'83-'86 GS550E/ES valve adjustment

[Guest]

Anyone on here have any experience with the '83-'86 16 valve motors with tappets as far as valves go? I've found a lot of posts that cover the other motors that use shims. Has anyone done the 16 tappet valve adjustment and is it much different than adjusting the valves on a motor with shims? I'm just looking for some insight here as i plan to do the first valve adjustment on "Dino" since I've owned her (now at 19,250, got her at 14,000) as soon as the new gasket gets here. Thanks,

JCoov

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. jcoov1104,

Did I roll out the mega-welcome for you? If not, I apologize. Please see my website for the 16-valve adjustment procedure, manuals, and lots of other GS lovin'.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Billy Ricks]

The heads with threaded adjusters are a breeze to do. Much easier than dealing with shims.

[jcoov1104]

I guess I should be a little more observant...

[PHP][/PHP]"BassCliff Hi Mr. jcoov1104,

Did I roll out the mega-welcome for you? If not, I apologize. Please see my website for the 16-valve adjustment procedure, manuals, and lots of other GS lovin'."

BassCliff, I did indeed get your mega-welcome in an earlier post and am very grateful


"Billy Ricks The heads with threaded adjusters are a breeze to do. Much easier than dealing with shims."

Billy, Glad to hear as this is the first time I've gotten into the engine other than oil changes. She's really ran like dream since I got her, but I got a pretty good buzz in the bars now, especially cruising at 65. After I do the valves, syncing the carbs is next.

BassCliff,
I rechecked your website and found, to my dismay, that I had neglected to scroll the page over and therefore uncovered the link to Valve Adjustment for 16 Valve Motors. That's what I get for having a 7 yr old laptop and being in a rush. Thanks for your patience

[hikermikem]

As Billy sez, it's much easier to do the 16V adjustments. Couple of bits o' advice:

- Follow the scheme posted on BassCliffs page regarding the position of the cams, and which valves to check/adjust clearances on.

- Only rotate the crank forward (clockwise) - don't rotate it back if you pass the cam stopping point. Just go around again.

- Make sure the engine is STONE COLD before you check the clearances.

- I believe the clearances (intake & exhaust) for your engine are between .003" - .005" (note these are inches). Set them on the high side (.005"), as they tighten as they wear...

You only need about 3 feeler gages, .004", .005", .006" to do the job.

I loosen the the lock nut (8mm wrench I think) and back off the threaded adjuster a bit. Then I put the .004" shim under it and tighten the adjuster down until the shim is just snug enough where you cant pull it out. Then I loosen it maybe 1/8 turn or so (you'll find the right amount as you do a few). Then lock the nut down while holding the adjuster in place.

Now check to see that the .005" shim will go in, while the .006" will not. If it's too loose or tight, then start over..

Repeat 15 more times. After 3 or 4 adjustments, you'll be an expert!

[Billy Ricks]

As Billy sez, it's much easier to do the 16V adjustments. Couple of bits o' advice:

- Follow the scheme posted on BassCliffs page regarding the position of the cams, and which valves to check/adjust clearances on.

- Only rotate the crank forward (clockwise) - don't rotate it back if you pass the cam stopping point. Just go around again.

- Make sure the engine is STONE COLD before you check the clearances.

- I believe the clearances (intake & exhaust) for your engine are between .003" - .005" (note these are inches). Set them on the high side (.005"), as they tighten as they wear...

You only need about 3 feeler gages, .004", .005", .006" to do the job.

I loosen the the lock nut (8mm wrench I think) and back off the threaded adjuster a bit. Then I put the .004" shim under it and tighten the adjuster down until the shim is just snug enough where you cant pull it out. Then I loosen it maybe 1/8 turn or so (you'll find the right amount as you do a few). Then lock the nut down while holding the adjuster in place.

Now check to see that the .005" shim will go in, while the .006" will not. If it's too loose or tight, then start over..

Repeat 15 more times. After 3 or 4 adjustments, you'll be an expert!

The nut is 9mm. You can make a wrench for the adjuster itself out of one of the drywall screws that uses a square tipped driver to tighten up. The screws come in couple different sizes so grab a few of each. Just screw it into a short piece of dowel to hold the adjuster bolt while you tighten the locknut. And tighten the locknut down good, you can spin the adjuster right out of the rocker under high rpm if it's not tight enough.

[jcoov1104]

after adjustment...

I'm getting ready to do the adjustment this weekend since the new gasket finally arrived. I won't be able to do a carb sync right away, could adjusting the valves cause the bike to run erratically before a carb sync is done? Should I wait to do the valve adjustment till I can do the carb sync as well?
Thanks,

Jed

[jadesystem]

Yes, I've done this last week including rebuilding the 16-valve TSCC head by hand. No machine shop necessary. Try to get the small feeler gauge
with the single 45-degree bend of a single of .004 and .005 on the ends. It is located at your local parts bike shop for $2-$3. It is that much simpler to use rather than a set of feeler gauges that are straight and cumbersome like a pocket knife.

I like to use the smallest spec for the clearance, because I found in my
own experience that if I go wider, I get tappet noise that drives me crazy.
I like mine tight and snug, with good resistance when you pull-out (no sexual connotations intended here).

It all depends on your experience of doing this. You have to get a feel
for it, because the spec is from .004 - .005" or 0.09 -0.12mm. I like
the lower metric .004 blade instead of the "wide" standard measurement and I take it from there. I've gotten good at this without having to take the valve cover off and on to double-check again and again.

I actually hated this procedure and wanted the Honda CB series with the valve shims. I think it is easier to drop a pre-measured shim in place of
an air gap, but to each his own.

In closing, and in fact, heat expands the metal thus making the valve adjustment critical. No clearance after heat expansion means the valve never seats, or partially seats, and the valve with too much clearance means it will never open or partially will open.

After the valve adjustment, I then check the oil temp and head temp
with the stock oil temp gauge, IR beam meter, or temp meter so that
there is no indiation of overheating. That is a good sign.

Good luck to you