Did my first valve adjustment and survived : )

[Roadwolf]

Well, last night, with help of some friends WATCHING me and checking behind me, I performed a valve adjustment for the first time. I wouldn't say it was a piece of cake, but with additional adjustments, it should get a lot easier. For those that are mechanically inclined, it would probably be easier than it was for me, but it was worth it, especially with the money I saved doing it myself. If I had a GS, then it would have probably taken half the time... most of the effort was in taking the body panels off of the RT.

[Dundee387]

Yeah, it's a great feeling isn't it. Now go ride it, and it's probably never run better. That was my experience, and I'm not a very mechanically inclined. Had my wife help with the throttle body sync, but did the rest solo.

 

Congrats!

[mig]

why did you take the body panels off?

No need really. BTW use a pencil or a straw in the cylinder hole to find TDC and things go even quicker.

Anyway enjoy. I have done mine now 3 times and the last one didnt need adjustments

Miguel

[racer7]

mig,

Sure you can do valves wih plastic on but accssing everything to synch with plastic on is a bit problematic.

How do you do that? Or do you only synch if you need to touch up valves?

 

Remember that as a first time exercise, its probably good to see the whole thing before worrying about shortcuts- those buddies might not be as close next time.

 

Also, pulling tupperware is pretty fast once you've done it a few times. My only problem is that it takes a lot of space when off the bike....

[Roadwolf]

why did you take the body panels off?

No need really. BTW use a pencil or a straw in the cylinder hole to find TDC and things go even quicker.

Anyway enjoy. I have done mine now 3 times and the last one didnt need adjustments

Miguel

 

I needed to remove the body panels to access the throttle bodies to use the Twin Max. And the tip on the pencil or straw, yeah, one of the guys overseeing told me about it as well as I was doing it.

[Huzband]

Not to throw water on your parade, but did you check end-play as well?

[Roadwolf]

Not to throw water on your parade, but did you check end-play as well?

 

If by end-play you mean the rear wheel, final drive, then yes... all good. If you mean something else, then no.

[I812]

End play of the rockers is what I think was the reference. No?

[hopz]

The rockers not only rotate in/out but over time will wear about their vertical axis (the ends of the rockers arms wear).

 

Excessive wear will be evidenced by the ability to slide the rocker arms up and down.... and the gap will be measured using a fine gauge. The exact dimension I do not recall. thus End Play.

 

The adjustment involves slightly loosening the rocker arm bolts and banging it with a hammer... I am not kidding. The only complicated part is the re-tightening of the bolt that requires a torque-angle setting... which may be a new thing for an inexperienced wrencher.

 

If your bike is anywhere less than say, 30,000 miles it is not likely a candidate for end play adjustment.

 

The body panel removal dance becomes easier over time and in-fact can be done in just a few minutes once you learn the moves. One tip... do not confuse the two screws holding on the lid of the radio box. Those screws look the same as all the rest but in fact they are shorter. So... if you put a longer screw in the shorter hole... you will run the screw through the side of the box.

 

Congratulations on your project!

 

 

[Don_Eilenberger]

Actually - on a HEXHEAD (this doesn't apply for the new DOHC engine) the rocker arm endplay is supposed to be adjusted during the first service (when the head nuts are retorqued). If it's done then, it probably won't need doing for about 100k miles.

 

Thing is - it rarely is done at the initial service. And BMW seems to adjust them on the loose side from the factory. I've rarely checked one that was dealer serviced that didn't have excessive rocker endplay.

 

The quick check I use is - with no pressure on the rocker (ie - valve not open) - I try moving it up and down. If I hear a very faint "tick" noise, it's fine. If I hear a "clack" - it's worth checking.

 

Measuring the endplay isn't quite as simple as BMW (and other manuals) makes it out.. since the ends of the rockers aren't always machined precisely parallel to each other and perpendicular to the rocker arm shaft. If you work your feeler around the gap between the rocker and the carrier block, you'll find varying gap measurements. Obviously - you want to measure where it's tightest (a few people have done the opposite, then they appear here asking why the bike isn't running right..)

 

A better measurement would be with a dial-gauge.

 

I basically use a visual and audible adjustment (looking for a slight squish of oil from the gap, and the "tick" noise.) I'll then check the measurement with a feeler.

 

Banging the carrier bridge is a bit extreme, I usually tap on it with a small brass hammer I have, and that works fine without damaging it. The tricky part is - the position changes as you start tightening up the mounting bolts and the one head bolt that hold the bridge in place, so it isn't uncommon to have to play around with the adjustment a bit to get it "right"..

 

There is a good writeup of this adjustment, with photos on the BMW-MOA hexhead/DIY forum.

[Huzband]

Close, but not quite correct.

 

End play adjustment should be done at the 600 mile service. The heads are supposed to be re-torqued at that time, so it's the perfect opportunity. Factory spec is .002-.015., & the dealer won't bother with it. Set it at .002 & you'll never have to worry about it again.

[Roadwolf]

Hey guys, we did not check that in terms of a gauge check, but the guy checking behind my wrenching did not see anything amiss. Good to know about that though. BTW, just turned over 54,000 miles on the RT this weekend. And yes, it is indeed running better.