valve clearance questions (started as zxr400 questions)

[eddiegeary]

anyone know how to adjust the valve clearance in a 91 zxr 400 L model.


EDIT BY CHOPPER
ill lump all the valve clearance questions in here and sticky the thread so info is easy to access.

[addicted to rage]

Originally Posted by eddiegeary

anyone know how to adjust the valve clearance in a 91 zxr 400 L model

have u taken the mesurments yet

[addicted to rage]

well if u have taken them and some of them r tight and i bet they r then u need to increase the gap so u decrease the shim size so lets say your tolerence is say 0.25 to 0.30 and the clearance is 0.25 and u take out a 1.75 shim u need to put in a 1.70 to bring it up ,hope that helps if askin how to get at the shims well i dont know what system ur bike uses some u have to lift the cams to get the shims out from under these wee buckets and some have wee arms u slide over to get at them

[eddiegeary]

its one of the buddys doing the job for me i will give him that info cause he is worried about getting at the shims but this info helps thanks will probably be back on again for more help

[chopper]

Originally Posted by eddiegeary

its one of the buddys doing the job for me i will give him that info cause he is worried about getting at the shims but this info helps thanks will probably be back on again for more help

you dont need to remove the cams to remove the shims on the zxr400 if thats what your asking. just slide the followers out of the way and use a magnet.
id advise getting a manual .

[TQS Racing]

Originally Posted by chopper

you dont need to remove the cams to remove the shims on the zxr400 if thats what your asking. just slide the followers out of the way and use a magnet.
id advise getting a manual .

and plenty o shims seein as its a zx
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

[chopper]

Originally Posted by TQS Racing

and plenty o shims seein as its a zx
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

it'll probably be at the stage it cant be shimmed safely (most are at this stage) and needs valves.

[addicted to rage]

Originally Posted by TQS Racing

and plenty o shims seein as its a zx
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.
yea first time i did them on my zxr i needed 12 then 4 more after i ran it for while

[chopper]

ive had zxrs need the full set and then more after it was run for a while.

[addicted to rage]

Originally Posted by chopper

ive had zxrs need the full set and then more after it was run for a while.

i still love them tho
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

[eddiegeary]

ok lads will tell him that thanks for the help

[padraic2271]

Originally Posted by chopper

ive had zxrs need the full set and then more after it was run for a while.

Is this a kawasaki thing or just the older zxr's? In other words would be my ZX12R (05) be prone to valve clearance issues?

[chopper]

Originally Posted by padraic2271

Is this a kawasaki thing or just the older zxr's? In other words would be my ZX12R (05) be prone to valve clearance issues?

if it has zx in it then stick to the schedule or its gonna have probs .

[padraic2271]

Originally Posted by chopper

if it has zx in it then stick to the schedule or its gonna have probs .

Sound, thanks. It has a full service history so should be ok

[Darren169]

how do you know when clearances need to be done? what are the signs to look for loike?
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

[addicted to rage]

Originally Posted by Darren169

how do you know when clearances need to be done? what are the signs to look for loike?
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

it tells u in the manual clear signs r that the engine wont start when warm and i think they get tappy up top not sure what else

[chopper]

Originally Posted by addicted to rage

it tells u in the manual clear signs r that the engine wont start when warm and i think they get tappy up top not sure what else

did ya hear that in a dublin shop
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.
the amount of stupid bikeshops that have a listen and say "sure its grand and quiet so its ok"
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.


most get quiet up top these days, the whole getting tappy thing reverts back to the days when it was all tappets and locknuts that were in use to adjust valve clearances ,the tappets were softer than the valves thus wore thus the clearances got larger making the top end get noisier.
these days the valves tend to wear and close the gap between the shim and camlobe leading to a quieter engine than its supposed to be , when its like that its dodgy as when the gaps too small the valve wont close enough and the bike starts loosing compression and theres a high chance your burning out valves.
if the bike has started getting harder to start when hot as opposed to cold your already in danger of burning out valves as your already so out of spec that your loosing compression . you should not be leaving the bike to get this bad and it shouldnt be used as a " sign" that clearances need to be done .
clearances are supposed to be done as part of regular maintainance on a motorcycle . do them to the schedule in the manual .
thats as simple as i can explain it , questions?

also worth noting ... theres a good few places out there (as atr will tell ya ) that will take your money and not bother doing the clearances at all !
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

[addicted to rage]

Originally Posted by chopper

did ya hear that in a dublin shop
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.
the amount of stupid bikeshops that have a listen and say "sure its grand and quiet so its ok"
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.


most get quiet up top these days, the whole getting tappy thing reverts back to the days when it was all tappets and locknuts that were in use to adjust valve clearances ,the tappets were softer than the valves thus wore thus the clearances got larger making the top end get noisier.
these days the valves tend to wear and close the gap between the shim and camlobe leading to a quieter engine than its supposed to be , when its like that its dodgy as when the gaps too small the valve wont close enough and the bike starts loosing compression and theres a high chance your burning out valves.
if the bike has started getting harder to start when hot as opposed to cold your already in danger of burning out valves as your already so out of spec that your loosing compression . you should not be leaving the bike to get this bad and it shouldnt be used as a " sign" that clearances need to be done .
clearances are supposed to be done as part of regular maintainance on a motorcycle . do them to the schedule in the manual .
thats as simple as i can explain it , questions?

also worth noting ... theres a good few places out there (as atr will tell ya ) that will take your money and not bother doing the clearances at all !
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

so the it must have been the cam chain tapping on my engine i taught it was the fact that i had 1 r 2 shims slightly looser then the spec on ext it tolerance is 0.25 to 0.30 i had them set to 0.32 if i recall that wouldnt cause tapping ???

[Darren169]

based on what you just said chopper i think mine need to be done it might take the choke to be fully open when its warm but thats only happened twice in the last two weeks...

any idea roughly how much i'm gonna have to come up with now
To view pics on this biker's forum - your post count must be 2 or greater.

[Puff, the Magic Dragon]

Ill put up pics later of a zxr 400 that dropped a valve to see the damage it cause's . I have 2 engines here it happened to.