Hints & Tips: Valve Adjustment: Difference between revisions

*You have to unbolt and remove the left-hand coil, but it isn't necessary to drill the spot weld to remove the brackets. The cover is no harder to get out with the brackets left in place than with the brackets removed. Removing the bracket will make a tiny bit more room for your hands to get in and the valve cover to come out. Should you decide to remove it, one admin insists that a long screwdriver and a bit of rocking back and forth gets it done, while another says he almost pulled the bike over on top of him doing that. Drilling is the safer option.  

*After you've taken out the radiator bolts and the coil bolts, it's even better to also "back out" the large long bolt that goes through the front of the engine. It's the one that goes through the two brackets (one on each side) that the radiator bolts to. If you back out that long bolt (it's the last one really holding the bracket) then you can move the bracket and the right side of the radiator further from the head and get more room to work.  

*If you take the outlet hose off the bottom of the radiator, it's much easier to push the radiator forward to give yourself room to look at what you're doing on the exhaust valves. Of course, this means you'll be draining the coolant and will either have to pour it back in or [[How do I service the cooling system?|change it]].

*If you want to use a special tool, get the Kawasaki one. Other sets, specifically the Motion Pro one that's designed for use on multiple kinds of bikes, won't fit.   

*Get a 9mm, 6-point, deep well socket. Use it to make the actual adjustment, without a ratchet, but with a screwdriver through the middle. That way you can turn the nut and use the screwdriver to hold the screw. At the beginning and end, when you're just breaking the nut loose or torquing it back down to spec, you can use your socket with a 1/4" ratchet. You might twist the screw a little, but at the beginning it doesn't matter at all, and at the end you should have enough leeway that the gap is still in spec. Double check afterwards though, just to make sure.

*You don't need the special tools, but you might want to find some longer feeler gauges (about 5~6" long). The short ones can be used, but keep them together as a set; that will effectively lengthen them, as well as prevent single blades from falling down the cam chain well.