Noise after valve adjustment

[rrhuehn]

I know there ar emany threads about this and I read a bunch but I wanted some opinions on my situation if I may.

I just adjust my valves on my 82 gs850l (thanks to the basscliffs wonderful site, thank you!) and all of my valves are around .006-.008 except two. one I have at .004 and one at ..010 because I bought the Z1 kit and I didn't have enough smaller shims to get them all where I wanted which was the upper tolerance of .008. Now I hear a harder tick almost enough to be scary at certain rpms and I wonder if this is the one I have set at ..010 since it's over. My question is will it hurt to drive it and let it tighen up over time? I have not drove the bike hardly 10 miles since the adjustment. Also I have last years gas in it yet about half a tank and I usually run the cheap low octaine at the pump. Should I fill up with premium and drive it and see what happens or is the one that is .002 over specs going to damage something? If so I will need to order more shims and crack it open again.

P.S. I have not done a compression test yet but I will, bike has about 20k on it.

Thanks in advance!
Bob

[TheCafeKid]

I actually prefer to run my valve adjustment slightly loose. Yes, its a lil noisey, but at .10 your not really hurting anything. The biggest risk would be lifting a shim out of the bucket, but its not loose enough to do that unless you spin it up to about 12grand or so for a lil while. I think if you do that you will shortly have other problems besides lifting a shim Generally, when i do my 8valve adjustments, if i find a clearance thats .04 or .05, I will go ahead and shim it the next size, simply so i dont have to do it again soon. .09 or .10 isnt really going to hurt it, and there was another member on here that i used to toss things around with from time to time who had a friend that was an old race bike builder/tuner that said they FREQUENTLY ran the shim sizes on these old Zooks up to .12/.15 for race prep set ups and never had issues. Well, i personally wouldnt risk that, but that ticking you hear is prolly that loose shim. It will be ok man

[rrhuehn]

Cool I will run it and throw in some fresh gas and see how it goes. I just wanted someone else's opinion since it's my first valve adjustment and I thought it was likely the .010 valve doing it but wasn't sure if it would hurt it to run it or not. Thanks!!

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. rrhuehn,

I frequently run my valves at .09mm and .10mm. Use good cheap oil (Rotella-T 15w40 diesel oil or similar) and change it often. Get the old gas out of there. No need to run premium gas, regular is just fine.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

OK guys, let's back up a bit and look at the big picture before we punt.

and all of my valves are around .006-.008 except two. one I have at .004 and one at ..010 because I bought the Z1 kit and I didn't have enough smaller shims to get them all where I wanted which was the upper tolerance of .008.

ARE YOU MEASURING IN INCES OR MILLIMETERS?????

I ask that in all caps because it's VERY important. Yes, the maximum clearance incluede the number 8, but it's .08 mm. Note that there is only ONE zero? You say that your valves are .006-.008 (note the TWO zeroes?) That leads me to believe that you measured in INCHES. If your valves are set to between 6 and 8 thousandths of an inch, they are WAY too loose. The INCH equivalent is only 1 to 3 thousandths of an inch. That one that is set at .010, as you say, if it's in inches, is THREE TIMES as much clearance as it should be.

Oh, and your gas question, please don't fool yourself into thinking that "premium" gas is any better than "regular" gas. Your best bet in the short run is to drain the gas into your lawn mower, fill up the bike with some fresh "regular" gas and try to run it, but do that AFTER you adjust the valves. If you feel you still have carburetion issues, you say it's "last years gas", so the carbs are probably gummed up and will need to be cleaned. This will involve taking them off the bike, taking the rack apart, taking each carb apart, dipping it in cleaner OVERNIGHT, then re-assembling with new o-rings from www.cycleorings.com. When you get the carbs back together, you will need to synchronize them, too, which is another fun adventure in the rite of getting an old bike running well again.

.

[BassCliff]

"Inches" should be illegal when working on an old metric bike.

Good catch Steve.



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[rrhuehn]

OK guys, let's back up a bit and look at the big picture before we punt.


ARE YOU MEASURING IN INCES OR MILLIMETERS?????

I ask that in all caps because it's VERY important. Yes, the maximum clearance incluede the number 8, but it's .08 mm. Note that there is only ONE zero? You say that your valves are .006-.008 (note the TWO zeroes?) That leads me to believe that you measured in INCHES. If your valves are set to between 6 and 8 thousandths of an inch, they are WAY too loose. The INCH equivalent is only 1 to 3 thousandths of an inch. That one that is set at .010, as you say, if it's in inches, is THREE TIMES as much clearance as it should be.

Oh, and your gas question, please don't fool yourself into thinking that "premium" gas is any better than "regular" gas. Your best bet in the short run is to drain the gas into your lawn mower, fill up the bike with some fresh "regular" gas and try to run it, but do that AFTER you adjust the valves. If you feel you still have carburetion issues, you say it's "last years gas", so the carbs are probably gummed up and will need to be cleaned. This will involve taking them off the bike, taking the rack apart, taking each carb apart, dipping it in cleaner OVERNIGHT, then re-assembling with new o-rings from www.cycleorings.com. When you get the carbs back together, you will need to synchronize them, too, which is another fun adventure in the rite of getting an old bike running well again.

.

Thank you for the retardation check, my gauge does read both and I just went got my gauge and I see measured by inches.

I feel like a moron but thankfully I didn't hardly drive it and you saved my ass. I shall open it back up and do it right this time. Good thing I bought a real silicone gasket that is reusable.

Damn this erks me though, I can't believe I frickin did this. I was so careful to do it right and misread the damn gauge. Even though I look like a fool......I really do appreciate your help!

Thanks,
Bob

[rrhuehn]

One more thing that you mentioned in your post Steve, I did buy a carb tune from that place in the UK. That was my plan to do next is sync the carbs, is there any stupid things I could do wrong with that? Any pointers into what to watch out for once I redo the valves would be much appreciated!

I feel so damn dumb after what I did with the valves but whether anyone wants to believe me or not I am normally pretty good at this stuff for the most part and hope you all can forget that little mistake! I much appreciate the help you all give on this forum!!

Thanks!
Bob

[Steve]

Since you are going in there again, send me the e-mail requst for the spreadsheet.

212 recipients so far, you may as well be #213.

[rrhuehn]

Since you are going in there again, send me the e-mail requst for the spreadsheet.

212 recipients so far, you may as well be #213.

I humbly request you to add me to the moron spreadsheet after that! lol