Ive just adjusted my tappets and now the top end sounds like theres a tin of nails rattling around in there. I followed the manual to the letter and the play in the rocker arm was just a pain in the back end. I'm no stranger to tappets.

any ideas on why it sounds so bad? They were closed up pretty tight when I started. I didn't measure but using the middle gauge of each adjustment range wasn't ever going to fit ever.

Help guys! Im avoiding riding it at the moment.

Don't worry, you're not alone. It isn't always easy to get it right first time... or even second or third time!

Read this: http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=23629

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So whats the knack to getting it first time? Im guessing the free play in the rockers are what causes the false readings then?

Yes that, and the fact that that no matter how hard you try to hold the valve adjuster, it tends to move when you tighten the locknut. This causes things to go tight, so folk tend to overcompensate by putting pressure on the valve adjuster the other way, effectively undoing it while the lock nut is tightened.

It is generally best to set the valves to the tighter end of spec anyway. For efficient running the gap wants to be as small as possible, but still have some room to allow for expansion and valve seat recession. It's a bit of a balancing act. If you check your valves regularly, there is no harm in erring on the side of a smaller gap (within spec). The recommended gap is there so as to make sure the bike can do at least 12K+ miles before the valves close up, it's a safety margin.

If they were quiet before you adjusted them, then you've almost certainly got them set too loose now (assuming nothing else has changed and they weren't over-tight to start with).

It's very much a case of trial and error; the unfortunate thing being you have to refit everything to see whether you've got it right!

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Cheers for that. With the old bandit engines im used to they were better set in the middle. I'll have try using the smaller gaps.

how do you work round the rocker freeplay or is the idea to take up that freeplay?

Take up all the slack/freeplay when inserting the feeler gauge. It should be a tight sliding fit.

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