Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Finally got around to a valve check on my 2003 BA,

Hello fellow triumph riders!! Have some interesting information to share and a few questions to pose concerning my recent valve check on my prized 2003 Bonneville America. A little History on the bike: AI out within forst 35 miles on bike, plugs drilled, adjustable brass air valves installed,sceptre exhaust/jet larger, voyager trike kit instaled during two hip replacements, back to tor exhaust, voyager kit sold to Speedmaster rider in Montana nowe that I'm good for two wheeling again...many other cosmetic changes but not relevant to engine performance..
So, I cracked the valve cover and carefully measured the tolerances on the valves, results are: Exhaust specs, lft to rt. .23mm,.23mm, 31mm,31mm Intake specs lft to rt. .19mm,.20,.15mm,.13mm now my questions about these findings are more about the next actions to take. I realize some of these are out of spec and some are right on the edge of spec. How much is there to gain in performance here by setting these closer to their respective mid-point settings? I wonder, because if it took 20914k to get to this point, and only being out by 1 or 2 thousands of millimeter,Is it really worth resetting these now? I have a few people saying, if a dealer got these results, they would let in go, that it would have to be off by 5-8 thousands of a millimeter beforte they would do anything... I am perplexed as too if I should do this job now, or check in anothe 10k miles??/ So please forgive my ignorance if I am way off with these analaysis of the situation...However..I'm all ears..Gents..feel free to comment..Thanks. --iain.

When I took my America in for its check at 20 K, it was mostly the same thing. I think a couple of valves were off just a little more than you're reporting. The mechanic said that he would even worry about checking them again for another 20, even though it calls for every 10, I believe. When I sold it last year with 50 K on the clock, I told the new owner that he should have the valves checked, just as a matter of course. But there was No noise.

Thanks for your input, a few more like that, and I'm gonna get my valve cover back from the powder coater and lock her down without any adjustments..my bike is running great, plenty of power threw out the power ban and no popping or excessive valve noise...lots of money to be made for Triumph Dealers in valve checks no doubt..lol Thanks for your honesty!!

I would set them back to the middle of the range and not have to worry about doing it again any time soon. I wouldn't do what the dealer does as it is their bike they are working on.

Nah, Until I here some real horror story's I'm going with less is more..Don't fix it if it aint broke...those specs are conservative from the factory..If my Bike was running poorly or had excessive noise from the valves...my bike will be pulled off the road and those valves checked again..but things are still great at this point. thanks for your view point.

It's always smart not to adjust things until there is a failure.

Just to be clear. My viewpoint on mechanics is not as worthwhile as Ian's or some others on here. I was a shade tree mechanic back in the day, but now I practice under just a couple of leaves.

I had mine checked at 13,000 Kms and one needed doing.I checked again at 30,000 and they were still in spec.I'll probably check them again at 40,000Km.

Hey thanks alot to all for their input, and I'm still leaning toward letting them "ride"..pun intended..until my bike goes up to 30k, appprox. another 10k, miles, or until it seems troublesome w/excessive valve noise or noticeable decreased power..still waiting on that horror story of seized valves...but it doesn't appear to exist...???

Once they get noisy damage is already being done, may run a while that way but you are most likely beating up the sealing surfaces and/or lobes. Good thing I'm not a mechanic or I might know something.
edit:
OK, I'll quit with the sarcasm. Seems to me you are at the point of needing adjustment and the engine is already open, it would be stupid to not do the adjustment while it's open already. The adjustment isn't hard to do, hardest part is you need to source the shims you need once measuring is done.

Thanks Man..Thats the kind of thing/info a "non-mechanic" needs...I've been able to do alot of mechanical operations on this machine over the years..I have all the tools ready to go and have been reading and studying evrything I can, to do this adjustment..I am now inclined to beleive that now is the time..and as you say..I won't have to worry about it for a good long time. Icedently my name is "iain". With an xtra i in their..traditional gaelic version..What do you recommend using to keep the gears toghether when removing Camshaft..I've heard of nails being fashioned..it kind of looks like a couple of allen keys of correct size would work.. Thanks for your insights...really love my bike and want her to go on for years..

Anything that fits the hole will work and if it comes loose it can be reset. I have the correct tools so I have direct advice on what I used. The bolts in the bearing caps can be hard to break loose, put the bit in the bolt with and extension and give that a sharp blow or 2 with a hammer and they will come out easily. Do not haul off and slam them as hard as you can.I also use assembly lube on all friction surfaces during re-assembly if you don't have any ,STP oil treatment works very well. It's thick and sticks to the parts. Also mark the bearing caps for location and direction.

Use an empty egg carton for keeping the caps organized and do not forget to mark their orientation, front to back. I engraved mine, sharpie markings can go away from handling. A metric micrometer is very handy to have on hand as well. All the parts dealers/mechanic shops that I have went to buy shims from usually have a bunch of unmarked shims on hand and I have gotten replacements for free twice just by measuring and marking their used stock. One Triumph dealer with 2 full time mechanics didn't own a dial caliper or mic between them, go figure. So if they didn't have a factory inked shim on hand for the size required, your bike just sat there until the mail arrived.

Don't forget the Tech Vault and Pat's Shim Calculator. Fifth post down.

On my 03 America, the first adjustment was the worst with 7 of the 8 valves being adjusted but I was very picky and set them to the minimum. Usually the middle of the adjustment is the optimum location as Ian stated but I wanted to minimize the valve clatter. Over the years subsequent adjustments were minimal and when I sold the bike at 57,000 kms, the valves hadn't changed in 20,000 kilometres. I spoke to a good Triumph mechanic and asked him if the valve clearance on these bikes usually increased or decreased. He said they increase which goes against what I found in the typical engine world as the valves on most diesel engines tend to tighten up from wear between the valve and seat. I'm guessing the cams wear the cam bearings more that the lobe and valve stems resulting in the increase in clearance. Anyway, do the job and forget about the valves for several years. Have fun.

I too adjust the valves to the min clearance, but my reasoning is I want my moneys worth from the cams.

Thanks to all you triumph riders for your suggestions...Friday is the day I dissassemble the Cams and extract the shims from the buckets...I feel going with the mid points is best..as atleast 2 of my valves shrunk...any last thoughts , insights, or words of wisdom are fully appreciated..KEWL!

I set my engine up so the cams are in timing position before I disassemble so I don't have to pull the stator cover to re-assemble. Just be sure not to move the engine while cams are out. Pull both sparkplugs and put the bike in 5th gear so you can rotate the engine by the rear wheel when you are ready to do so.

Post deleted by jazzkat

What would be the areas I should apply the stp stuff on re-assemble.?.cool.

Any and all friction surfaces.

Put my 07 BA into my local shop (not a Triumph dealer, the owner is a certified Triumph Tech tho) for some of the more involved 24K mile maintenance stuff than I have the tools for. I'm having a few upgrades done along the way too (progressive fork springs, new seals & oil, new sprockets & chain, AllBalls steering stem bearings) & the local Triumph dealer wouldn't touch the aftermarket installs.

So, the local MC shop is gonna get my new bits installed, check & adjust the valve shims (if out of spec), tune & balance/sync the carbs & flush/fill the brakes with new fluid. Kinda wondering what to expect from the valve shims after 24000 miles....but from the sound of previous posts the valve shims should be near spec....a bit of a relief... but anxiously waiting to get my Girl back into my garage.