Scheduled 600 mile service yesterday ...

[MaggieMan]

... at my dealer. I've read with interest many of the posts here about setting the valves. So I asked the parts / service guy who's worked at the dealership for 30+ years what he thought. I explained that I was well aware of the potential pitfalls of not having recommended service performed. He told me, rather point blank, that if it was his bike he would not have the valves set. In all his time, he thinks he remembers seeing *one* Honda that the valves were slightly out of speck upon post break-in service.

So I told him that with all due respect to his mechanics, I believe the factory is better able to build them than your guys are to take 'em apart and put 'em back together. I elected *not* to have the valves checked. Saves me a couple $100 and several hours in their waiting room. 'Course, if I have an engine problem in the next 10 1/2 months I'm likely screwed for warranty work ... but *one* bike in 30 years? I like those odds!
Scott

 

[tawilke46]

So I told him that with all due respect to his mechanics, I believe the factory is better able to build them than your guys are to take 'em apart and put 'em back together. I elected *not* to have the valves checked.

Exactly what I did at 600 miles. Bike is running like a Swiss watch, no unusual noises, great mileage, sooooo forget about the valve check. I trust the factory to get it right the first time.
AND I really don't like tearing into the bike's innards unless it is absolutely necessary! The old addage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies here.
I think Honda puts the valve adjustment check in their scheduled maintenance requirements as a "CYA", just in case something slipped by the QC folks or a remote mechanical glitch may be about to happen. Not because Honda thinks it is necessary.
Besides if something happens in the first year, the warranty will cover the fix (or the extended warranty if you have it).

I would rather have the dealer do the valve check. If they screw something up, then they have to fix it. If I do it and screw something up, the answer is obvious, it's all on me.
Not that I think I don't have the mechanical skill, I just rather not do it myself.

 

[Warren]

I think that most of us that paid to have the valves checked at the 600 mile service or checked them ourselves found that they were in spec. If I had to do it over I would have saved the $400 and waited until the 8K service interval to have them checked.

 

[artemedes]

I understand and respect your decision. But I have read enough reports of people here who reported the values of their valve clearance, and more than a few have needed tweaking. I think the 600 mile service is critical. I would understand why somebody might skip the 8000 or 16000 valve checks, but I personally would want the peace of mind and verification that mine was set right. Even if they didn't need adjustment.

My NT did need adjustment (too tight on two valves). I did it myself and didn't pay the dealer to do it. Since I now know how, I will probably do the 8,000 and verify they stayed put. If they stayed put, I will likely skip the 16,000 and wait until 24,000.

 

[freezingalaskan]

My dealer claimed they checked the valves as part of my 600 mile service, but the total cost for the service was around $250, which makes me suspect they did not check the valves. It is stated on my copy of the work done that the valves were checked, so if I have a warranty issue, then I should be covered. Right now I am seriously considering buying the extended Honda warranty plan.....just in case something would happen in the future. I think they want around $700 for four additional years of full coverage....

freezingalaskan

 

[tawilke46]

My dealer claimed they checked the valves as part of my 600 mile service, but the total cost for the service was around $250, which makes me suspect they did not check the valves.

This is true no matter where you take your motor vehicles, cars or motorcycles. It pays to get everything in writing and do a walk around before you leave the dealership.
But in the long run you have to trust somebody to work on your vehicle. Just do your homework first. Go to the dealer, ask to talk to the service manager, take a walk around their shop facilities, is it neat and clean?, do the mechanics look like they know what they are doing?, are the tools and parts neatly organized?, etc
More importantly if you can, talk to owners that have taken their bikes to the shop in question. Were they satisfied with the work done there?

 

[Madmax]

I did my 600 mile service today. I changed the oil and filter and just looked everything over. My dealer told me not to mess with the valves EVER. I'll keep warrenty on it and ride.

 

[Phil Tarman]

My dealer told me not to mess with the valves EVER.

Hmmm, never is a long, long time. I think I'd take a look (or have someone take a look) at 8,000.

 

[tawilke46]

I'm going to have the dealer that I bought my bike from do the valve check at 8k miles.
But first I am going to get the salesman I worked with and have gotten to know pretty well (I don't think he would lie to me), tell me if he thinks their shop can handle the NT valve check.
He rides a 2009 Yamaha FJR to work every day and is an avid rider. He also gets his bike serviced there. So he should know.
On slow days I go over there and we sit and talk motorcycles and riding while drinking a cup of coffee.
I may have at least a little leverage knowing Gary.
I feel fairly confident they would do a good job.

