happy trails veterans day klr prize!

[Jeffrey]

Just got it. There was so few miles/use that there was a little rust on the cams. Though dirty outside, except a touch of rust, you could eat off it after I pulled the valve cover. Exhaust .203 .152 Proper clearances 0.15-0.25 mm exhaust. intake .11 .102 Proper clearances are 0.10-0.20 mm intake I forget...I want em loose? noisy are happy? Are these happy or sad? or need any shimming? Thanks, J#3

[Eddie]

The dumb rule is, "A tappy valve is a happy valve." I guess a quiet valve is secretly contemplating something scary. =) If it were my engine, I'd loosen up the .152 exhaust and both intakes a little.(Go down 1 shim size on all three? ) eddie

[Lourd Baltimore]

http://trail-dust.com/2011/11/give-thanks-winners/ Happy Trails has announced its winner for the Give Thanks Motorcycle Contest. The grand prize was a fully-equipped KLR 650 modified by Happy Trails! I know it's a bit early, but remember to remember your veterans tomorrow. Josh . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jeffrey]

better phrasing I went to set at max or min so I don't have to pull valve cover for 10k more miles! ie should I do anything? Thanks, J#3

[Jeffrey]

Thanks...but still a little confused. Proper clearances 0.15-0.25 mm exhaust. Exhaust .203 .152 intake .11 .102 Proper clearances are 0.10-0.20 mm intake SO I WANT TO BE CLOSER TO THE .15 EXHAUST AND THE .1 INTAKE OR CLOSER TO THE .25 MM EXHAUST AND .2 INTAKE? The dumb rule is, "A tappy valve is a happy valve." I guess a quiet valve is secretly contemplating something scary. =) If it were my engine, I'd loosen up the .152 exhaust and both intakes a little.(Go down 1 shim size on all three? ) eddie

[Jeff Saline]

Jeffrey, I'm gonna convert the metric clearances to inches cause I find it easier to work in inches. Then I'll explain a bit more about adjusting the valves and why. Intake 0.004" to 0.008" Exhaust 0.006" to 0.010" Those are the same as your metric clearances. To check use the magic number 25.4. To convert millimeters to inches divide by 25.4. To convert inches to millimeters multiply by 25.4. An example is 1/2 inch which is 0.500". Multiply 0.500" by 25.4 and it equals 12.7 mm. Doing valve adjustments for some reason I do better in inches than metric so I use inches. The shims used are only available in certain sizes. Each size change is equal to 0.002" . For me that makes figuring out shim and clearance changes easy if I've measured the clearance in inches. How I do a valve clearance check is I measure the clearance in inches and record it. Then I decide what I want the clearance to do. I might want it to stay the same, get larger or get smaller. Only once have I every wanted a clearance to get smaller and that's cause it was over max spec by more than 0.002". Normally if a clearance is too large it indicates carbon or something else is on the valve face or seat and is holding the valve partially open. Once I've decided what I want the clearance to do I check the shim size and adjust as needed. Here is where it can get confusing for some folks. The wear on a valve is at the face and seat which is in the combustion chamber. The measurement of the clearance is at the opposite end of the valve between the stem and cam. So when the face or seat wear and the valve moves into the head the other end of the valve is moving closer to the cam which is where you are measuring clearance. Since the valve can't easily be adjusted at the face/seat end you must change the clearance between the valve stem and the cam. That is done by changing the thickness of the shim that is between the two. Putting in a thicker shim makes the clearance smaller and a thinner shim makes the clearance larger. Clearance is important because as the engine temperature increases the metal expands and clearances change. Normally the valve clearance cold will be larger than the valve clearance hot. Two good reasons to only check the valves cold on a KLR is the component sizes/clearances are constant and repeatable and you don't get burned working on a hot engine. : ) If the valve clearance is too small/tight when cold, as the engine gets to operating temperature the clearance will get even tighter. If the clearance is too tight (lack of valve clearance maintenance) the valve can actually be held open all the time. When that happens usually the idle will get bad first and shortly after the engine will stop running. If you are lucky if that happens the valves won't get burned. If you are unlucky (multi-cylinder engines) valves will get burned and so will your wallet. So back to the valve clearance adjustment. Once I measure the valve clearance I decide what I want to happen and then make a quick calculation to see how I make it happen. Remember on the KLR valve shims are only available in 0.002" increments. So even though max clearance on an intake valve is 0.008", because of the sizes of shims available you might only be able to get the clearance to 0.007" or 0.008". Same on the exhaust valves. Clearance might only be able to be adjusted to 0.009" or 0.010". Here is one example of how I would decide what to do. Check the clearance on an exhaust valve. Say I measure 0.005" clearance. The clearance I want is 0.010" because that is the maximum spec. To get to max I need to change the clearance 0.005". Knowing the shims are only available in sizes 0.002" apart I know I can only change two shim sizes which will be 0.004" change. So replacing the existing shim with a shim two sizes smaller will adjust my valve clearance from 0.005" to 0.009". If I change three shim sizes that will put the clearance at 0.011" which is over spec and too large. Do that calculation for each valve and replace/swap/move shims as needed to meet the needs of your engine. Shims are identified by three numbers printed on one face of the shim. Put the numbered side down when you install a shim so the number doesn't get rubbed off by the cam passing over it. If a shim size is 2.70mm it will be printed as 270 on the shim. Next would be a 2.65mm thickness shim printed as 265. It goes like that down to about 220 if I recall correctly. remember each change is equal to 0.002" so if you have a 265 shim in place and need to change two shim sizes you would request a 255 shim. Make sure after you install shims you fully seat the cam caps before you torque them into place. A few folks have broken cam caps by tightening the bolts when the caps aren't fully seated. The caps are matched to the head and you can't just take one from another engine and expect it to work in your engine. Also rotate the engine by hand once the cam chain tensioner is installed and then again check clearances to make sure you got them right. It might be helpful to keep your record of the clearance you have and the shim size with each valve. Then the next time you do a valve clearance check you'll already know what shims you have and can decide if you need to get more shims. Hope this is helpful. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650 . . ____________________________________________________________ District of Columbia Do NOT Buy Car Insurance Learn the 1 simple trick that agents don't want you to know. Only Zip Code Required. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4ebc0266b23af1555c34st02vuc

