Swinton Performance Centre

[Tirpitz]

Anyone had any dealings with SPC in Swinton, South Yorkshire http://www.s-pc.co.uk/ ? Or heard from anyone who has? It's run by Ashley Law, who I remember from the TT in the 90s, so I'm hopeful they might be some cop. TBH I'm not a fan of dealer mechanics, I'd prefer to pay a bit more for a high quality personal job, rather than a quick get 'em in, get 'em back out approach. I do most of my own spannering but I'd stop short of doing engine work (camchain, valve clearances) so I was thinking of giving them a go and none of the usual suspects in the Doncaster area float my boat.

[Mori Man]

If you can spanner you can do your camchain and valve check yourself - its not complicated

You can find the workshop manual on thefront end of this site and there are several threads on doing valves and shims.

Be methodical and you will get there - its not rocket science or mechanics would all be splitting the atom and making fortunes selling tomahawk cruise missiles.

However, a torque wrench , feeler guages and micrometer are essential.

If you get stuck , stop , take photos of where your at and ask here how to proceed

Shims ordered up on-line seem to only take a day or two to arrive which gives you time to fit in a few other chores while you wait , win / win and you get to keep the labour charge in your pocket for fuel


MM!

[Tirpitz]

I've got the manual and the supplement, feeler gauges and micrometer, and I've read the write-up about doing the clearances which I agree does sound relatively straightforward. But I was worried that it is going to be a bit more difficult than it sounds. I'm not to worried about measuring the clearances, I'm confident about doing that, just that I've heard that changing shims can be a real PITA. Plus you don't want to drop them in the engine.

Is it really a job that a competent home mechanic can do if they haven't done it before? I don't mind paying for it to be done rather than be a smart-butt and bugger the bike up. Alternatively, it would be very satisfying to do it myself if it's a realistic job.

[Daniel.p]

How do you think the mechanics know how to do it they had to start somewhere

[cargo]

A little magnet is brillliant for getting the shims out...................one of those little telescopic magnetic pick up tools is perfect your local pound shop will have them.

The real tricky bit is getting the shim back in......... I've found that if you use your magnet to magnetise the tip of a scriber or small screwdriver you can lower the shim into place then use a non magnetic tool to hold it while you withdraw the magnetic screwdriver.................the magnet on the pick up tool is too strong to do this with.
Another way is to use a pair of angle head tweezers to set the shim in place. even if you just get the shim sitting on top of the valve you can slide it into place but dont use a magnet or your back to square one

make sure the shim is sitting correctly before moving the rocker into postition.............

patiance and a steady hand is good too

There are one or two rather awkward places where a shim can fall into but the telescopic magnet will save the day if you do drop one.

One other thought. I always do this job with the engine out of the frame it makes it ten times easier and you can do other tasks at the same time.

[Tirpitz]

Ok, that doesn't sound too bad, I reckon I could give that a shot. I do have a telescopic magnet - bought it after dropping something into the engine of a GPX250 I used to have yonks ago when I was setting the valves on it They were screw adjusted - easy. Saved the day.

However, if I have to take the engine out of the frame I'm definitely not doing it. Can't be arsed, someone else can have a few notes for the hassle. Are you saying it's a real PITA if you have to work with the engine in place?

[zxrob]

As said it's a pretty straightforward job, just take time and care

Rob