Kawasaki Concours C14 1400GTR Valve Check Part 2.1 - checking clearances

 I put together a page with the details I've gleaned from COG's documentation and the shop manual to keep track of my measurements. I've got two sets of feeler guages because I'm suspicious like that and always want a second opinion. It's particularly important in this case because having to go back in there again if a mistake is made isn't (at all) what I want to do.

With cylinder one top dead centre (TDC) and the cams both pointing out to offer access for the guages, I had a go at number one cylinder yesterday.

Cams up and out on cylinder one (left side of motor) - it took me a few turns of the engine to get it lined up right and start getting good measurements. It doesn't hurt to do this two or three times so you're sure the came is at maximum gap and you're getting good numbers.

This cover on the lower right side of the engine is removed with 8mm bolts. It's a 17mm M8 that you throw a big rachet on and turn the engine. Direction of travel is noted on the timing wheel as are marks for TDC for cylinders 1 and 4. You can do half the valves with C1 TDC and the other half with C4 TDC.

Cam timing cover came off with minimal fuss and just a drop of oil.

My suspicion of cheaply made tools causes me to have backups. In this case the tappered ones are metric first and offer a finer degree between fits.

I'll do the rest today. As many said it would be, Cylinder one appears tight. Exhaust valves should have between 0.19-0.24mm of clearance. I can just get a 0.18 in there and the 0.203 wouldn't fit in either cylinder one or two's exhaust valves.

Ran the propane heater for 20 minutes before getting started. Made for a much more comfrotable experience.

Keeping things in order - the valve cover bolts numbered and in their 'custom' holder.
 

With the forray into 'vintage' motorcycles last year my sockets were muddied with imperial and whitworth bits. They've been relegated to a lower drawer. I think I'm sticking with metric bikes for the forseable future. If I take another dive into vintage it'll be when I'm retired and have the time to navigate all the complexities. 

Kawasaki Concours C14 1400GTR Valve Check Part 1 - getting in there

It took 2 sessions about about 5 hours to get
to the point where I can actually remove the
valve cover and check clearances.

This is not the work of an afternoon. To get into the valves on a C14 takes patience. In addition to the advice about staying organized and documenting the process, I'd suggest a 'move the ball down the field' approach. As long as you get a bit more done each time you'll get there, but don't be in a rush and expect to have to come back multiple times. With this approach I didn't get as frustrated as I sometimes do in the garage. It being the middle of Canadian winter with no chance to ride any time soon helps too. Nothing stresses me out more than watching one of my few riding opportunities each year pass me by because I don't have a bike ready to go (though I hope the Tiger is).

I'm finally at a point where I can actually remove the valve cover. I won't lie. Yesterday as I was wrestling the air suction valve gear out of the ridiculously tight space I was wondering who the masochist was who designed this and had a little day dream about cold cocking them.

It's cold in the garage when it's double digits minus outside, even with the heater on, so hand cramps were an issue as I worked stuck fasteners loose. Whoever was last in there tightened the frame bolts well past spec, and even the small bolts holding in the air suction valves were a fight, having to be turned out a quarter turn at a time with a hex key.

Here's the order of operations so far:

Getting Cylinder Head Cover Access

Fairings

I've been into them before for various reasons. They're complicated, but came off with a minimal of swearing.

Once I had them all off access to the valve cover became seeable, but so is the mad amount of plumbing that surrounds them. Getting the fairings off is the tip of the iceberg on this job.

Frame connectors

There are some easy to get ones that you can remove once the fairings are off. 12mm bolts and a 5mm hex that connect the motor to the back and front of the frame. Whenever you think that's enough, Kawasaki Heavy Industries overengineered another piece. This thing really is built like a nuclear sub.

With those off I took the coolant reserve tank out of the way (two 10mm bolts). So far I've gotten deep into this with just 10 and 12mm sockets and 5mm hex bolts (not counting all the fasteners on the fairings). The mechanical fasteners are considerately consistent (unlike Triumphs). I'm going to have to source other fairing fasteners as the cheapo Amazon ones I got all broke when removed.