[Fred Hink]

Lots of good information, thanks Jeff. I would add a couple of points here. Be sure when you use any new shim to clean it well before installing it in your engine. New shims come with a heavy grease protectant and if that isn t removed, could effect your valve clearance measurements. I have seen a few shims come out of a new engine that were in between sizes. (like a 2.67, 2.52 etc) The aftermarket shims all come in .05mm increments, which will get you within specs. Aftermarket shims come in a range of 2.00 to 3.10 and the assortment kits I put together come in a range of 2.30 to 2.70 There are very few KLRs that will need any shims outside of these ranges unless they have a whole lot of miles on them or they have had valves replaced. Be aware that there are some shim assortment kits out there that will skip sizes and their range isn t suited for the KLR. Fred http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com From: Jeff Saline Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 9:56 AM To: nakedwaterskier@... Cc: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] USMC 2000 KLR650 Engine with 258 miles Valve Adj. question Jeffrey, I'm gonna convert the metric clearances to inches cause I find it easier to work in inches. Then I'll explain a bit more about adjusting the valves and why. Intake 0.004" to 0.008" Exhaust 0.006" to 0.010" Those are the same as your metric clearances. To check use the magic number 25.4. To convert millimeters to inches divide by 25.4. To convert inches to millimeters multiply by 25.4. An example is 1/2 inch which is 0.500". Multiply 0.500" by 25.4 and it equals 12.7 mm. Doing valve adjustments for some reason I do better in inches than metric so I use inches. The shims used are only available in certain sizes. Each size change is equal to 0.002" . For me that makes figuring out shim and clearance changes easy if I've measured the clearance in inches. How I do a valve clearance check is I measure the clearance in inches and record it. Then I decide what I want the clearance to do. I might want it to stay the same, get larger or get smaller. Only once have I every wanted a clearance to get smaller and that's cause it was over max spec by more than 0.002". Normally if a clearance is too large it indicates carbon or something else is on the valve face or seat and is holding the valve partially open. Once I've decided what I want the clearance to do I check the shim size and adjust as needed. Here is where it can get confusing for some folks. The wear on a valve is at the face and seat which is in the combustion chamber. The measurement of the clearance is at the opposite end of the valve between the stem and cam. So when the face or seat wear and the valve moves into the head the other end of the valve is moving closer to the cam which is where you are measuring clearance. Since the valve can't easily be adjusted at the face/seat end you must change the clearance between the valve stem and the cam. That is done by changing the thickness of the shim that is between the two. Putting in a thicker shim makes the clearance smaller and a thinner shim makes the clearance larger. Clearance is important because as the engine temperature increases the metal expands and clearances change. Normally the valve clearance cold will be larger than the valve clearance hot. Two good reasons to only check the valves cold on a KLR is the component sizes/clearances are constant and repeatable and you don't get burned working on a hot engine. : ) If the valve clearance is too small/tight when cold, as the engine gets to operating temperature the clearance will get even tighter. If the clearance is too tight (lack of valve clearance maintenance) the valve can actually be held open all the time. When that happens usually the idle will get bad first and shortly after the engine will stop running. If you are lucky if that happens the valves won't get