Valve clearance made easy

[lbturks1]

At 125deg tdc, ZIP TIE cam sprocket and chain. Repeat for other cam. Remove chain tensioner. Remove bearing caps for exhaust. Gently move exhaust cam to the side. After cam and chain tensioner reinstalled, Carefully cut zip ties while holding. CAUTION: do not let it fall. Rotate crack ccw one turn and check 125 TDC again before installing valve cover.

Edited December 13, 2021 by lbturks1
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[peteinpa]

The problem comes in with all the slack and movement the chain jumps teeth on the crank.

You have to check timing after final install.

When I do it I'll set at 125 degrees then paint marks on the chain, cam gears and crank gear.

[koth442]

Zip tie is my go-to, great pro-tip! Also, sharpie mark the chain and cam sprocket so when you reinstall everything lines back up. 

[keithu]

And when you cut the zip ties off, hold each side carefully so one doesn't weirdly break into two pieces, one of which falls down into the crankcase. DAMHIK. 🤬

[PhotoAl]

Great tip!!!! I'm going to do it in the next few weeks.  On my CBR600RR pulled cams and it was a pain getting everything lined up again!  It was a sweet sound when the bike fired up after putting everything back together.

[texscottyd]

54 minutes ago, keithu said:

And when you cut the zip ties off, hold each side carefully so one doesn't weirdly break into two pieces, one of which falls down into the crankcase. DAMHIK. 🤬

That sounds like painfully specific advice…  If, hypothetically speaking, that happened to someone you know, would they have been able to retrieve the zip tie piece without tearing into the motor?  😉

[keithu]

4 hours ago, texscottyd said:

That sounds like painfully specific advice…  If, hypothetically speaking, that happened to someone you know, would they have been able to retrieve the zip tie piece without tearing into the motor?  😉

Amazingly, I was able to spot the errant zip tie piece through a window behind the timing chain cover, and retrieve it with tweezers. I got lucky. This happened 23k miles ago during the first valve check. I was *real* careful with the zip ties this time around.

[bwringer]

Yep, zip ties and marking with a bit of nail polish have always been standard procedure for camshaft removal in my world, even if that's not in the "official" procedure.

I also have to say that the timing marks in this engine are just about the faintest and hardest to distinguish I've ever seen. Or barely seen. This took me several trips around to figure out, along with some strong lighting and magnification. Not sure if that's just my bike or if they're all this faint.

[keithu]

2 hours ago, bwringer said:

Yep, zip ties and marking with a bit of nail polish have always been standard procedure for camshaft removal in my world, even if that's not in the "official" procedure.

I also have to say that the timing marks in this engine are just about the faintest and hardest to distinguish I've ever seen. Or barely seen. This took me several trips around to figure out, along with some strong lighting and magnification. Not sure if that's just my bike or if they're all this faint.

You should be lining up the punch marks on each camshaft with a line on the camshaft holder. The challenge for me is there isn't a good sight line to the punch mark on the intake cam because the frame is in the way. You have to look at it from an angle, which always introduces doubt.

I will say this: if it looks like it might be off a hair you're probably fine. If either cam is off by a full tooth it's actually pretty obvious when you look at the punch marks.

[bwringer]

22 hours ago, keithu said:

You should be lining up the punch marks on each camshaft with a line on the camshaft holder. The challenge for me is there isn't a good sight line to the punch mark on the intake cam because the frame is in the way. You have to look at it from an angle, which always introduces doubt.

I will say this: if it looks like it might be off a hair you're probably fine. If either cam is off by a full tooth it's actually pretty obvious when you look at the punch marks.

Agreed on all points. I used a mirror to help verify, but it's still hard to see.

When I'm monkeying with timing, whether building an engine or doing a valve check or whatever, I want to be able to verify the timing as many ways as possible.

And as you said, a tooth off is actually pretty obvious.

[2and3cylinders]

The 1st time I adjusted my valves I was off aligning the exhaust camshaft one notch and it was pretty obvious when I rode it.

 The tension even when the cam chain tensioner is out on the exhaust Cam is tough to fight.  I used a used a big 90ﾟ needle nose pliers to rotate the exhaust Cam into position when I to aligned it the second time. I later bought the special tool that engages the holes in the cam sprocket.

I also remove the Cam chain tensioner slider from the chain raceway but it's a real PITA to get it back in but doable after you develop the technique. This really makes it a lot easier to get the cams aligned with their caps but you have to be careful not to skip a tooth on the crank sprocket.

My winter maintenance will include checking the TB sync along with the valve lash, and changing the oil, oil filter, air filter and plugs.

 I'm not looking forward to it but it's got to be done.

Same goes for lubing the steering head bearings and flushing and filling the forks and coolant.