AIRHEAD VALVE ADJUSTMENT with Pics

When reinstalling the ignition cover, should loc tite or a thread locker be used on the screws

 

NO. Use anti-sieze compound though.

 

Yo! Dude.
I hope its not too late ...
HCP1622SET8 reproduction valve cover hold-down bolt rubber PRESSURE WASHERS, set of 8:
$ 13.95

 

Those are the outer (8) you also need the inner (4) there are 12 bolts.

 

Don't know if this video ever showed up, but is this guy doing a decent job? I can't tell if he's using a magnetic tool to remove the shims, but that might be a serious mistake he's making...

Other than that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=en ... 58WrCV-k6Q

 

Question: Will the head ruin a rubber valve cover gasket if I forgot to grease/silicon it? Its glued with that high-tack red sticky stuff to the cover, but during install I forgot to lube the bottom.

Note: this is for the newly acquired 550 of mine. 7 outta the 8 were tight go figure

 

anyone?

 

I would say it would be okay, just might make it a bit harder to pop off next time. Rubber gaskets don't tend to come apart as much like a paper gasket would tear if parts of it got stuck.

But next time you pull it, wipe some on there.

That's my .02

 

It will be fine. Yamaha didn't use any sealer on either side.

 

That bike is not clean......it is sterile!

 

My god,this motorcycle looks so new like it was bought yesterdays.Its like it came from an exhibition show!!!! 8O 8O 8O

 

i checked my clearances today to find i need 3 shims. out of curiosity, when i was done, i checked the clearance all the way around the bottom of the cam lobe, and found that as a rotated the engine ccw, when the cam lobe was about 90 degrees PAST straight up from the bucket, pointing in a line parallel to the shim, i measured more clearance then when the cam lobe was straight up. is this normal?

 

Yes; well, sorta. The cams are kind of erratically cast, and only "precise" in those areas where they NEED to be.

Check the clearances where the book says to; with the cam pointing straight up away from the face of the shim.

 

got it. thanks!

 

Bigfitz,

Thanks a lot for posting the pictures and instructions. I will get to this since the engine that is going on my XJ is not mounted yet. It is great to find out this "How to" threads with lots of pictures for us newbies on how to work on a bike.

This is one thing that I will do to the engine that is sitting in the shed waiting to go into the bike.

 

Great write up. This makes it seem so much less daunting.

 

I die a little inside everytime I see pics of Fitz's bikes....I could only dream to have mine that clean. I would LOVE to see a video of it running!! Don't suppose you got one huh Fitz?

 

The best of it is, the thing's his DAILY RIDER! 8O :lol:

 

He uses a special product to keep it that way. It's called elbow grease

 

Hi. I have owned my XJ550 for about 5 years now. The bike itself was running at the time but poorly and it has gotten to the point where I am today and that it doesn't run at all. The previous owner kept the exterior in great shape but the more I used it the more I discovered it was never properly maintained. Initially I thought dirty carb was the problem so I cleaned it a few times and it seemed like it wasn't helping. I remember BigFitz mentioning that carb cleaning is pointless without checking the valve shims so that's what I decided to check next. Thanks to this writeup I have discovered that I am in the same spot crewwolfy was way back on page 4. They all are out of spec measuring 0.102mm and one which is also not even measurable so I'll need to see if the other valves have smaller shims I can swap. I am looking forward to ordering the new shims and seeing what results this will give so I can get this bike back on the road. Out of curiosity, if it wasn't already mentioned, would the consequences of having the valves out of spec cause my bike to flood at high rpms and just bog down if revved up? And also be the cause of starting issues? It seems like if I could get it to start and idle it was sort of fine as long as the choke was on and it ran but forget about accelerating too fast it would just bog and almost stall going up small inclines.

Thanks!
Raymond