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Valve clearance question


Steve698

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Have a (new to me) NC750x DCT turning up in the next week it has 20K on the clock, although it was serviced 2K miles ago I don't know the specifics of exactly what was done, so for my own peace of mind I intend to do a change of oil, oil filter, crankcase filter, coolant and valve clearances, as well as at some point in the future fork oil change. Question is regarding the valve clearances, does the cover need a gasket replacement or is it just a rubber jobby that can be reused, want to make sure I have all bits and bobs to complete the job in one go.

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Slowboy
21 minutes ago, Steve698 said:

Have a (new to me) NC750x DCT turning up in the next week it has 20K on the clock, although it was serviced 2K miles ago I don't know the specifics of exactly what was done, so for my own peace of mind I intend to do a change of oil, oil filter, crankcase filter, coolant and valve clearances, as well as at some point in the future fork oil change. Question is regarding the valve clearances, does the cover need a gasket replacement or is it just a rubber jobby that can be reused, want to make sure I have all bits and bobs to complete the job in one go.

You can reuse it. They come off quite easily.

you can do it with the radiator in place, but it’s much easier to do it by draining it and removing the rad. Just make sure you refill with silicate free antifreeze coolant or the water pump seal will fail.

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1 minute ago, slowboy said:

You can reuse it. They come off quite easily.

you can do it with the radiator in place, but it’s much easier to do it by draining it and removing the rad. Just make sure you refill with silicate free antifreeze coolant or the water pump seal will fail.

OK thanks Brian , yep I intend to change the coolant so will be removing the rad, have sourced the Halfords silicate free coolant for refill. Saw somewhere on here someone mentioned removing the plugs and timing chain inspection cover to do the valve clearances just said it made the job easier. Any idea as how or why that may be or if it's worth doing ?

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So more confusion, there are a couple of vids on the tube that state cylinder 1 is brake side and also a couple that state cylinder 1 is clutch side, there are also a few threads here discussing the same, I think general consensus is cylinder 1 is clutch side ( right side sitting on the floor looking at the valves) is this correct ?

 

Also confusion about with the cam sprocket cover removed should we aligning to the top mark or the bottom mark ? the manual I have access to states top but there is information everywhere stating the opposite and we should be aligning to the bottom again which is correct ?

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Dunnster

Cylinder 1 is clutch side, (right side sitting on the floor looking at the valves)

Align with the bottom mark

Removing the plugs makes finding TDC easier

If I were you I would renew the fork oil at the same time, plus with them out of the way, access to the valves is even better.

HTH and have fun :thumbsup:

Edited by Dunnster
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9 minutes ago, Dunnster said:

Cylinder 1 is clutch side, (right side sitting on the floor looking at the valves)

Align with the bottom mark

Removing the plugs makes finding TDC easier

If I were you I would renew the fork oil at the same time, plus with them out of the way, access to the valves is even better.

HTH and have fun :thumbsup:

OK thanks Dunnster, so cylinder 1 is clutch side and take no notice of manual and align to the bottom mark got it. Giving me more work with the forks then doh.

What is the benefit of removing the plugs ?

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Dunnster
17 minutes ago, Steve698 said:

OK thanks Dunnster, so cylinder 1 is clutch side and take no notice of manual and align to the bottom mark got it. Giving me more work with the forks then doh.

What is the benefit of removing the plugs ?

With the plugs in you'll get more or less full compression pressure when trying to turn it over the compression stroke. That makes it hard work and it'll try to turn back if you relax the effort at all. Plugs out and there's no compression.

Not giving you more work, as once the rad is out of the way there's plenty of acces. But as you said you were thinking of a future fork oil change, you might as well do it at the same time, thus giving you more room to work with. I find changing it every two years is beneficial. Unless it's been changed recently I reckon the oil will be pretty rank.

One more thing, only turn the engine over forwards to avoid damaging the camchain. 

Edited by Dunnster
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Dunnster
2 minutes ago, Steve698 said:

Only have run of the mill spark plug socket will that fit the small hole to the plugs ? not some kind of special tool needed is it ?

No special tool required, but it's a deep recess so might need an extension bar.

