My brother adjusted the valves (2001 DS) to the losest setting over the weekend. Now the bike has less power. He says he read somewhere that by adjusting to the higher setting you save the engine because its harder to hit the rev limiter. Has anyone else experienced this? He can't keep up with stock DS anymore and he has a pipe and filter. And was being beat by a piped 400ex as well.

 

you shouldn't have been able to notice any change with the valves set to the loosest setting. all this does is let your valves cool more because of longer contact with the head. it sounds as if your valves are out of time. recheck valves with the crankshaft locked and the chain tension bolt in place.

 

what exactly are you trying to adjust here? clearance? I was not aware that there was some kind of adjustment possible beside exchanging shims. If this is not the adjustment you are making please enlighten me.

 

Well geez this reminds me of when I get into someplace I shouldn't be on this computer and screw something up. Right up front, by setting your valve clearance too loose you are also changing your cam timing. That extra time on the valve seats for cooling is less time open doing their job which is letting gas and air in and exhaust out. That's where the horsepower is you've lost. As far as the rev limiter goes, get rid of it!
Team Pami and RWR have CDI's without a limiter and believe me they are great. Why are you so paranoid about this engine? Do you think it's going to blow sky high Scotty? One more thing, excessive valve clearance is bad for your engine. The cam hitting the bucket accross that excessive distance will be noisier and create excessive wear, possibly breakage, and isn't that what you are trying to avoid?
....Now, re-adjust those valves the way they are supposed to be, get a CDI from Knutz, jet for that pipe and get out there and kick those 400EX's Butts! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

First of all thanks to my bro for beating me to the post. :-)

Thanks all for the good info. I did just as you all said today. In the proccess I used the locating screw this time to lock in TDC. First time around I didn't have one. So much easier this time. :-)My marks on the timming gears did not line up. The intake was about two teeth off. The lobes on the exhaust cams where pointing to the front of the bike perfectly. The Intake was pointing to the rear but up slightly. So I removed the wire ties I used to keep them in place and rotated the intake until it lined up with the exhaust mark. I also set them to .004 I was at .0065. (intake shims 2.15 exhaust shims 2.40)
My question is, how in the world could the timming have gotton off. The first time I did them I wire tied the timming chain to the timming gears so that the would be know way of getting it wrong. Has any one else come across this? And more importantly. Did I do it all right?

 

sounds like you did it right to me. if in question checkout the whole procedure here as long as the cam tensioner bolt wasn't removed prior to tying up the cam sprockets, i see no other way for misadjusting. good luck.

 

GlamisDS:

Here are some pictures to go along with your instructions.

http://www.apexcone.com/F650/ValveAd...alveShims.html

 

GlamisDS650, your valve instruction site is exactly what I used on both of my attempts. Very cool instructions thanks for the heads up befor and now.

TheFasterTheBetter, I think the engine in that F650 is the exact same one I have. LOL The timming marks where exactly the same place off.

Thanks guys, I hope the same guys are out this weekend so I can redeem myself.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Is there any place online that you can order the shims?

I dont have a local bomb dealer or a bmw dealer, so it would be handy to order a variety and have them on hand.

Thanks for any info
Bat

 

you can order them here . these are for the kawasaki klr650 but they are the same 29mm. at only 3.95 a shim. they have a kit of them as well.