readings when the engine was warming up. Once it warmed up the readings were too low and I had to turn it upside down again.

I'm totally confused. I set the idle mixture screws to 2.5 turns out for all carbs. I cannot seem to hear any difference in idle when I turn them.... Crap! I'm lost

[Nessism]

I'd set the screws at 3 turns and leave it at that. You can play with them some more but many times the engine idle won't change much if at all when adjusting those screws.