valve adjustment 1983 GS1100E clearances

[saber1971]

ok... just got done checking the valve clearanceson my cycle, they were all at .003" .....I know they should be .003-.005...now should i leave them there or adjust to .005"...as I put more miles on, does the valve clearance get bigger or does it get smaller?????

[Dogma]

I don't know first hand, but what I've been reading around here is that clearances will get tighter with age. Basically the valve seats further into the head, until there is no more clearance and valve burn begins (along with general lean running, low compression, hard starting...) Myself, I'll leave 'em alone if they're within tolerances. Some other guys seem like to have them on one side or the other. I don't know yet why.

[BassCliff]

Have feeler guage, will travel

H Mr. saber1971,

I concur with Mr. Dogma. I try to adjust my valves on the loose end of the spectrum (.03mm-.08mm on my bike - 8 valve motor) but I'm not anal about it. My last check I left one valve at .04mm and one at .05mm. I'll probably change those shims next time. Always keep good records. That way you'll know what to expect the next time. With the 8 valve motors it helps to know what shims sizes you might have to order. But the 16 valve motors don't have to worry about shim sizes.

Ain't it fun wrenching on your motorcycle? I enjoy it.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[posplayr]

What I did

I adjusted my 81 GS750E TSCC and will do the same on the 83 GS1100ED

Spec says .003-.005 I think so I used the feeler tool from Z-1 with the .004 and .005 on it.

I made sure that on each valve I could "easily" slide the .004" feeler but the .005 would not go in. This takes a lot of the subjectiveness out of the "easily" slide on the .004", but there is still some variation in the slide. If it is silky smooth it is probably too loose. A little catching (when moving the feeler in and out) seems to be required to make sure the .005" doesn't go in.

If you wanted to set them at 0.005" then use that feeler and the .006" would work the same.

Slight adjustments and the bike did seem to start better. I will go back in after a few miles and check again to see if it is stable. I'm a newbie to GS's but have adjusted overhead cam valves before (69 Datsun SRL311 2000).

Posplayr