Do it myself, or pay for it? (Valve Shim and Jet Kit)
 

So it is about time to get the valve shim adjustment done, and I recently purchased a Factory Pro Ti Jet Kit from another forum member here..

So I called the local expert - recommended by everyone shop. They are a $75/hour shop (not too bad) and said that just the valve shim would be ~$250 with the jet kit about two more hours on top of that. Or just the Jet Kit being about 3 hours total. So $225 for just the Jet Kit, or $475 for both.

Now I prefer to save money when possible, but don't want to end up totally frustrated with a non functioning bike either.

So.. How hard are these two jobs (and yes from the sound of the engine I will need some valve shims installed, not just a checkup this time) and should I do one or both of them myself?

edit: FYI, I do have a garage to work in and have done APE ccts and a fork swap myself. (doing brakes again this weekend and clutch MC soon too, none of that scares me)

Thanks!

If you can do the CCTs, then the valve shim isn't hard. It's a little tedious making sure you don't lose the chain position, don't drop anything, and rotate the engine correctly.

I checked my front and rear clearance and then removed and reinstalled the stock shims seperately to get the size, then I ordered replacements online. In hindsight, I'd just buy the whole kit for $60 off ebay so the bike isn't down while waiting for parts. The local dealers should stock them too.

Let me know if you need help on picking shim sizes, I made a spreadsheet for it that does all the thinking for you.

Do it all yourself. I did CCTs, TPS, and a Dynojet kit last Monday and I probably had 4-5 hours labor into all of that. The kit came out perfect (on the 'ol butt dyno anyway) the first time, so that helped. But even if it hadn't, I've had the carbs & airbox off so many times now it wouldn't have taken much more to tune it.

The final step would be to syncronize the carbs.
Re-shimming valve buckets throws off the sync.

That's not true. The only thing that affects the sync is the carbs themselves - you are synchronizing the throttle plates to each other. You should sync the carbs every time they are removed. It's also a good idea to check/adjust every 5 years or so.

Well if I do the jet kit I will for sure have to sync the carbs..

Thanks for all the input! I think it would be good to learn to do this, I won't be tackling it this weekend as I have friends from out of town visiting for a week or so, but since it is approaching the not best riding season in Phoenix (spring and fall are our best time to ride with winter merely changing where you can go but summer is cooking the rider time) I think that this may be something I can do and take my time at.

Are YOU totally sure about that? lol
(ex honda service manager)
On the surface it would seem that way , BUT
Adjusting the valves does indeed upset the vaccuum balance between the cylinders. This is by virtue of the new clearances causing the aspiration pattern to shift btween cylinders.
It is even more pronounced on 4 cylinder engines.

You can always test this,if you dont beleive, its easy.
Sync the carbs of a bike needing its valves adjusted, before the valve adjustment. ( some geniuses actually do this when servicing )
Then do your Adjustment of valve clearances, And put the vaccuum guages back on the bike...
There you will see the change everytime.
And dont tell me its because you had to remove the carbs to adjust the valves. hehe
Opportunities for learning... everywhere!

Man, I love this forum! There's more knowledge here then I could learn in 100 years!

Lazn, it basically comes down to your time cuz you gots skills and how perfect you want the jetting results...if it were me I'd do the valves myself if I had time and pay for a dynotunner to do the jet kit on a dyno...RC