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If you look on youtube search NC750 STUFF a lovely Aussie has a video that takes you through the whole valve adjustment job from start to finish, nothing like watching it actually being done before you start yourself, he has has many videos on NC maintenance so you may have to spend some time to find the valve clearance one but it will be worth it.

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Grumpy old man
2 hours ago, Steve698 said:

Only have run of the mill spark plug socket will that fit the small hole to the plugs ? not some kind of special tool needed is it ?

The spark plug tool that comes with the tool kit works fine.

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1 hour ago, Bassman said:

If you look on youtube search NC750 STUFF a lovely Aussie has a video that takes you through the whole valve adjustment job from start to finish, nothing like watching it actually being done before you start yourself, he has has many videos on NC maintenance so you may have to spend some time to find the valve clearance one but it will be worth it.

I did watch that vid and it was one of the ones that caused my confusion as he says @ 3:39 that the left cylinder is number 1 - turns out that's 2.

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44 minutes ago, slowboy said:

There you go @Steve698, or anyone else

 

Yes so as we look at that vid the cylinder on the right (clutch side) is number 1 where as he says the left is number 1 brake side (next to chain)

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Dunnster
1 hour ago, Steve698 said:

Yes so as we look at that vid the cylinder on the right (clutch side) is number 1 where as he says the left is number 1 brake side (next to chain)

Yeah, Cylinder 1 on the right (clutch side) 

cylinder 2 on the left (throttle side) next to the cam chain

My ignition coils are numbered in that order, from the factory too. 

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Simple way I was taught 40odd years ago at Suzuki turn engine forward until inlet valve on cylinder you working on opens and closes use a TDC guage or a small screwdriver to find NEXT tdc ser valves repeat as required  Do not do this using rear wheel to turn engine! 

Simple first princables way to find TDC firing stroke  no hard to see marks! not lightly to get wrong TDC unless you turn the enging backwards and backwards the starter motor makes it real hard!

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Slowboy

One more tip. Don’t turn the engine backwards, it will damage the cam chain tensioner. If you miss the mark, turn it round again, rather than backwards. From memory you turn the motor counter clockwise, but please check that or let someone else on here confirm it.

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Dunnster

Brian, anti clockwise is correct, your memory is good. It takes two full revolutions to complete the cycle.

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So on these vids with people lining up their marks then proceeding to set clearance on the wrong cylinder, is that doing damage or just wasting time ? goes to show you can't take these things as gospel can you, all sounds good but it's misinformation. 

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Slowboy
4 hours ago, Steve698 said:

So on these vids with people lining up their marks then proceeding to set clearance on the wrong cylinder, is that doing damage or just wasting time ? goes to show you can't take these things as gospel can you, all sounds good but it's misinformation. 


I guess they were only trying to help and made an error. It’s easily done. But now you know better you’ll be fine. There is no substitute for having the factory service manual, they are available in the uk and they're about £45 or so. You’ll pay for it with the first half hour you do on your own bike. And you can always ask on here, one of us at least will have done it before.

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In my experience every multi-cylinder bike I’ve ever owned has had number 1 cylinder on the l/h/side as you sit on the bike, facing forwards. I always thought it is a convention. 
With regard to trying to set the clearances on the valves on the wrong cylinder my approach has been to assume that, as long as it is a properly running engine that I am servicing and not a non-runner that won’t fire,, or misfires badly, then I assume that the valve clearances won’t be very far out. In that case there should be a clearance on all the valves on the correct cylinder at tdc. I don’t see how you can decide that an open valve or valves at tdc can mean that that cylinder is on the right stroke, on an engine that is running normally before you start the job.

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Well I'm going with the info from here from the people that have done it and taking cylinder 1 as the clutch side and aligning cam chain sprocket markings with the bottom notch not the top as the manual states.

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9 hours ago, Steve698 said:

Well I'm going with the info from here from the people that have done it and taking cylinder 1 as the clutch side and aligning cam chain sprocket markings with the bottom notch not the top as the manual states.

For peace of mind check the clearance both with notch at top and bottom, if there's little or nothing in it you will be confident it's ok.

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trisaki

When you refer to what cylinder  is what you should  really be pointing towards  the front  of the bike as like the pictures in parts manuals etc (Fowler's etc ) so number  1 cylinder is left hand ie gear lever side  gets confusing if you start mentioning  looking  at the valves or looking  from clutch side 

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