 

[Lorien]

Let's see as I turn the key-20k and change-and I haven't checked those valves yet. Think the UK lads are right. Maybe at 25 or a little less. And $440 bucks in my poclet X2.

 

[tawilke46]

My dealer (Hollister Honda) did have NT experience though.

And that my friend makes a HUGE difference.

 

[Rich]

A little confused here. I haven't done it yet, but checking the valve clearance looks to be truly trivial. The obstacle is getting to them and closing up afterward. On my ST's I never attempted to do it myself because they were shim-and-bucket. Modestly tricky to get to (mostly due to tupperware), not too bad to check, but terribly painstaking and time-consuming to actually change. And according to service records they actually were adjusted a couple times while I had the bikes. Notations indicated the clearances and adjustments made (when they were}.

My old '75 Gold Wing was easy to check and get to. I checked these myself periodically. Once in awhile one or two would get tweaked over the 85,000 miles I had it. So it was pretty stable.

Here's what can happen if you get these too far out of adjustment:

Zero clearance and below, the valve doesn't fully close. With exhaust valves this will come to mean burned valves and seats. With intake valves possible backfires into the intake manifold.

With enough excess clearance, you can break the valve stem. This happened to me once, due to a misprint in a service manual that I didn't catch and used. Fortunately for me the nature of the break caused only a power loss and I got away with replacing the valve. But for significant time before that I was sacrificing power and efficiency because the valve wasn't opening as far or as long as designed.

I plan to do these myself. Not because I'm paranoid the shops are all incompetent thieves, but it will take me less time to do it myself than to get the bike to the shop and back (2 hours minimum), even ignoring the time for them to get it done. There's very little on this bike I can't handle, so this holds true for most everything,

 

[Rmcapozzi]

I'll agree to that! The NT looks to be a breeze for valve checks. Although I'm not sure how out of the way propping up the fuel tank really is. I may just remove it all together for a nice easy access to the top of the motor. I'll have to investigate that a bit more.

I center spec'd my other bike's valves (GL1800) last winter on its first valve inspection schedule. You have to pull the cams to get to those shims. 2 of the 12 were out of spec. Some bikes need the initial adjustments and others don't. Course you'll never know unless you take a peak.

Actually, since the 2010 NT that we just got for my wife is already nearly 2 years old, at the 600 mile service, I'm replacing the coolant and brake fluid in addition to the other items identified for the 600 mile service. From reviewing the manual it all looks very straight forward.

A little confused here. I haven't done it yet, but checking the valve clearance looks to be truly trivial. The obstacle is getting to them and closing up afterward. On my ST's I never attempted to do it myself because they were shim-and-bucket. Modestly tricky to get to (mostly due to tupperware), not too bad to check, but terribly painstaking and time-consuming to actually change. And according to service records they actually were adjusted a couple times while I had the bikes. Notations indicated the clearances and adjustments made (when they were}.

My old '75 Gold Wing was easy to check and get to. I checked these myself periodically. Once in awhile one or two would get tweaked over the 85,000 miles I had it. So it was pretty stable.

Here's what can happen if you get these too far out of adjustment:

Zero clearance and below, the valve doesn't fully close. With exhaust valves this will come to mean burned valves and seats. With intake valves possible backfires into the intake manifold.

With enough excess clearance, you can break the valve stem. This happened to me once, due to a misprint in a service manual that I didn't catch and used. Fortunately for me the nature of the break caused only a power loss and I got away with replacing the valve. But for significant time before that I was sacrificing power and efficiency because the valve wasn't opening as far or as long as designed.

I plan to do these myself. Not because I'm paranoid the shops are all incompetent thieves, but it will take me less time to do it myself than to get the bike to the shop and back (2 hours minimum), even ignoring the time for them to get it done. There's very little on this bike I can't handle, so this holds true for most everything,

 

[bicyclist]

For me, removing the tank would be more trouble than it's worth. Propping it up gets it out of the way enough that it isn't a problem.

The bike isn't hard to work on once you get the tupperware off. That's the PITA. Honda should have selected one kind of hardware and used it throughout the tupperware mounting and eliminated all the tabs and slots. Just to remove a pocket, you need an allen wrench, a screwdriver and an 8 mm socket. That's crazy. You can get most of the plastic off a Versys with a 4 mm allen. The mirrors come off an F800 with an allen and the rest of the fairing comes off with a Torx driver and all of the screws are the same size. Why can't Honda do that?