Valve Check On 2013

[the Ferret]

True story. i got my first street bike at 15, a Aermacchi badged Harley Davidson 50cc 2 stroke, approved by my father so I could make it to work after school. I came home from school one day and my motorcycle is taken apart in the driveway by the back porch. Pipe off, carb off, cyl head off, cylinder off. My younger brother, aged 13 had taken it apart. Of course I went ballistic, but he assured me that he would put it back together, that he was just curious how it all worked... And he did put it back together and it ran perfectly. Even at that young age, he had "the knack". At 15 he became a set up man for a Suzuki, Triumph, Norton dealership. At 20 he became a factory trained Yamaha/Moto Guzzi mechanic, and was very good at it. At 27 he was offered a job with a Cinti Fire Department because they needed someone who could work on the Fire Trucks. He retired a Fireman. Rides a Triumph now.

He could easily do the valve check on my Honda. He does his Triumph which uses the exact same valve layout, a layout which most of the manufacturers use these days.. Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Triumph. I won't ask him however since the mechanic I use at the shop assures me there is no need, and I don't want him to do all that work for nothing.

[dbarkdoll_imp]

Thank you everyone very much for all of your thoughtful and informed advice. As always, this forum is a wealth of priceless knowledge.

At this moment, I am thinking I will forgo the valve clearance check. I'll reaccess at 12,000 miles, unless the bike starts behaving abnormally. I have no reason to believe that it will though. Thanks again.

[max]

And here is why we put the black rubber keeper under the wings of the blue plastic clip or even replace both after some years;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1vEYTR1WJU

Not exactly the same clip but similar system.

Nice story ferret, enjoyed reading it again.

[dave]

thanks Max for the high res photo's . i also could not get the fuel connector loose and gave up , turning the tank sideways on the frame with rags under it while installing my air horn .
so how does that thing come apart ?

I knew how the connector came apart (I read Max's thread first), but I still could not get mine apart with my bare hands. I resorted to using a needle-nose plyers and even after compressing the wings as far as they would go the connection would not come apart. I ended up using the plyers and small screwdriver to spread the joint open so the wings could disengage, and I cracked the connector. It cost me about $80.00 for a new fuel line / connector assembly. The opposite end of the fuel line uses the exact same type of connector, which I was able to remove without the plyers. The new assembly snapped right into position. I do not advise using tools, but I do not believe my original connector would have come apart without using them.