Valve & cam chain adjustment $$$

[zxsixr03]

I do alot of work on my bike at home service wise but was at the shop today getting oil etc and asked how much for just a valve adjustment and possibly a few shims plus check and adjust cam chain $700-$1000 am i a tight arse or is that expensive???

[Felix]

It is labour intensive, and you are paying them at least $100/hour...

But I guess if you know what you are doing, then probably worth getting familiar with all the bits and pieces.

[photomike666]

It's an arse of a job. You'll probably have the shims under the cam shafts, so you need to remove those, and measure each shim with a micrometer (16 of the little buggers). It's something that should be part of a major service, which isn't that expensive. I had my 6 serviced at a main dealer, they changed a couple of shims and the whole service was $550. Not sure they did anything with the cam chain though.

[Smitty]

I do alot of work on my bike at home service wise but was at the shop today getting oil etc and asked how much for just a valve adjustment and possibly a few shims plus check and adjust cam chain $700-$1000 am i a tight arse or is that expensive???

thats a bit rich

a full service with shims should be $500-550, $600 tops
seems a bit rich, have shop rates gone up?
and
adjust the cam chain????
what??? push the tensioner with a screwdriver ?
who has an adjustable chain these days....

[Felix]

yoda's right...

even
the ER5 has a self adjusting
cam chain

and

it is
old technology

not

an '03
sportsbike

[jpbikeboy]

If you've got the manual or even the valve clearance specs for the bike it's no that hard. If you got it down to the point where you can take the rocker cover off, I'll give you a hand if you like. i've never done a 636 before but done heaps of 750's. it's all the same shit, different smell.

[Gosling1]

its time like these I smile and look at 8 valves, shim-over buckets and a manual tensioner ( of course I am also looking at 25 year old tecnology and *only* 110hp ) $700-$1000 for a valve clearance job, even with 16 under-buckets is just

cheers
GrandadsAxeDave

[bonester]

Did a service on my CB400 a couple of weeks ago, in which I checked valve clearances (all AOK thankfully- cams out to adjust if you don't have the right tool to change shims with) cleaned/disasembled carbs, set pilot screws, and balanced carbs, as well as changing ALL the O-rings in the cooling system since the bike was so apart, and the radiator was out so I could get the valve cover off..... Anyhow, took me 10 hours straight- put that at 60 bucks an hour and you have $600 plus parts...
Gatton Kawasaki quoted me $800 for a major service for my ZZR1200.....and it is heaps easier to service than the CB400, believe it or not....lotsa swearing doing the Honda- piece of piss doing the ZZR- pretty much the same as my ZZR1100 which was good to service too- time consuming but straightforward. E.g. to adjust the valveclearance- if a shim requires changing- you just move the rocker arm across and down beside the valve spring- this exposes the shim, and you can pull it out with a magnet or magnetised screwdriver- replace shim with new one, and put the rocker back- none of the cams out BS that a lot of other bike valve trains have! Supposedly there is a tool you can buy to get the shims out of an engine like the CB but I've never seen it.

[Smitty]

its time like these I smile and look at 8 valves, shim-over buckets and a manual tensioner ( of course I am also looking at 25 year old tecnology and *only* 110hp ) $700-$1000 for a valve clearance job, even with 16 under-buckets is just

cheers
GrandadsAxeDave

yeah
I smile coz I have a bike with screw and locknut valve adjustment
and an auto tensioner
thanks goodness for screwdrivers

it might only make 109hp..but its no slug

[Gosling1]

Screw and locknut !! bah humbug they make the job so easy ! My first bike had screw/locknut adjustment, it is heaven compared to shims.

Havin said that, valve clearances on the older zeds is basically a 'set-and-forget' proposition, unless you are constantly flogging the ring out of it, or using really shit oil and/or fuel, so its not something that needs doing every 6 or 12 months as a *general* rule.

Are the newer bikes much different ? How often do you need to do the clearances on something like a ZX12 ??

cheers

[Smitty]

Screw and locknut !! bah humbug they make the job so easy ! My first bike had screw/locknut adjustment, it is heaven compared to shims.

Havin said that, valve clearances on the older zeds is basically a 'set-and-forget' proposition, unless you are constantly flogging the ring out of it, or using really shit oil and/or fuel, so its not something that needs doing every 6 or 12 months as a *general* rule.

mine gets .."used" plus a track day or 2 a year
plus the odd over-rev (14,000 against a 12000 redline)...oooops
and I only do the valve lash once a year...she is smooooth

cheers

[Gosling1]

When you do the annual check, how often do you need to adjust the clearances ? Are you using synth / semi-synth / mineral oil ? My old z750 also saw the *occasional* over-rev ( 12 thou from 9.5 redline - woops ) - them 750's sure like a rev !!

cheers

[I-K]

Havin said that, valve clearances on the older zeds is basically a 'set-and-forget' proposition, unless you are constantly flogging the ring out of it, or using really shit oil and/or fuel, so its not something that needs doing every 6 or 12 months as a *general* rule.

Are the newer bikes much different ? How often do you need to do the clearances on something like a ZX12 ??

Can't help you with a 12R specifically, but my '01 6R has just had its 48,000km valve clearance check some 4,500km too late... the clearance values returned were still pretty much the same near-minimum values they were set at with the shim changes carried out back in about June 2002, when the bike had some 10,800km on it.

[Phil]

Havin said that, valve clearances on the older zeds is basically a 'set-and-forget' proposition, unless you are constantly flogging the ring out of it, or using really shit oil and/or fuel, so its not something that needs doing every 6 or 12 months as a *general* rule.

Are the newer bikes much different ? How often do you need to do the clearances on something like a ZX12 ??

Can't help you with a 12R specifically, but my '01 6R has just had its 48,000km valve clearance check some 4,500km too late... the clearance values returned were still pretty much the same near-minimum values they were set at with the shim changes carried out back in about June 2002, when the bike had some 10,800km on it.

my mechanic thought that i'd need some shims on the service i just had, he said last time it was getting close. i started using motorex valve guard just to stave off any shimming as thats one shim closer to the head comming off.

aparently it has barely moved in the last 10K and should be good for another 10K at least.

bike now has 94K, original clutch and battery

[Gosling1]

Cool, 30k without hardly a murmer........that is good.

I tried the Motorex in my old Z, but probably a bit late to save a shim change - btw if the ZX9's have a similiar *range* of sizes that older Kwakka's do, you should still be a few valve-clearance checks away from any 'head-off' action at the moment.

All round it would seem that the magnificent reputation for reliability that Kawasaki's justifiably have, continues to this day

cheers