The OBSERVED Valve Clearance thread

[dave]

Thanks Max and Doc. I have a question for you, and everybody else on this forum of course. When inspecting the valve clearances, the FSM has you align specific marks on the crankshaft so that the camshafts are in the proper location for specific valves. I have noticed that the proper cam location does not necessarily mean that the large part of the cam lobe is pointing directly up, or 180 degrees from the valve. If I ignored the marks on the crankshaft, and inspected each valve clearance with the cam lobe pointed exactly 180 degrees from the valve, would this make any difference? The reason I ask is because the last time I adjusted the valves on my VFR800 I ignored the position of the crankshaft and measured the clearance for each valve when its respective cam lobe was 180 degrees from the valve, and I believe the valves all got loud (too large of a clearance) after I did this. I followed the FSM to the letter for the CB1100 adjustment.