i was wondering how much it should cost to have my valve checked and adjusted if nessecary by the dealer. i called him last week and he scared me off by saying that he didnt know because he never had to adjust one befor. yet i do not know of where else to take it?

 

also what size shims should i get befor taking it apart? i know i should get a variety but i dont want to order4 of each. how can you tell if you have a burnt valve?

 

Don't take it to your dealer to be experimented on.

You won't know what shims you need until you measure. You must first check the gap of each one with the piston at top dead center of compression stroke. if any of the gaps is out of spec then that particular one needs adjusted, and the shim must be removed to first measure its thickness, then do the math to calculate what the new thickness should be. after you know what you need, then you order. You may only need one, or two, or whatever. you may even be able to swap a couple around to get where you need to be on some.

one other thing you can do is take the shims that need to be thinnner to a local machine shop and have their thickness shaved down to the desired thickness on a magnetic base surface grinder - have them grind a little off both sides. this has proven cheaper than ordering new for me - $15 to grind 4 shims is what my local shop charges. I just tell them what I want them to be, and they do it in like 15 minutes while I wait.

 

where can i get the bolt to lock the crank at tdc. also is there somewhere else to order shims fron besides my dealer?

 

go to hardware store and get a 8mm x 50mm long (or longer) fully threaded bolt, that's all you need.

you can get shims from Ron Wood Racing, $5 ea.

 

thanks. how long can i expect this to take me? is it possible to damage if i ride befor getting the valves adjusted?

 

also if i have to pull the cams, am i better off replacing them while i have it apart? is it worth the money to add say a sport cam with the stock piston? what is the best cam? i would be looking for arm ripping midrange, not interesterd in revving over 8500.

 

You can take a bolt out of the rear disc brake guard and grind the tip down. Then when you are done reinstall it on your guard and you will never lose it. Thats what i did. There are pictures on this forum of how to grind it if you search for TDC bolt.

 

i wouldn't think it would take more than two hours on the valve adjustment.