Valve Clearance

[ken payton]

I recently checked the valve clearance on my 07 SV650.  All intakes (.004) and all exhausts (008) were right on the minimum.  Anyone know if they wear tight or loose.  If I knew they wore loose, I'd never check 'em again.  If they tend to wear tight I'm looking at re-shimming everyone of them.

[Jim Stewart]

Hi, Ken -

Haven't worked on an SV as recent as yours, but as far as I know the top
ends are all the same back to the beginning of time ('99).

My experience with valve adjustments (7 or 8 different bikes, I guess)
is that the valves wear tight until they're at or near the minimum, then
stop changing.

My '01 presumably started life somewhere in the middle of the range. At
the first 15K service I checked valves and the intakes were 2 or 3
thousandths over minimum, exhausts at minimum or 1-2 over. They've
remained that way since. The last time I checked was at 60K, so
clearance has been stable for at least 45K.

You're right at the limit on all of them, eh? If it were my bike I'd
probably reset them all right in the middle, expecting them to remain
that way thereafter.

If you decide to reshim, you can probably swap shims around to avoid
buying 8 new ones, if you have the time to let the bike sit while the
dealer orders the shims you need. I bought a complete set (aftermarket)
for about $80 and have never used one. Except to give one to a friend.

-js

[Milktree]

Shim under/over bucket engines tend to "wear" tight; as the valve
smashes into the head the clearance gets smaller.

The safe way is to swap shims for middle or loose end of the range,
it'll get you the longest time between adjustment intervals.


As an aside, "never check them again" is a bad idea on any bike until
you've got a bunch of history with a particular bike and know how it
wears. "too loose" will wear out stuff too.

-Will

[Jeremy Roemen]

What do you perfer.. or what works better, a gauge type synchro or a manometer (liquid filled tubes) type? I was thinking the gauge type could get out of calibration or have variations in accuracy, but not the manometer type, correct?
 
JR

[Jim Stewart]

I like my Carb Stix (four columns of mercury). It's cheaper than a good
gauge and dead accurate.

Of course, you don't want to lay it on the floor of your closet and end
up with a carpet full of mercury, as a member of this list did several
years ago. ;-)

-js

[Bob Myers]

On Fri, Jun 8, 2012 at 2:51 PM, Jim Stewart <j...@strappe.com> wrote:

On 6/8/2012 11:35 AM, Jeremy Roemen wrote:

What do you perfer.. or what works better, a gauge type synchro or a
manometer (liquid filled tubes) type? I was thinking the gauge type
could get out of calibration or have variations in accuracy, but not the
manometer type, correct?

I like my Carb Stix (four columns of mercury). It's cheaper than a good gauge and dead accurate.

 

Or if you're only worried about synchronizing a twin - and what else would matter to a loyal SV

owner? ;-) - you can easily build a manometer:

 

 http://www.powerchutes.com/manometer.asp

 

I built one of these a few years back - cheap, and very accurate (as noted in the article, the lighter oil

(as opposed to mercury) makes for a much larger variation in the fluid column height for a given degree

of imbalance.

 

Bob M.

[Milktree]

I made one out of plastic tubing and a 2x6. It works great!


http://mahonkin.com/~milktree/motorcycle/carb-sync-tool.jpg

You can use ATF if you want to see the water easier, but that's not
necessary.

-Will

[Jeremy Roemen]

I need to be able to do the SV my neighbors '81 XS650  and my 03 GSXR600. It it wasn't for the Gixxer that would be great.

JR

---

Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2012 15:12:20 -0400
Subject: Re: [SV/DL Riders] carb synchronizer
From: bobmy...@gmail.com
To: sv-dl-...@googlegroups.com

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[gpzmo...@comcast.net]

Jeremy:

No prob. w/ the 4 cylinders; either buy or manufacture your manometer w/ 4 separate tubes, just hook up only 2 of them when doing the SV & XS. Both "powerchutes" rig & Will's DIY would do great. Also, I like the idea of ATF since the mercury in my manufactured one was not as easy to see as I would've liked. If I remember correctly my Haynes manual sez a carb synch w/out proper valve lash could be a waste of time. Personally, I don't know if that's valid. Have you read the woman "blueproof"s essay online on synching? Tis a mite over the top in emotion for me but informative. I would be willing to bet that Jim & Will have tutorials posted also.

Fred

---

From: "Jeremy Roemen" <jpro...@hotmail.com>
To: sv-dl-...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, June 8, 2012 2:05:41 PM
Subject: RE: [SV/DL Riders] carb synchronizer

[Milktree]

On Fri, 8 Jun 2012, Jeremy Roemen wrote:

> I need to be able to do the SV my neighbors '81 XS650 and my 03
> GSXR600. It it wasn't for the Gixxer that would be great. JR

When I did the Bandit 400 I did cylinders 1+2, then 3+4, then
2+3. That is the order you have to adjust them anyway, so it's only a
tiny bit more work to move the tool a couple times.

Remember, on a four-cylinder there's three balancing screws, one
between cyl. 1+2, one between 3+4, and a third that balances
(1&2)+(3&4).

-Will