How "ticky" should my bike be?

[donimo]

I adjusted the valves, and think I may have gone a bit too loose after reading how to use feeler guages. I think i am closer to .15 than .13.

My motor is ticky, but how ticky is too ticky?

haaa tough question I know...

[posplayr]

Ticky enough that if you just did a valve adjust you would think that you screwed it up or they have changed.

I think they tend to tick the most when hot (thinner oil?). No tick when cold.

Not ticky enough that they have any indication of a clack.

All ticking is at idle and seems to disappear with any kind of RPM (1500-2000).

The above is about right and normal.

Anybody feel free to throw stones

[donimo]

I will pay more attention, but it IS there when hot for sure, and sometimes is is louder than at other times...

It is there at higher RPMs too, the holes in my exhaust cover it up over 5000 or so though, but putting around town it is always there.

It MIGHT be a tad clacky at times, argh.

[posplayr]

Wait for other comments on the poll

But my experience if from GS1100ED and GS750EX both 16V inline 4 TSCC's. Chef's GS1100L with TSCC and stainless valves makes a little more nice, but not much.

[Dave8338]

They will make a little noise. As long as they are tight enough that the shims stay in place (and you'de know if they don't) you should be alright.

If you are concerned...recheck your work.

[donimo]

no shims, mine is a TSCC 8 valve twin.

I am still a tad unclear as to the "prper" way to check. If I can cram the feeler in at all it is too wide? Or from the side or the front or what? I have never done this stuff before so...

I had to use 2 feelers together to get .13, and I made it so the.15 was really hard to get in...

argh, wish one of you guru's lived near me ha ha

[GS550ES-Hank]

If you can get the smaller feeler in there, but not the larger one, you know it's between the two. So if specs say .13, you should be able to get a .12 in, but not a .14. If you can't get .15 in, you're about .14.

[donimo]

I have 3 sets of metric feelers and the best I can do is .10, .13 or .15

is running them between .13 and .15 bad?

[salty_monk]

A little loose is normally safer than a little tight on any engine...

[GS550ES-Hank]

Loose, or more gap, will ensure the valves will close fully. Tight, or less gap, could cause the valves to be held slightly open after expansion of the metal with heat. Between .13 and .15 is fine.

[posplayr]

How tight ??

I use the two feeler guage method as well to make sure one fits and the other doesn't.

In terms of how tight the proper size should be; it should take about 1/2 a pound of force to pull the guage through the gap. In other words it is tight enough that if you had the engine on it's side the weight of a set of feeler 1/2 lbs guages would not slide out.

This is a little subjective, but I guaged that based on how stiff a valve was that Rapidray set.

If it is too loose, you don't really know how close it is. Too tight and you could dent the feeler. I also look at if the feeler is grabbing at all. I would say if it is grabbing much when you slide it in the gap it is too tight. A smooth pull with little to no grabbing probably means you still have a thin layer of oil that you are gliding the feeler over. If it starts and stops it is getting a little too tight.

Hope that helps.

[donimo]

ok got the new exhaust on and it seems that most of the ticking is when lugging it a bit? Like puttering around a parking lot it is much more pronounced.

So louder ticky/clacky when high load low rpm, just a very light tick when higher rpm low load.

Normal?

Just following up is all, thanks for the great advice guys!

[posplayr]

donimo

Dunno, most of the ticking I have ever hear is at idle and it disappears at any kind of RPM.

Lugging? Maybe you need more RPM's

U need to figure out what that ticking is if it doesn't go away.

Anybody else?

Pos

[Larry D]

If you're unsure of your valve adjustment, do it again. If you feel comfortable with your work....ride it !!

Like my dear 'ole Grampa used to tell me. "Anything worth doing, is worth doing right"

[TheCafeKid]

You SHOULD be fine man. Loose is ok, and since you have no shims you dont have to worry bout it spinning one out of the bucket. I wouldnt go MUCH looser than you already might be tho, or you might not be opening fully, which could cause some issues down the road, and a slight drop in performance. At any rate, the method i use seems to work well for getting them just about right on the highest end of tollerance. The one thing with the tappet adjusters on the TSCC engines is that they can back out, making it possible for your valve clearance to be tight OR loose. So, what i do is i take the closest to the largest tollerable clearance feeler gauge i have ( i think its a .127? or something close to that) and i back the lock nut off a hair, then the adjuster screw. I stick the feeler gauge in, and then tighten the adjustment screw so that when i attempt to pull the feeler out, there is a decent drag to it. Then, with the feeler gauge still in there, i tighten the lock nut. Sometimes when you tighten that down, if you dont hold on to your adjustment screw well, it will turn with the nut, throwing off your adjustment. This way, i can be doubly sure that my clearance is still correct after i set the lock nut. Seems to work pretty good, and I must say, it IS much quicker than the 8valvers....