Had my valves checked today

[Coyote Chris]

I elected to have the shop check my valves for the 600 mile check. I will do the next one if I can ever find a good post about plastic removal. (If you ever see a Honda engineer walking funny cause he has one of those side covers stuck up his butt, I had nothing to do with it....I am the guy who is buying little Japanese engineer voodoo dolls)
Anyway, the mechanic made me a nice but oil stained chart of the valve clearances as he found them. They were all within plus or minus one thou. The bolt head and washer position I photographed are now all in different positions so I think the check was really done. With 9% sales tax, the cost was $355. I am considering one of the extended warrenty options Honda offers. Once I get the Oprah lids and the luggage rack with soft luggage adaptor installed, I will be ready for a short overnight tour to maybe a campground on the way up 410 to Mt. Rainier NP or maybe Glacier NP to check things out and try out my new sleeping bag.
The more I ride this bike the more I like it.....

 

[Coyote Chris]

Soft luggage? How do u do that on a NT?

I like the twisted throttle one but with the addition of the soft luggage adaptor plate.
http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/4101/284/
Will install that this weekend, I hope....

 

[Coyote Chris]

This might be a good use for my GoPro - Mellow did a nice one on tent settup and it was really helpful. I did collect and combine the valve check work that was posted by several other forum members - there are some great posts and nice closeups of the mechanical side. Adding something on the plastic as a video might be a help

Redbird, George and others did a good job in the valve ajusting section in many ways. This is just a chris thing.....I am a linear, visual person. I do many highly techinical things as hobbies and work but I am my own worst enemy sometimes...After 16 motorcycles, all of which I maintained, I couldnt believe how complex it was to just take off the side pannels! A video would be excellent of how, step my step, someone would take off all the plastic to do a valve clearance check, or, for that matter, the whole procedure to the point of valve cover removal (I am a very sick person, I LIKE to set the valves on my Connie....I just dont like getting to the point of seeing the valves )
I dont know the legalities of all of this, but I for one would be willing to pay good money for a home made DVD of the procedure. The Connie is time consumming to take off the tupperware and tank, but it is very simple intuitive wrench spinning..... it is basically the same technology we have all seen for 40 years.....low pressure gas hose clamps that have been around for eons...now, we have to deal with a high pressure fuel injection quick disconnect hose that, according to the manual has a part that must be replaced at every usage.....I just think this old dog needs to learn a few new tricks......

 

[DirtFlier]

[...now we have to deal with a high pressure fuel injection quick disconnect hose that, according to the manual has a part that must be replaced at every usage...]

There is no reason to disconnect that hose, either from the tank or from the Fi units. The tank is hinged at the back and tips up to allow access to the cylinder head covers for a valve adjustment. To get at the front cylinder head cover, the Fi units must be removed and once those clamps are free, I remove the units and sit them on the left side of the bike - with everything still connected.

Once you understand the order of removal, taking off the Tupperware is simple. As in most things, fighting it only makes it more difficult plus you're more prone to break stuff!

 

[dnktng]

After 16 motorcycles, all of which I maintained, I couldnt believe how complex it was to just take off the side pannels! A video would be excellent of how, step my step, someone would take off all the plastic to do a valve clearance check, or, for that matter, the whole procedure to the point of valve cover removal

The mechanical parts make sense once you see them and most engines are similiar for one to the next. But disassembling the plastic is like scavenger hunt for hidden fasteners. A Honda Manual makes it pretty easy, especially if you have a few motorcycles and don't want to remember every step for every model. If you already have the mechanical skills (and it sounds like you do & enjoy doing it), buy the manual and call that your extended warranty.

 

[Chucksklrst]

Agreed. One should invest in a shop manual for every/any bike that they own. Makes life much easier. Also include notes and tips of wisdom from the forums. Even if one does not do their own work, One can study up on what is required for certain procedures. Allows for know what one is being charged for. Here is a pic of my shop manual library.

 

[Coyote Chris]

The mechanical parts make sense once you see them and most engines are similiar for one to the next. But disassembling the plastic is like scavenger hunt for hidden fasteners. A Honda Manual makes it pretty easy, especially if you have a few motorcycles and don't want to remember every step for every model. If you already have the mechanical skills (and it sounds like you do & enjoy doing it), buy the manual and call that your extended warranty.

Oh yes, I bought the manual long ago...it makes for some rather interesting reading. But like the Kawasaki Zg1000 manual, the steps and methods (I am guessing) are not what the owners actually do once they learn the tricks.
The Concours Owners Group has there own way of doing things that are , IMHO, much better than the Kawa manual and I am sure that this group has discovered ways of doing things that are better too...like not taking off the throttle cables to remove the throttle bodies and reversing clamps, etc.

 

[Coyote Chris]

[...now we have to deal with a high pressure fuel injection quick disconnect hose that, according to the manual has a part that must be replaced at every usage...]

There is no reason to disconnect that hose, either from the tank or from the Fi units. The tank is hinged at the back and tips up to allow access to the cylinder head covers for a valve adjustment. To get at the front cylinder head cover, the Fi units must be removed and once those clamps are free, I remove the units and sit them on the left side of the bike - with everything still connected.

Once you understand the order of removal, taking off the Tupperware is simple. As in most things, fighting it only makes it more difficult plus you're more prone to break stuff!

Exactly my point. Once you have done the procedure , everything is much simpler. And you learn tricks that arent in the manual. And you learn ways of doing things that work for you that maybe
are not prefered by others. Personally, watching someones video on how they take off the plastic and in what order and the pitfalls to watch for so one doesnt break a piece off would be worth a thousand words.
It was just a thought.

 

[Coyote Chris]

I'm coming up to 12k miles, so another valve check will be in my summer or autumn fun - I'll film it.

I took the tank off on my first venture into NT valveland which made it an easy process. Disconnecting the hose(s) wasn't hard on my bike, and I replaced NOTHING when I re-assembled it. No leaks. Just have to be as careful as possible. DF makes a good point, however, in that the tank doesn't have to come off. An experienced wrench can check those valves quickly by just tilting it up.

I like to have manuals for my work because I forget which bike requires various things and also because I do most of my own work. (I did get lazy and have a shop mount the last tires after I took them off and brought them over to them. They had sold them to me at a great price, however, so I figured it was really fair payback.) I have the NT and Wee manuals and agree w Dan - the Honda manual has made it easy (as long as you don't mind skipping around from one section to the next..LOL). I will copy pages from the various sections and then staple them together in the right order and take them out to the garage because it makes it easier and also because grease and oil have a habit of jumping out of nowhere onto my manuals.

Thanks Bob...cant wait to see the video. I always buy manuals for all my cars and bikes.....if nothing else, they are entertaining on how certain engines handle certain functions, Like how my Honda IVTEC CR-V works. But, once you go go YOUTUBE and see the graphics /movie representation on how the IVTEC works and what it is doing in relation to the speedo and tach readings, this huge lightbulb comes on over your head and you say, "Ah HA! So THATS what is happeneing. "
Same thing with taking off those side covers. You can read the manual explanation. Or, if someone had a go-pro on their hat and talked while they took it off, and you saw what they saw, you would say, "Ah Ha! So first you pull out the rear duhinky and then work out those tabs and there's the velcro and the second duhinky and this edge sits in the u-channel of the gas tank rubber. Piece of cake."