I'm interested in hearing about what was found when some of you have performed the first valve adjustment procedure. How many hours was on the machine and what kind, if any, of adjustment did it require.

 

The intake valve's on my rear cylinder were a little tight on my old 02' at 750 miles.....all other's were OK, they did not need any more adjustment the whole 3000 miles I put on it, my advice is wait until about 800-1000 miles and check them, and maybe every 1500-2000 miles after that to be safe, but on mine they stayed in spec after the first adjustment.........

 

I was going to take mine down to have them adjusted at 800mi. and the shop told me that if you don't hear them making any noise don't worry about it, so I didn't and I now have 2500mi. on it and it runs like a top and is still quiet.

 

I would think that if they do need adjustment it would be because they are tightening up or loosing gap. If so you would not hear them. If you loose too much gap they wil not seat and remain open a bit leaking back. I'm not sure you would hear them if they were loose.
I have heard of dealers service departments saying they adjusted them when in fact they did not. This guy put clear fingernail polish on the cover screw heads and found them untouched. If I were to take mine to the dealer that says wait until you hear them I would do the polish thing for sure.

 

I've got 2,316 miles/253 hours on my P650 and have not done anything to the engine or clutch but I think it's time to adjust both the valves and the clutch. I just purchased a service manual from my local Kawasaki shop and have plans to do a little tuning soon. I'll try to remember to let you know what I find. I'm thinking the valve lash is a little loose though. If there's anything I need to know before going into the engine, please let me know. I'm not afraid of servicing this P650 but I can say that I've never been into one before. BluRock

 

I will be very interested in your findings Rock, I am going to buy a new Prarie 03 in the begining of January. I love to read the info here to find out if I am buying the right machine. The other machine I am thinking about is the 04 Grizzly. Any satisfied or Dissatisfied prarie owners of the 03 please contact me frankyboy@peoplepc.com Thanks

 

I hope you can find an 03 by then.

 

do a search for "starting woes & quality time" and you'll find out what I found.. the link did not work..

rock, this is what I found when I did it, bear in mind that I have more hours than miles on it as the type of work that I do..
you are right, the valves will get tighter, not looser as they wear.
follow the shortcuts and you'll save about 1/2-3/4 hr in time.

 

That dealer is WRONG....as stated above, you can't hear a tight valve, they won't make any noise......trust me, the first adjustment is the important one, put 1000 miles on it and check them........