Steve698 11 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 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. Link to post
Slowboy 20,506 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 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. 1 Link to post
Steve698 11 Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 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 ? Link to post
Steve698 11 Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 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 ? Link to post
Dunnster 1,650 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 (edited) 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 Edited November 24, 2020 by Dunnster Link to post
Steve698 11 Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 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 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 ? Link to post
Dunnster 1,650 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 (edited) 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 November 24, 2020 by Dunnster Link to post
Steve698 11 Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 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 ? Link to post
Dunnster 1,650 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 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. Link to post
Bassman 102 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 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. 2 Link to post
Slowboy 20,506 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 There you go @Steve698, or anyone else 1 Link to post
Grumpy old man 4,682 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 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. 1 Link to post
Steve698 11 Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 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. Link to post
Steve698 11 Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 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) Link to post
Dunnster 1,650 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 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. Link to post
Steve698 11 Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 Wonder how these people are getting away with setting the wrong cylinder then. Link to post
davebike 943 Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 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! Link to post
Slowboy 20,506 Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 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. 3 Link to post
Dunnster 1,650 Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 Brian, anti clockwise is correct, your memory is good. It takes two full revolutions to complete the cycle. 1 1 Link to post
Steve698 11 Posted November 25, 2020 Author Share Posted November 25, 2020 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. Link to post
Slowboy 20,506 Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 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. Link to post
Xactly 5,428 Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 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. Link to post
Steve698 11 Posted November 25, 2020 Author Share Posted November 25, 2020 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. Link to post
MatBin 5,087 Posted November 26, 2020 Share Posted November 26, 2020 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. Link to post
trisaki 2,029 Posted November 26, 2020 Share Posted November 26, 2020 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 Link to post
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now