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A massive thankyou to Mori Man for the valve checking post, please do not post in that thread otherwise posts will be deleted, if you want to add anything or discuss the thread then post in here, if its relevant then it can be added later by mods or Mori Man himself.keeping the posts in this thread keeps the original clean.

Mori Man wrote: I've used the engine still in the frame to see what you'll be up against and I'm glad i did as it certainly needs a few done

Your going to have to get access to the pulsar cover for removal and of course remove the fuel tank. ( My initial reaction was remove the engine too ! )

personally i was going to remove the engine, surely its gotta be easier? any reasons why you didn't? i'm assuming its easier to turn the engine with it in situ?

If you take the plugs out it should be alot easier shouldnt it?

yeah would have thought so, less compression.

RedexRobB wrote:If you take the plugs out it should be alot easier shouldnt it?

Plugs are good to remove if you want another confirmation that either #1 or #4 cylinder are sitting at TDC (Top dead centre) using a very long screwdriver.

I personally like to keep them in so you do have resistance turning the engine which does help you stop going past the TDC and timing marks on the pulsar rotor. There is a very small "window" that this is achieved and with the plugs out it is so easy to slip past it. You are eventually venting through the exhaust ports and each cylinder is just under 100cc so not that much difficult.

I didn't mention it in this valve thread (which i will do) cause it's in the engine strip down one , but once you go past the timing marks you need to continue round the cycle and not drag it back - you can in theory cause the chain to skip a tooth on the cam sprockets as you are fighting with the chain tensioner. The tensioner is designed with the chain going in a clockwise direction and is how the chamfered drift take up the slack as it develops.

Removal of the engine is unnecessary and involves more work - the only benefit would be seeing the camshaft sprocket lining up marks and easier access for measurement. Too see the cam marks you can buy a "dentist's" mirror these days and use it to verify your on the marks - I would recommend this tool when removing the camshafts and or installing a new cam chain. When I stripped the engine in my hallway I turned that engine over with the plugs still in, once you start turning a single cylinder 500 you'll run into problems. The ZRX1100 I stripped was an 1109 big bore and 277cc/cylinder and again I turned that over with it laying on my hall floor with plugs in , granted it was more of a struggle!

I would guestimate this procedure all in at 2~3hrs - once you have a shim chart made your next scheduled check should only take half that time as you'll be acquainted with what parts to remove and already now what shims are inside the head.

While you've got your airbox off and assuming it's a sunny day - give it a good degrease and wash before you start doing the work, by the time you finish up it will be dry and you'll get a very smooth tick over for your efforts. if you haven't done the filter for a while or not at all treat it to a new one.

Another point i will bring up on the thread too is, the carb's will need to be balanced if any of the clearances have been changed - it's been covered here before but will do a photo shoot of me doing mine ( if your carb's have been balanced in an itrim service it's a good sign that clearances have changed).

Mori Man wrote:

Another point i will bring up on the thread too is, the carb's will need to be balanced if any of the clearances have been changed - ( if your carb's have been balanced in an itrim service it's a good sign that clearances have changed).

thats interesting!

Excellent thread and at a great time too.
Just started stripping the bike to do this exact job as well as replacing the cam chain tensioner.

Got myself a micrometer today , so measured the stripped engines shims (Got home 4.30pm so no chance to do H2 motor).

What I've done for now is combine these shim sizes with the clearances I got from the SP motor and made a MOCK chart to give you an idea of what you should be making yourself. It's worth the effort as come your next valve check you'll already know the shims inside and can easily work out what you need to swap or buy without measuring them again

This is how I have laid my chart out:


For the Gaps I have used:
Red to show out of tolerance.
Yellow to show on the limit.

For the Shims I have used:
Blue to show what shims I need to buy.
Pink to show what shims I can re-use/swap.

So I need to buy 5 shims: 3 x 3.20 / 1 x 3.05 / 1 x 2.95 and can re-use 3 x 3.15 & 1 x 3.05

I will be left with 3 x 3.00 & 2 x 3.10 - maybe next check I'll be able to use them !

Come next check all I need to do is measure the gaps as I already know what shims are in , from there it's very easy to work out the new shim and gap size and I also know what shims I have in stock too.

as you build the chart you are also making a profile of your engine and can monitor what valves tighten or loosen by how much and adjust your service interval to match them.

On the SP engine one set of gaps were huge but if you have a profile of the engine you would know that this cylinder wears faster than the others so carry out the check sooner to catch them closer to the limit. Even after the shim swap there are still 5 settings on the upper limit so i would want to check them again at around 5,000 miles to see if the are becoming loose or tightening up. Having this knowledge will keep your engine in peak condition and give optimum power and fuel consumption.

Again , if you haven't followed what's going on above let me know and I'll try explaining it another way

wtf would we do without you?

i think you deserve your own special title! any suggestions?

masterofinsanity wrote:wtf would we do without you?
i think you deserve your own special title! any suggestions?

" O Hell " - no not really!

Don't know - usually others come up with something for me

" ZXR Killer " cause all I'm doing just now is ripping them to bits

" To much time " as I was considering removing all the "snotters" and cast lines out of the cylinder head to promote better oil flow

As you can see I'm freakin pants at coming up with something

Open to suggestions

i thought "GOD" would suffice? or "technical God"?

masterofinsanity wrote:i thought "GOD" would suffice? or "technical God"?

Had that one in an email this morning, just so common

"Thanks mate!

I hope all is god for you..

Pascal"

I share the sentiment that having a walkthrough guide when doing these things is so much easier when you come to do it yourself. Thats been the aim of what ive written up so far (must do more!).

Drew defo deserves some sort of forum name! As does Zimm, hes well clued up about these things too!

Again absolutely spot on.
Done this job last night and the only thing I would add is that the 4 outside rockers do not move as much as all the others so when they are moved off the shim they don't sit on the edge of the valve spring.
I done this with the engine in the frame and it was quite difficult to get access and see what you were doing with some of the inlets.
I had a helping hand to get the shims in and out which I would definately recommend, and also as said block any oilways , spark plug holes and the chain tunnel with rags as you do not want shims falling in there if you drop one.

Only 4 shims out of spec and managed to swap 2 over so only need to order 2. Pity they are a fiver each.

£5 each? from cradley? wemoto are cheaper mate