Valve Clearances

Teabag_Terry2 · 14 Jun 2017 at 09:47

Hi does anyone have any idea how much it should cost to get the valve clearances done on a Yamaha R1?

I'm getting crazy quotes of over £400.

Fireskull · 14 Jun 2017 at 11:15

A check I think should be around £150 but if there is any shims that need changing.... then £400 is quite likely.

famas · 14 Jun 2017 at 19:06

Yeah like fireskull says a valve adjustment will be more probably around the 3-4 hundred mark. A valve check should be much cheaper. Trouble is you won't know if they need adjusting until they are checked so you could be in for a big bill.

A haynes manual is all of 15 quid and checking valves is pretty straight forward.

Freeman · 14 Jun 2017 at 20:09

It's a big job and if you don't know what you're doing it can go pretty badly. £400 just for adjustments is pretty steep though. I think mine cost me £200.

I know my way around a bike but it's not something I'd tackle one weekend.

One · 14 Jun 2017 at 20:29

Very simple on your Bonnie. On an R1 you've got the faff of taking off fairings. Probably taking the tank off too. It's certainly an easy job to do yourself over a weekend though.

I'm quite surprised that the cost goes from 150 to 400. Unless the latest bikes are wildly different to mine then if you can check the valve clearances you can adjust them with very little extra work.

Freeman · 14 Jun 2017 at 21:13

Nah you still need to take the tank off the Bonnie and on the 2013 there's a clamp that needs replacing if you take it off the tank. Pain in the ass.

I do everything else on my bike it's just the valve checks that seem not worth my time considering my weekends are precious to me!

(it's also my commuter so I wouldn't want to break it for Monday!)

Diddums · 14 Jun 2017 at 21:35

Don't forget than on am R1 you have the faff of draining / filling the coolant as well.

.one. · 14 Jun 2017 at 22:14

I have all ways done mine and friends for the past 25 years or so.

Fireskull · 15 Jun 2017 at 10:36

Diddums said:
Don't forget than on am R1 you have the faff of draining / filling the coolant as well.

Do you actually? how come?

Dogbreath · 17 Jun 2017 at 10:29

Fireskull said:
Do you actually? how come?

Not worked on one but perhaps the radiator is in the way of the cam cover and has to be removed?

famas · 17 Jun 2017 at 10:30

In most cases you can just unbolt them and move them slightly out of the way.

Diddums · 17 Jun 2017 at 11:23

Fireskull said:
Do you actually? how come?

Dogbreath said:
Not worked on one but perhaps the radiator is in the way of the cam cover and has to be removed?

Excuse my stupidity, it seems I was wrong. Never mind me!

Captain · 17 Jun 2017 at 11:25

Honda quoted my dad £450 for the 16k service which is the valve check, that's just a check though.

Yaayuh! · 17 Jun 2017 at 13:32

I've got the valve clearance coming up in a couple of months too. I'm expecting a bit of a dent.

Teabag_Terry2 · 23 Jun 2017 at 23:05

Bugger it, I'm just gonna sell the bike, I've got too many anyway =)

Scythe · 25 Jun 2017 at 17:42

It's not a massively difficult job but can depends on the bike. Done it on my 03 GSXR750 and 01 600 easily, but then managed to slip the cam timing on my 05 ZX6R and I'm now in for an engine rebuild to replace the valves. On the 05 6R, the frame is right in the way of the timing marks so you have to drop the engine just to see it properly.

Teabag_Terry2 · 28 Jun 2017 at 22:26

I'm really ****** off about having to spend £400+ having the valves done on my R1 which is worth £2500.

tom_e · 29 Jun 2017 at 05:57

Don't do it then, do it yourself, or shop around some more. I had a place quote me around £500 for a valve clearance check on a bike probably worth about £1.5k at best, got it down to about £200 in the end but still never got around to it.

Teabag_Terry2 · 7 Jul 2017 at 17:49

Considering the low value of the bike, and the huge cost of having the valve clearances done, I am going to gamble to just not having them done.

What's the absolute worst that could happen?

tom_e · 7 Jul 2017 at 19:11

You lunch the engine.