The International CBX Owners Association

Hi all....

My carbs are off to Mike's for a total refurb. Whilst they arre away I should do check my valve clearances on my 82 "School Class" engine. Doing a lot of research and have the Mike Nixon valve book as well as talked to Mike about the subject at length. I have ordered the OEM Valve adjusting tool set from Honda and just saw a video using the Motion pro tool instead.

It appears to me that the motion Pro tool is easy to use. Never having used the OEM set before but it's all that Mike uses.

Questions:

1-Should I just stick with the OEM set for now and not order the ez to use motion pro tool?

2-I have low compression across all 6 jugs, 120 +. Is using a aluminum drift to "Knock off" some carbon on the valves, (Exhaust) a known procedure?
* (-Going to do a complete leak down test before and after .)

3- Looking to set the valves at about 5 thou each. (13mm?) Yes, I'll have a mm feelers as well. Is the 5 thou the "Good compression" mark? (I believe the book says 2 thou - one plus 5 thou,)

3-where is the best place to order shims once I do the worksheet and find what I need?

4-It seems a straight forward tedious procedure. And I will follow the OEM manual as well as have Mike's guide to follow along with but any "Gotchas" that I should be aware of?


OEM set:




Motion pro style tool:

I have both the OEM and Motion Pro tools and much prefer the MP.
Clearances at .003 to .005 thou. will serve you well. The wider the gap, the less frequently you will be changing shims.
Best,
Phil

I have both also but prefer the motion pro too. I guess it is what you get used to and are more comfortable with.

Make it three in a row for the Motion Pro tool.
If you have a Honda shop nearby they might swap you shims or sell them at a reduced rate. Take a set of calipers with you.

Never heard of the aluminum drift.

The only "gotcha" moment i found was making sure you don't over tighten the valve cover bolts when you are buttoning things up.
Oh yeah, don't forget the oil pool plates. Speaking from experience.

Ditto on all the above!

I have motion pro toll as well. It works just fine, just make sure it is centered between the buckets otherwise it may slip and if it does while you are trying to take out or put in new shim, it's difficult to take out, ask me how i know!
I got my shims on Ebay form a guy in Canada who gave me special price because of this forum. I think that they were around $5 each. I can try to find his Ebay name if you need.
Since it's your first time doing this, here are few things that I've learned while adjusting my valves and I've done it twice so far.
1. When taking the shims out, before compressing the bucket, turn the bucket to where slit is in the way that you can slide in small screw driver to pop shim up and after that magnet works well on taking it out, tried long tweezers but magnet works much better.
2. It takes a bit of practice to get the cam lobes to where you want them to be so that you can do the checking. Go by the manual, it makes things quicker. Just watch the valve that you are closing, while rotating crank, watch the tip of the lob compressing the shim and the bucket, once the bucket stops going down, that's where you want it to be and ideally, that should be top of the lobe on the center of the shim.
3. Also try to find a syringe to suck out the oil behind the oil plates this way it doesn't drip all over front of the engine. Oil plate removal only necessary if you are to remove shims not needed for checking clearances.
4. Also a small dish to collect oil underneath the crank cover where you will be rotating the engine and only rotate the engine forward or clockwise on the crank.
5. Make sure that the shim is in the bucket all the way, sitting completely flat, before releasing the bucket,
6. Don't forget to manually adjust your cam chains, there was a nice write up recently
7. Once done and oil plates are in place, pour a bit of oil in so that the lobes are wet
8. You will need little bit of gasket maker or gasket seal for the edges of the valve cover side caps, the one that doesn't harden
9. If your gaskets and valve cover rubbers are of unknown age, i would recommend replacing them, same goes for the side crank cover
10. If you have oil leak on the front cam chain adjuster screw, there is a seal in there that needs replacing, this is the time to do it


Ask plenty questions, If you are not 100% sure, keep on asking. I've learned a lot from guys on this forum

Good luck

Sasha

I use only the Honda 2-piece tool and think it is very easy to do. Sorry Mike and I are the only ones.

