Valve adjustment
 

hi,i need to make 20000 km service to my xt660r,for valve adjustment, do i need remove the radiator? (and to empty the wather).

thanke.

No you don't.

All you need to do is unbolt the radiator & let it hang on the water hoses, giving you clearance to set the exhaust tappets.

Kev is there any tips you can give to do valve adjustments?

I have done cheap cush drive mod and it's was easy, but the valves scares me a bit.

if memory serves me right, they're the sort of tappets where you have the tappet screwed into the rocker and then a locking nut on top?

If so, a couple of good pieces of advice I would have to give is, for a start make sure the piston is in the correct part of the cycle before taking measurements, so that the rockers are at their most loose i.e. checking for TDC.

Another, when tightening the lock nuts after making your adjustments, be sure to hold another spanner on the top of the tappet itself because as you tighten the locknut, its likely the tappet will want to turn with it loosing your adjustment.

Currently, they're main ones I can think of, I'm sure Kev will improve on this further though.

Intake clearance is 0.09-0.13mm
Exhaust clearance is 0.16-0.20mm


I never actually looked or taken any notice as its not due but I'm presuming the Z is a 4 valve. If so use two feelers to get it spot on as the gear has play in it. Using two it takes up any play once one is correctly adjusted. I used to do this on my GS and they resulted in spot on results

X, R & Z all have the same motor.

There should be no play at all between the rocker & it's shaft, if there is then they need to be replaced.