Do-It-Yourself Valve Adjustments

[vfrman]

I've found that a large majority of guys do their own valve adjustments on their Boxer engines, and say it's quite easy.

 

I'm mechanically inclined, but I have to admit, I've never done a valve adjustment on any bike I've had, but I've always wanted to learn.

 

I'm sure there's a number of people on this list who'd also like to learn how to do their own servicing on the bike. If only to save money. Not to mention the "bond" they'd build with their machine while doing it.

 

My question is:

 

Would anyone be willing to contribute a detailed write-up and maybe post some pictures on how a valve adjustment is performed?

 

I'm sure there's a bunch of guys on this list who would find that info very valuable, including me!

 

Thanks in advance!

[ednowicki]

http://advwisdom.hogranch.com/Wisdom/OVADv2.2.pdf

 

Ed

[gettysburg]

There is a writeup on advrider.com site:

R1200GS Valve Adjustment

 

I'll be more inclined to do this type of maintenance after my bike is out of warranty; which will be in about a year.

I did invest in a tire mounting stand, since the quotes I were getting from dealers seemed criminal to me.

[Yankee_Dog]

http://advwisdom.hogranch.com/Wisdom/OVADv2.2.pdf

 

Ed

 

I followed these instructions on my 1150. It was a breeze.

 

Yankee Dog

[vfrman]

http://advwisdom.hogranch.com/Wisdom/OVADv2.2.pdf

 

Ed

 

I followed these instructions on my 1150. It was a breeze.

 

Yankee Dog

 

 

Just making sure... even though this is for the oilheads... this will work just the same with the new R1200 engine, right?

[keithb]

I am not sure where you are in Ca. but we are holding a tech day in SoCal in Wildomar, Ca. (near Temecula) on Saturday January 6, 2007 at Steve and PJ Bearden's house. I have seen valves adjusted once and even helped but it has been over a year. I will be learning again on my 05 RT that day. Come and learn with the rest of us. Sounds like we have at least 20 people attending so far. It is a great opportunity to learn how to do maintenance on your bike and meet some great people.

[Ken H.]

Just making sure... even though this is for the oilheads... this will work just the same with the new R1200 engine, right?

Yes.

[Jim VonBaden]

There is a writeup on advrider.com site:

R1200GS Valve Adjustment

 

I'll be more inclined to do this type of maintenance after my bike is out of warranty; which will be in about a year.

I did invest in a tire mounting stand, since the quotes I were getting from dealers seemed criminal to me.

 

I have a post on ADVRider about that as well!

 

Click here to see

 

Jim

[gettysburg]

There is a writeup on advrider.com site:

R1200GS Valve Adjustment

 

I'll be more inclined to do this type of maintenance after my bike is out of warranty; which will be in about a year.

I did invest in a tire mounting stand, since the quotes I were getting from dealers seemed criminal to me.

 

I have a post on ADVRider about that as well!

 

Click here to see

 

Jim

 

I've already done this once, I'll be doing it again in a few weeks. How do you like the Harbor Freight stand? The low price scared me off. That and my wife's GS has spoked wheels and I don't think the H-F clamps are setup to work with thicker rims. I went with the No-Mar Classic model. It should pay for itself in about 10-15 tire changes.

 

Changing the front tire was a breeze, but the rear was a major Pain in the A$$. I think in the demo vids, they must be using pre-stretched tires, or tires that are larger than the rims.

[Jim VonBaden]

There is a writeup on advrider.com site:

R1200GS Valve Adjustment

 

I'll be more inclined to do this type of maintenance after my bike is out of warranty; which will be in about a year.

I did invest in a tire mounting stand, since the quotes I were getting from dealers seemed criminal to me.

 

I have a post on ADVRider about that as well!

 

Click here to see

 

Jim

 

I've already done this once, I'll be doing it again in a few weeks. How do you like the Harbor Freight stand? The low price scared me off. That and my wife's GS has spoked wheels and I don't think the H-F clamps are setup to work with thicker rims. I went with the No-Mar Classic model. It should pay for itself in about 10-15 tire changes.

 

Changing the front tire was a breeze, but the rear was a major Pain in the A$$. I think in the demo vids, they must be using pre-stretched tires, or tires that are larger than the rims.

 

The only tire that gave me trouble in 40 or so tires changed so far was an F650 GS front. Otherwise Kermit made me a set of nylon rim holders for the HF unit and it works great on all rims, imcluding the GS spoked rims.

 

 

 

Jim

[bakerzdosen]

Otherwise Kermit made me a set of nylon rim holders for the HF unit and it works great on all rims, imcluding the GS spoked rims.

Are these the kind of things that we could get "Kermit" (sorry, no idea who that is...) to make for me as well?

[Jim VonBaden]

Otherwise Kermit made me a set of nylon rim holders for the HF unit and it works great on all rims, imcluding the GS spoked rims.

Are these the kind of things that we could get "Kermit" (sorry, no idea who that is...) to make for me as well?

 

He was willing to make some for local club members, but didn't want to commit to making a bunch of them. You certainly could make some for yourself. If you are interested I can do some measurements and get some better pictures of them for you.

 

Jim