Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech New Quick Way to Adjust Valves!

Gents, I came across this new way to adjust the valves on a bike. I'm pretty sure it will work on the Speedy/America and you shouldn't have to pull the cams. Saves tons of time. Just have to be a bit careful with the old screwdriver. May need a second pair of hands to handle the forceps when the bucket is depressed.

The fellow that posted these pics on the Rocket forum stated that he swapped the shims on 5 valves in 5 minutes without pulling the cams. Still need to prep, pull valve cover etc but no timing issues, cam chain problems etc etc. Looks good.

Looks very interesting, let me know how it works out.

So he rotates the camshaft for each shim and has it so the cam lobe is not touching the shim he is replacing. Then he uses the notched screw driver to push the shim out?

I think he is pushing the bucket down with the notched screwdriver to make room to remove the shim.

If you slip with that screwdriver and gouge the bucket..Tsk..Tsk. Other than that, great innovation. The proper grind on the screwdriver blade would make it feasible.

I used a factory tool doing this on Japanese shim buckets back in the 70s, easy and effective. I didn't think it worked for us because the buckets are blocked on the right side (I forget intake or exhaust) by the way the head is molded. I could easily be wrong, I haven't been in there for a while. A magnetic pickup tool works as well as those tweezers.

ah man, i see nothing but disaster for me if i tried that, first getting the tool right and then that...... just a little more, just a little more pressure "SNAP"..... story of my life.

Cool trick.

Rant time: I have a 23 HP gas frikkin' lawnmower engine with hydraulic lifters.
Why can't.... ah, never mind.
;-)

As a father of three with student loans and a hefty mortgage to pay with less than a Rhodes Scholar background and a 57 years old job candidate, money has been tight for a while. Had to sell my one and only bike, a Speedmaster, to keep the tax wolves from my door. When I put together a spare $3k or so, I'm leaning very heavily toward either a used Trophy or a Kawi Concours, both of which offer a tremendous amount of bang for the buck.

A little slice of my remaining ego wants the cool factor of a Triumph. I mean, who wants a bike that isn't a joy to look at and ride? The practical side of me says the Kawi is much easier to service, and many years of Connie models are considered to be bullet proof. I suppose the answer will present itself by availability of used hardware should if ever the spare $3K should arrive.

I have the Yamaha tool that holds the bucket down and allows you to remove the shim. I've used it to adjust the valves on my 1982 XJ 650 Maxim and also my 1982 Seca 650 Turbo. The cam rotates and pushes the bucket down then you install the tool which keeps the bucket down in its compressed position. The shim can then be coaxed out from the bucket, a lot of times the oil film "sticks" it to the bucket so it can be tricky to get it out. When i check the valves on my Speedmaster i'll see if i can adapt the tool i have or make something similar.
Mine were checked at 12,000 miles and were all ok.