Dave

Well-l-l -- I think I read too fast. I would not trade the OEM tool for the MP tool. If you have it bought-and-paid, stay with it by all means. While the MP is reasonably easy to use, I suspect, by looking at it, the OE might well be easier. More expensive? (I don't know the price. Just that Honda usually is top $$; AND, top notch.) Although I have had overall good use with the MP, it can, sometimes, be a bit touchy trying to get it to depress the bucket and not holding the shim down with it.

daves79x wrote:I use only the Honda 2-piece tool and think it is very easy to do. Sorry Mike and I are the only ones.

Dave

Not the only ones. I use the Honda tools too -- mainly because that's what I have.

cross wrote:I have motion pro toll as well. It works just fine, just make sure it is centered between the buckets otherwise it may slip and if it does while you are trying to take out or put in new shim, it's difficult to take out, ask me how i know!
I got my shims on Ebay form a guy in Canada who gave me special price because of this forum. I think that they were around $5 each. I can try to find his Ebay name if you need.
Since it's your first time doing this, here are few things that I've learned while adjusting my valves and I've done it twice so far.
1. When taking the shims out, before compressing the bucket, turn the bucket to where slit is in the way that you can slide in small screw driver to pop shim up and after that magnet works well on taking it out, tried long tweezers but magnet works much better.
2. It takes a bit of practice to get the cam lobes to where you want them to be so that you can do the checking. Go by the manual, it makes things quicker. Just watch the valve that you are closing, while rotating crank, watch the tip of the lob compressing the shim and the bucket, once the bucket stops going down, that's where you want it to be and ideally, that should be top of the lobe on the center of the shim.
3. Also try to find a syringe to suck out the oil behind the oil plates this way it doesn't drip all over front of the engine. Oil plate removal only necessary if you are to remove shims not needed for checking clearances.
4. Also a small dish to collect oil underneath the crank cover where you will be rotating the engine and only rotate the engine forward or clockwise on the crank.
5. Make sure that the shim is in the bucket all the way, sitting completely flat, before releasing the bucket,
6. Don't forget to manually adjust your cam chains, there was a nice write up recently
7. Once done and oil plates are in place, pour a bit of oil in so that the lobes are wet
8. You will need little bit of gasket maker or gasket seal for the edges of the valve cover side caps, the one that doesn't harden
9. If your gaskets and valve cover rubbers are of unknown age, i would recommend replacing them, same goes for the side crank cover
10. If you have oil leak on the front cam chain adjuster screw, there is a seal in there that needs replacing, this is the time to do it


Ask plenty questions, If you are not 100% sure, keep on asking. I've learned a lot from guys on this forum

Good luck

Sasha

That kicked ass.

I agree that MP tool is kind of clumsy and it ges the job done only you have to be careful. Like I said in my previous post, few times the tool slipped while I was either pulling shim out or putting it back in and shim got jammed. It took some playing to get it out. But if you do this often or for work, you need professional tool like the one Honda has.
I've never used Hondas tool but I'm sure it's perfect and I'll be looking out for one. I put 7k miles on my bike since I bought it two years ago and I've done valve adjustment twice, having the right tool is important to get the job done properly and efficiently.

Hi,

I prefer the Honda / OEM tool - it just seems to be more reliable (and just as quick to use). The MP style of tool (other vendors sell similar tools) doesn't always hold the lifters in place and can slip which can cause problems.

Paul.

I have the Honda set and they seem easy enough for me to use.

Cheers
Chris J.

I have a new gasket and Yamabond, Oil sucker device, magnet reach thingy all ready to go.
I Have to say that this forum is the best place for anything CBX. Invaluable insight and local knowledge goes a long way when doing a project like this.

Sasha

Thanks for the invaluable insight. Everything you stated will save me some "wonder if" time. Thanks again!

Larry

I went ahead and bought the MP tool anyway for $12.95. I plan on using it as a backup tool for now

Dave

As always, your opinion is held in high regard. The OEM tool set is the primary with the MP as backup.

Nils

Thanks for the backup opinion on the OEM tool. I have a lot more confidence in the OEM tool.

jnnngs & Joner

Thanks as well.