valve adjustment

This used to be on http://members.accesstoledo.com fastlarry1 banditfa/members.accesstoledo.com/fastlarry1/bandit_tips.htm which was the fast larry web site with a FAQ by Grant ??? Anyway, I copied it and saved on my PC years ago.

Valve adjustment

Adjusting the valves is time consuming and sometimes frustrating because the service manual does a poor job of explaining the necessary steps (some omissions and editorial shortcomings in the manual). Set aside several hours because it involves removing the seat, tank, front body work, some items under the tank, spark plugs, head cover, and signal generator cover. You must also adjust the valves when the engine is stone cold (at least 12 hrs. not run). There are some tricks to adjusting forked rockers and some omissions in the techniques in the shop manual. I highly recommend buying the $9 U.S. tool #09917-14920 valve adjuster driver. It's a small nut driver looking thing that mates with the tiny square head of the screw adjusters. It's extremely useful in holding the screw while you tighten the lock nut. If you don't have it, you'll have a hard time maintaining the proper lash as you tighten. You can also purchase these tools at good performance shops.

* Remove the seat. * Removing the tank is covered elsewhere on this page. Click on the "Back" arrow in your browser's tool bar to get back here. * Remove the fairing by removing the four windscreen fasteners and lifting off the screen. Remove the four screws that secure the black inner panel and remove the panel. (Now may be a good time to cover all points of contact between the rest of the fairing/screen assembly and this cover with thin foam tape - it will eliminate that buzzing we all have at 2k rpm.) Disconnect the front turn signals' harness connections inside the fairing. Remove the turn signals by removing the securing nut inside the fairing and pulling the signals out carefully. Remove the five fasteners on one side of the fairing (Three near the

headlight, one that was behind the black panel and one at the lower rear corner of the fairing). Remove that side of the fairing and repeat for the other side. * Remove the spark plugs with the wrench provided in the tool kit. Place clean shop rags in the spark plug tunnels to guard against dropping anything into the combustion chambers (You'll thank me). * Remove some items under the tank (not covered in the manual). Remove the braces on the frame that locate the left and right side fairing pieces. Remove the ignition coils (note the position, routing and connections of the wires). Disconnect breather hose from head cover breather. Remove head cover breather by removing its four bolts. The manual specifically states that this last step is unnecessary, but you'll bugger up the head cover and may not be able to get it out without removing the breather. * Remove the head cover by removing the 14 bolts holding it in place. Don't lose the small metal gaskets under each of these bolts. Don't forget the two near the timing chain bulge and the four (union bolts) near the spark plug towers. Pull it carefully out the right side of the bike. Look carefully under the cover as you guide the plug towers over the timing chain; you can easily lose one of the small gaskets at the bases of these towers. Remove and clean the head cover gasket (strip off silicone sealer) and the mating surfaces on the head and head cover. You can reuse the head cover gasket as long as it's pliable. * Remove the signal generator cover by removing the five bolts holding it in place. If your careful in peeling the gasket off, you'll be able to reuse it (once) with a permatex silicone gasket maker (blue or ultrablue) coating. * Note the two notches on the right ends of the cam shafts. These will be parallel with the head surface when the crank is rotated to the two positions where you adjust valves. * Rotate the crank forward (clockwise) with a breaker bar or large wrench (19mm) on the signal generator nut (right end of crank under just-removed cover) until these marks on the cams line up with the head surface (horizontal) on the outside of each cam (the marks will be "pointing" away from each other). * In this crank position, you can adjust: o intake valves (0.004 - 0.006") for cylinders #1 and #3 o exhaust valves (0.007 - 0.009") for cylinders #1 and #2 o Adjustment Procedure: + Check the existing lash on each side of a rocker with one feeler gauge. If the two sides of one rocker differ from each other by 0.001" or more, or if either is out of spec, you must adjust one or both valves on that rocker. + To adjust, loosen the locknut and adjust the screw with the $9 driver you bought until the desired lash is there. Tighten the locknut gently as you hold the screw with the driver. Repeat on the other side of the rocker if necessary. Recheck the lash on each side as above ("Check the existing lash...).

+ Check the lash on both sides (simultaneously) of a rocker (with two separate feeler gauges) to make sure the lash is in spec when the rocker isn't rocking sideways on the rocker pivot shaft. If it is out of spec (probably too tight -- bad), start over with the step immediately above on both sides and use a little different lash as your goal (looser if the final lash was too tight, tighter if too loose). + Finally torque the locknuts with a torque wrench to 7.0 lb-ft. and recheck the lashes on both sides simultaneously as in step immediately above ("Check the lash on both sides..."). + Repeat this procedure using the appropriate feeler gauges for intake (0.005") and exhaust (0.008") valves for all valves to be adjusted at this crank position. + Remember that it is better to have them slightly loose than even a little too tight. Loose = noise, slight wear; Tight = valve burn, seat burn, head machining, money, headache, etc. * Rotate the crank forward (360 degrees) as above until the marks on the cams are horizontal but "pointing" toward each other (i.e., on the inside of the cam journals). * In this crank position you can adjust: o intake valves (0.004 - 0.006") for cylinders #2 and #4 o exhaust valves (0.007 - 0.009") for cylinders #3 and #4 o Use the same adjustment procedure as above. * To preserve your peace of mind, rotate the engine through these check points and recheck the lash on each rocker (simultaneous method) until your sure doubt will not creep into your dreams or until your Luvox kicks in, whichever comes first (a little psyche humor there, sorry). * Reassembly is largely the reverse of the removal of all the parts now lying around your work area. A few notable exceptions: o Use a thin coating of permatex silicone gasket sealer on the signal generator cover gasket (both sides). Even if you buy a new gasket, you still need to use sealer at the crankcase split points on the engine side. o Put a small bead of gasket sealer on the head at the corners of the head cover gasket mating surface and at the cam journal "dips". Do the same on the head cover. o You may also want to put sealer between any of the spark plug tower bottoms and any of the circular gaskets that got scraped off when you removed the head cover. Let these dry well because it is a big challenge not to scrape them off on the timing chain and not to have them shift as you position the head cover. o No sealer is required on the pseudo-gasket under the head cover breather. * Torque's:

All torque values not in the table below must be non-essential (because they're not in the shop manual anywhere) and should be performed with common sense keeping in mind that fasteners on the engine (including spark plugs) are in aluminum (soft) while fasteners on the frame can be wrenched with a little more abandon. Fastener Torque's for Reassembly cylinder head cover bolts (all but those near plug towers) 10.0 lb-ft head cover union bolts (the four near the spark plug towers) 11.5 lb-ft signal generator cover bolts 18.0 lb-ft head cover breather bolts 11.0 lb-ft

* Do not be alarmed if your valves are noisier (a little) after the adjust than before. Especially if it's the initial adjustment at break-in, you are more likely loosening the adjustment (due to valve seating and seat wear) than tightening a sloppy lash (due to valve tip, adjuster tip, rocker arm wear). This noise is good (keep telling yourself that); it lets you know you're not burning your valves or seats (very bad). It's now that your obsessive rechecking of clearances and careful torquing of locknuts allows peace of mind. Ahhh!!! * Have a beer!

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