[dsn_klr650] valve adjustment procedure

[Mike Pelgen]

To any of you who contemplate doing a valve adjustment... I suggested to Eldon Carl that you have to be careful when you lift the cam bearing cap. There is a hollow dowel which helps 'locate' the cap. If it sticks to the cap when you lift it, and then falls... down the tunnel into the magneto. That's where I found mine after having to remove the LH engine cover. Fished it out with stiff piece of wire. Sickening sound to hear on a bike with 800 miles on it. Plus, you have just created several more hours of work for yourself to do. I had a 1982 Yamaha Seca 750 with shims, the shims on the Kawasaki are exactly the same type. I bought my KLR shim at the Yamaha dealer. I didn't confuse him with the details, I just asked for a Seca shim. I told the dealer when I took my A14 in for the 500 mile service that the valves seemed a little noisy. He changed the oil and I got the bike back, note on the work order slip said "valves within tolerances" I could tell he never took the cover off ( I marked the bolts, I guess I'm not a trusting person). I went ahead and checked them myself at 800 miles and one exhaust on the LH side was .001" too tight. I didn't remove the top engine to frame mount, but had to pull and reroute some hoses to get the cover out. It was a P.I.T.A. Next time the mount comes off (suggested by E. Carl). I have 3300 miles on it now, runs like a top. 15w-40 RxSuper BMW R1100RL on order, to come in any day, but will keep the KLR. Mike in Kokomo IN -----Original Message----- Date: Saturday, June 10, 2000 11:41 AM Subject: [DSN_klr650] Re: valve adjustment procedure

>>>>Could someone please remind me of the "famed" procedure that was >outlined on this list? >I think you're referring to Elden Carl's instructions. You can read them >here: http://www.geocities.com/~klrdsn/page27.html. One thing I noticed >when I did my adjustment; Elden's step 13 says "remove the cam and shim