burned. If you are unlucky (multi-cylinder engines) valves will get burned and so will your wallet. So back to the valve clearance adjustment. Once I measure the valve clearance I decide what I want to happen and then make a quick calculation to see how I make it happen. Remember on the KLR valve shims are only available in 0.002" increments. So even though max clearance on an intake valve is 0.008", because of the sizes of shims available you might only be able to get the clearance to 0.007" or 0.008". Same on the exhaust valves. Clearance might only be able to be adjusted to 0.009" or 0.010". Here is one example of how I would decide what to do. Check the clearance on an exhaust valve. Say I measure 0.005" clearance. The clearance I want is 0.010" because that is the maximum spec. To get to max I need to change the clearance 0.005". Knowing the shims are only available in sizes 0.002" apart I know I can only change two shim sizes which will be 0.004" change. So replacing the existing shim with a shim two sizes smaller will adjust my valve clearance from 0.005" to 0.009". If I change three shim sizes that will put the clearance at 0.011" which is over spec and too large. Do that calculation for each valve and replace/swap/move shims as needed to meet the needs of your engine. Shims are identified by three numbers printed on one face of the shim. Put the numbered side down when you install a shim so the number doesn't get rubbed off by the cam passing over it. If a shim size is 2.70mm it will be printed as 270 on the shim. Next would be a 2.65mm thickness shim printed as 265. It goes like that down to about 220 if I recall correctly. remember each change is equal to 0.002" so if you have a 265 shim in place and need to change two shim sizes you would request a 255 shim. Make sure after you install shims you fully seat the cam caps before you torque them into place. A few folks have broken cam caps by tightening the bolts when the caps aren't fully seated. The caps are matched to the head and you can't just take one from another engine and expect it to work in your engine. Also rotate the engine by hand once the cam chain tensioner is installed and then again check clearances to make sure you got them right. It might be helpful to keep your record of the clearance you have and the shim size with each valve. Then the next time you do a valve clearance check you'll already know what shims you have and can decide if you need to get more shims. Hope this is helpful. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650 . . __________________________________________________________ District of Columbia Do NOT Buy Car Insurance Learn the 1 simple trick that agents don't want you to know. Only Zip Code Required. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4ebc0266b23af1555c34st02vuc [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jeffrey]

So one wants to be closer to the larger values of the ranges when doing a valve adj. That is what I was after/needed. Thanks, J#3

[Jeff Saline]

On Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:30:55 -0000 "Jeffrey" writes:

> So one wants to be closer to the larger > values of the ranges when doing a valve adj. > > That is what I was after/needed. > > Thanks, > > J#3

<><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> Yes! Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650 . . ____________________________________________________________ Penny Stock Jumping 3000% Sign up to the #1 voted penny stock newsletter for free today! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4ebc0edea5d59155b54cst02vuc

[Jeffrey]

SO RF ie right front/exhaust has 270 RR ie right rear/intake has 265 LR ie left rear/intake has 260 So, I can just move LR to RR and RR to RF but I need a 255 for LR Correct? Exhaust .203 .152 Proper clearances 0.15-0.25 mm exhaust. intake .11 .102 Proper clearances are 0.10-0.20 mm intake Thanks, J#3