Did the first valve adjustment on our 02 Rancher 4X4 ES today. 1105 miles. 135 hours. Intake valve clearance was right on 0.006" and the exhaust was probably 0.0075". 0.008 was loose and 0.007 was tight. 0.006 is specs for both. Changed the oil and filter, both oil filter cover o-rings, drain plug gasket, head cover gasket, dip stick and fill cover o-rings, and spark plug. Checked reverse lock out adjustment, throttle adjustment and choke cable adjustment. Inspected and adjusted brakes. Removed and cleaned battery cables and inspected steering and lubed all bushings with silicone spray. Cleaned and oiled the air filter, cleaned air filter housing and checked air filter housing drain tube,a nd replaced every plastic rivet that was removed for the service, about one and 1/2 bags of rivets. Over-kill? Runs perfect and probably will forever. We have a tendency to keep things for a long time. Money and time well spent.

 

If you guys would just buy a 2-stroke already and stop screwing with valves lol[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Air cooled motors tend to need more adjustment than water cooled models. My Big bear would start to rattle about every 8 months. The Warrior needed it about every six months. My Foreman 450 went 2 years before they got noisy. After afew back fires I finally check them. They were .10~.15 out of spec. The Foreman has over 2,100 miles on it.

 

I had a 89 moto 4 for 12 years and never adjusted the valves. Ran great. I adjusted the valves on my raptor about 4 time since new.

 

I've got a '93 Bayou 220. I had the valves adjusted earlier this year, for the first time, before a trip to Arkansas. The service tech said the valves were still within their tolerances. I guess you can never really tell.