I just had a friend who builds and races motorcycle drag race engines help me with my valve adjustment. He had all the tool and the different size of shims to do it. I took mine to a dealer around the 10 hrs as recommened and they said they were fine. I have done a summers worth of trail riding and day rides at a local sand spot maybe 50 or 60 hours total. I noticed it was getting hard to start and suspected the battery so I replaced that, but still didn't fire up like it did when it was new. The culprit was the intake valves they were so tight we couldn't get the thinnest feeler gauge in. The exhaust valves were with in tolerances. after re-shimming it runs and starts like it did after it broke in. If you have all the tools to do the job its not to difficult of a job to perform. If you don't have the tools I wouldn't attempt it. You would be better off taking it to a shop. I would agree with the suggestion of putting some marks on the head bolts to make sure the job was done by the dealer. I kind of doubt mine were checked at the 10 hrs check like they were said to be.

 

That is a good thing to point out, this job does require tools, though nothing too specialized. To do it perfectly, you'll want to buy or more the bolt that keeps the ending at TDC.

midLfinger,

I paid $50 for my 10 hour service and at the time I 'assumed' they would have done it. I'm about 99% sure they did not considering it was only $50 now that I look back. That's why I did the job myself on my 2003 at the ten hours. I must admit the job seemed intimidating at first, however it wasn't too bad once I'd seen it done & done it myself.

 

I agree. I gave the guy that did mine $50 but I also got to watch him do the job plus he helped me put my twist throttle on. He had a huge selection of shims and that made it nice verses having to measure with the micrometer then go buy the shims you need. or you could just buy a bunch of shims but that would be kind of a shot in the dark not knowing what shims you might need to do it. I doubt they cost very much per shim.

 

You can do the adjustment yourself. I was a little spooked at first, but with the help of these guys, its really no big deal.
My Intake side was staying compressed about .003 (same as someone else stated earlier! no gap). Took the shims to a machine shop and ground it down.....no problem.
If anything, pop the cover off and check the clearance, if its in spec..good to go. If it needs adjustment, take it to the dealer. Maybe it will be cheaper if its already exposed.

 

This is the best resource I have found.

We can walk you through this!

 

where do i get a shim that is 1.9mm? or where can i get it ground down?

 

any local machine shop with a magnetic based surface grinder can grind your shims to whatever thickness you need them to be, for about $5.