So eventually got round to checking valve clearances on 2007 CBR1000RR with 45k miles on. Service history invoices from previous owner suggested they were checked in a garage at around 36K and said that 'shims were on the tighter side of spec and might need changing at next service' - wonder if they actually did them to be honest or just said that to cover themselves! . My old mechanic buddy came over and gave the valves a quick check and said they are all good (well he said yeah they'll all be fine, button it back up and he'd never known a bike to need adjusting!). Although i trust him and guess he was trying to save me a lot of hassle and crap, i re-checked them today (about 4 times to be honest). Now i know 'feel' of a clearance with a feeler gauge is a bit subjective (well it either fits in nicely or its tight as fuck as far as i'm concerned) and checked the inlets - and yup all felt good and in tolerance, except one - number 4 right and it was tight. Hmmm well if only one and just a notch out of tolerance then i could live with that, but checked the exhaust and all were out! So felt my feel must be OK to call most of the inlet as in tolerance, so checked checked and checked again and would still call all the exhaust out. I could just about ram a feeler in on the tight side of tolerance to some of the exhaust gaps, but that didn't feel good to me!. So have had the cams off, measured shims and worked out what i need - 8 shims in total (as i can use one of the existing ones on a different valve) - turning out to be an expensive exercise as ordered up new sealing rings round the plugs and washers, plus shims at £8.50 each!!! Oh well once its done its done - just won't tell my mate i did it (well i might!!). Just got to get it all back together now without damaging anything or getting it wrong! Haven't removed the CMP sensor (maybe i should?) and still a bit concerned about the timing as manual suggest the line next to the T on the crank to line up with the notch and 'in' 'ex' line on the cam sprockets with the cylinder head - but my cam sprockets line up with the notch on the T or slightly after - makes me wonder if its a tooth out or not? Valve clearance readings:
when mine was done, all the valves were on the tight side. Interesting yours were also on the tight side. 4 were outside spec: replaced 8 were on the min spec: also replace I wonder if the factory setting is lo allow for wear and opening up of gaps or somthing else, maybe my engine still hasn't fully run in
All the exhaust valves were tight on my 2007 at 20-odd thousand miles when I did them last year. If the markings are slightly out imagine moving the cam sprocket one way or the other by a whole link and you'll see whether or not you're a link out. Do you see what I mean by that? I've rarely had all these markings line up perfectly but if I adjusted by one tooth they'd be miles out.
All bits turned up today from Fowlers (all in stock) so only couple of days turnaround from them which was good. Will set everything up at the weekend, measure twice fit once!! Have marked up the chain and cam sprocket, so will fit back on and see what it looks like. Bike was running fine before so to be a tooth out would be odd but who knows who's been fiddling!! Put on some pair valve block off plates, managed to snap a bolt off in cam cover so had to drill out and tap, grrrrrr!! Got some pipercross filters too, so once all back together and running (fingers crossed!) will get ecu tune as no Cat, no lambda and Yoshi fitted.
Got everything back together today - not really a hard job, but scary as shit trying not to break anything! Nearly ballsed it up as read Haynes manual which said tighten down cam holder bolts 5,6,7,8 in that order. So I merrily did that and after a while thought this is odd - hadnt read the next sentence 'to locate the dowels and then tighten all bolts in order'!!!!! Released a bit of pressure off then bolted down in order, no odd noises! Torque wrench was a bit dodgy too, 12nm is nearly off the scale and it ain't that tight - hopefully torqued up OK. Checked the valves and all in spec now which is the right result! Connected everything else up and fired it up, started good, runs well and ticks over nicely - so seems as though everything is OK. Ran it up to temp, revs well so hopefully no nasty surprises. Small oil leak from new CCT so nipped it up a little more and will check again tomorrow. Must say the bit I was concerned about most was getting the cam cover back in, but thanks to dern it was a doddle!
Finally found a decent Tech here in the Sandpit. So when it went in for new fork seals I got him to do a full service too. I got the parts from UK or the Honda dealer here. If bits aren’t here it usually is in 3 days. The bike is on 73,000 Kms and 4 shim tolerance could be improved, so they were done, rest of the motor is mint, (all previous owners and me used the same Honda dealer in the south East from new). Replaced the head cover gasket even though the used one was in good order as law of Sod says it will leak and you have the hassle of stripping the bike again!
Took bike for MOT today, first time on the road since done valve clearances. Bike runs fine but got there and found an oil leak (slight) dripping down to belly pan. Cleaned it off all looked dry odd! MOT guy couldn't see a leak. Rode it home, more oil dripping from belly pan and some spray on the rear tyre. Took off fairings and could see slight weep from cam cover gasked from front right cam cutout in the head (had put sealant round it!). The weep looked too little to have created the mess, so lent bike over to the right whilst running and yup there was the dribble! So never saw it in my garage as was either upright or leaning to the left!! Took cam cover off, cleaned everything up, reapplied sealant and put the original honda gasket back on (worth a try before spending £65!). All looks dry at the moment, had running upright on stand. Will lean it over tomorrow and see what happens. Hopefully it doesn't leak again or when I take it out on road next. At least it all came off and when back on pretty easy!
That's a pain in the butt ,,,, only run mine on the stands , seems to be ok . Hopefully it'll be ok when I give it some
Yup surprised me, had run it up quite a few times in garage, revved up to about 7000rpm (so as not to annoy the neighbours too much!) and not so much as a moist lip! All looked good, but first run out ended different. Had taken up to much higher revs, but shouldn't have caused extra pressure. Was a cheap new Chinese gasket that I fitted, quality seemed good and fitted well. Have tried fitting the original used honda one on - time costs me nothing so if it works, great, if not I'll get a new Honda one (£65 though!!)
I reused the original, it was in good condition, ,,,,,, so fingers crossed, Took mine up to the red ,,,,,,, don't care about my neighbour's
All back together with original honda gasket on. Seems to be holding up, had running upright on stand then leant over to right and gave it some revs, no dribbles yet. Will take it out for a spin at some point and see if all is good. Hope so otherwise all off again and new gasket time!
Took the bike out today for 50 mile ride and no sign of any leaks so fingers crossed was either cheap rocker gasket or how I'd applied sealant - second time round I applied with a small brush to make it neat and even. Will take out again tomorrow and give it another blast! Seems to be running fine, bit more popping through the exhaust on deceleration but have put Pipercross air filters on and pair block offs so maybe that hasn't helped! Bike does seem to run rich (no Cat or o2 sensor, with yoshimura can) so will get ecu mapped soon and see if that smooths things out. Then again put shell Vpower fuel in this time, maybe that's a bit more explosive than tesco standard that I normally use!!
@Lock Personally I would say it’s more likely using cheapo Chinese crap, than application in your case. The OEM gasket pricing is a pisstake as we know, but like most things in life, sometimes it’s cheap for a reason, and you’ve probably found out why.
You may well be right there, but the aftermarket one fitted well, stayed in place etc. Only thing I'd say in comparison with both is that in the rubber lobes there is a metal half moon insert - the origanal one was bigger so can be expected to exert a bigger pressure outwards I'd imagine. Like you say £65 or so for a rubber gasket is criminal, but most people refit the one that was already on there so seems to last! One I had would have had 45k miles on it, unless I believe receipt from previous owner and garage checked valves about 15k miles ago (and charged for ne gasket!) - thought it was worth a chance before ordering new gasket, and so far seems to be OK. Will take it for a thrash again tomorrow and see what's happening!
