DIY valve adjustment? | GTAMotorcycle.com

DIY valve adjustment?

Vontwowheels

Well-known member
Hey guys, got a 2013 ninja 300, just around 12K Km the maintenance guide I found shows valve adjustment should be due.
I'm a car mechanic but have never been around bikes or worked on them except some very light things on this bike. Have measured and adjusted valves in level 1 trade school ... Is this something I could reasonably accomplish?
Any tips or suggestions?
Thanks
 
Definitely yes. There are Youtube videos showing how to do this on the Ninja 300.
 
I'm not a mechanic and have always done my own valve adjustments so I doubt you would have technical issues. The problem with doing them yourself is if they are adjusted with shims as many bikes use, you won't have the spares so you need to measure everything, go buy the ones you need, then put the bike back together (or take it apart twice).
 
@12k I doubt the valves are that out, I would measure up and proceed from there. Theres also a chance you'll be able to shuffle the shims around to put most of the valves back in spec. But expect some downtime, unless you have someone to hook you up or willing to go around garages asking for sizes.
 
first adjustment is at 12K? kind of early
first one is quite often just a check
may not actually need any shims
 
My R6 was due at 42,000 kms and I did it at 48 over the winter. Inspection is super easy but replacing shims is kind of a pain only because you have to take off/put back on the timing chain.
 
@12k I doubt the valves are that out, I would measure up and proceed from there. Theres also a chance you'll be able to shuffle the shims around to put most of the valves back in spec. But expect some downtime, unless you have someone to hook you up or willing to go around garages asking for sizes.

In the ST world ST1100 and ST1300 owners have put together a shim kit that gets shipped to you so you have all the parts at hand. Once you're finished with it you ship it to the next person or back to the sponsor as required. Similar specialty tool / adjustment kits are available for fork rebuilds, steering head bearing replacements, wheel bearing replacement, rear end final drive work etc....... These kits are a fantastic resource.

Is there a Ninja 300 specific forum out there that offers the same support for Ninja owners?
 
In the ST world ST1100 and ST1300 owners have put together a shim kit that gets shipped to you so you have all the parts at hand. Once you're finished with it you ship it to the next person or back to the sponsor as required. Similar specialty tool / adjustment kits are available for fork rebuilds, steering head bearing replacements, wheel bearing replacement, rear end final drive work etc....... These kits are a fantastic resource.

Awesome concept.
 
The 2013 ninja 300 has locknut adjusters... not shims should be a piece of cake assuming you don’t drop anything into the engine. I’ll never forget the valve cover dowel that fell into my cam chain...


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The 2013 ninja 300 has locknut adjusters... not shims should be a piece of cake assuming you don’t drop anything into the engine. I’ll never forget the valve cover dowel that fell into my cam chain...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

EX300 has shim-under-bucket valve adjustment. Not for the home mechanic unless you're VERY confident.
 
Original poster is a car mechanic and presumably knows which way to turn a wrench and what common-sense force and torque levels are.

Checking and setting the valve clearances on a bike engine is not rocket science. Follow the service manual. You will have to take some other parts off the bike to get to the valve cover, and to get to the socket for rotating the crankshaft and for observing the timing marks on the flywheel. If you've worked on car engines, there's nothing under that valve cover that you haven't seen before, it's just smaller.

If it turns out that you have to change shims, the tensioner for the timing chain has to come off, and the camshafts have to come out. There is nothing exotic about that job, either. Take note of where the timing marks are, on the flywheel and on the cam sprockets.

When re-assembling, the tensioner will have to be reset before you put it on the engine and then allowed to spring out once it is on the engine. There are a couple of different designs, I don't know offhand which one the Ninja 300 uses. Again, service manual explains all.
 
I'm not a mechanic of any kind and did my own valve inspection on my ZX6R after being quoted $300 for inspection and $900+tax for adjustment if needed.

It took me a long time to get the job done. I measured three times before writing down my readings on a EX/IN template I found online. I had to replace 12 shims at 26k as they were out of spec by quite a bit. The bike ran okay as far as I could tell but felt like it lost a bit of power when it got hot (and engine was strangely quiet).

The entire job took me equivalent of 2 full days because:
1. I didn't have all the tools and had to purchase as needed (torque wrench, feeler gauges, magnet tool, something to mark cam chain with)
2. I didn't know what to do at each step. I had to stop, research, visually inspect, research, inspect, and only then turn a wrench.
3. The cam chain skipped a tooth or two and re-aligning with my markings was challenging because of lack of room for my fingers.

It was a good experience and the end result was totally worth it. Not only was it satisfying to hear the bike start up after all the work, but it ran better and the hesitation at operating temp was gone. I did do another valve inspection after 1,000k to ensure everything was still good.

I kind of get why mechanics charge anywhere from $600+ for the work. It's definitely time consuming.
 

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