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4-stroke Valve Wear
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Skipper
Addict
| Posts: 4344
| Joined: 01/08
Posted: 04/17/08
10:53 AM
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This question comes up a lot, so I thought I'd post a general thread covering it...
You have to adjust the valves on a 4-stroke because the valve seats wear, and that wear reduces the clearance of the valve train to unacceptable levels.
Not taking care of your valve clearances leads to hard starting, loss of power, and eventually snapped valves and burned valve seats.
The primary causes of wear in the valve seats are as follows:
1. High RPM. Stay off the rev limiter and your valves will stay in spec much longer.
2. Dirty air. Keep your filter regularly serviced and oiled, and your valve seats will last much longer.
3. Ethanol. Most of us run premium unleaded pump gas, and in most parts of the country it is treated with ethanol. Ethanol is corrosive to valve seats. If you put some fuel stabilizer, such as Sta-Bil, in your tank every time you fill up, your seats will last longer, because the fuel stabilizers have chemicals that counteract the corrosiveniss of the ethanol. It only costs about 25 cents per tank (much cheaper than a valve job, or running race gas).
Food for thought.
Skip
**
Here we go again!
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Posted: 04/19/08
07:29 PM
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Skip, I agree with all of your suggestions, but there is one thing that you forgot, DON'T LET THE VALVES GET HOT!!! You have to have good coolant, such as ICE or WATER WETTER. Also, to help prevent bad valves, keep the bike moving!! Don't let it chill there and let it idle and get hot.
I LOVE to fly.... over the handlebars.
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