There are two more frame connectors (because more of everything was how the Conours was designed), one on each side and held in by two 12mm bolts and a 5mm hex bolt. Whoever did these last tightened them to within an inch of their lives, but I got them out. The three fasteners are visible once you've got the fairings off, but once you've got them out the piece itself needs to be slid out from the plastic radiator shroud. I've been warming things up with the heat gun to prevent cracking as I bend plastic and rubber things.

The right side one is easy to access and if you've taken the fairings off, easy to remove. The pipe you see left of the top arrow is the air suction system. Getting that out is a right *@&#er.

The left side one not so much. Note the heat gun blowing warm air on the rubbers and plastics to make things easier to remove (helps with the electrical connectors too of which there are many).

With the frame pieces off it was a matter of removing the pipes and connectors that crowd the top of the valve cover. It's tight in there and even disconnecting electrical components was a real struggle with my non-Japanese sized hands.

You can't fit a 3/8 rachet and bit in that gap, so the air suction valve covers (which you can't even see in this because they're  buried under piles of electronics, coolant pipes and anything else they could stuff in there), need to be removed with tiny quarter turns with a 5mm hex key. Take your time, try not to get frustrated. You eventually get in there.

The ultimate goal it to get the rubber cover over the top of the engine out of the way.

First look at the valve cover, but lots of other gubbins have to come out before I could get that rubber cover folded out of the way.

Air Suction Valve

This consists of a rubber hose going up into the airbox above and connecting not one but two air suction valves (more is always better, right?). These are held in by 5mm hex bolts that nasty to get out - so nasty that I'm heading out to Canadian Tire to look at low profile rachet options (the 3/8 bit on the rachet won't fit in there and doing these by hands is painful).

With the air suction valve(s) - there are (of course) two of them, out you can see the cover, but that cam sensor in the middle of this pic has to come out too (8mm bolt holding it it).

Cylinder Head Cover Removal

• Remove fairings
• Remove Air Suction Valve (see Air Suction Valve Removal)
• Stick Coils (see Stick Coil Removal in the Electrical System chapter)

The stick coils for the spark plugs are in there tight too and require some careful convincing to come out. I'm probably the first person in here certainly since the bike started getting underused ten years ago and possibly ever.

With the Inlet Camshaft Position Sensor removed the valve cover was finally free and came off (out the right side) revealing the fantastically complicated top end.

Next up will be turning the engine around with a rachet and getting an idea of where the valves are in terms of clearances.

Triumph Tiger 955i Valve Clearance Check

I just measured the valve clearances on the Tiger.  They're supposed to be checked every 20,000kms, I've put 27k on it since I've had it and who knows when they were done previously, so this was well past due.

Getting to the valves isn't that problematic since I've gotten gas tank removals down to under 10 minutes while I try and trace down this frustrating inability to idle.  Here are the numbers:

Cylinder             Intake                     Exhaust
      1         .13mm & .10mm       .20mm & .23mm
      2         .13mm & .10mm       .20mm & .20mm
      3         .13mm & .10mm       .20mm & .23mm

Intakes are supposed to be 0.10-0.15mm, so they're all within spec.  Exhausts are supposed to be gapped at  0.15 to 0.20mm, so a couple are on the cusp, though they're a tight 0.23mm (you have to push the spacer in there like you mean it - the .2mm is still snug, just not as).

Turning the engine with the rear wheel in top gear was pretty easy - don't grab the spokes, use the tire, you get more torque and it turns pretty easily.  As you turn the back wheel you get the cams pointing up, which is when you check clearances by sliding a feeler gauge under the cam and above the shim.

This Spurtar 32 blade feeler gauge from Amazon is a nicely made thing that offered me a full range of tapered ends that covered what I needed for checking valve clearances on this 955i Triumph Tiger. 

With the Tiger's timing pretty much to spec valve clearance wise, it suggests that my intermittent stalling problem isn't related to valve clearances.  Working on older bikes (and watching Car S.O.S.) has me well aware of what fails on older vehicles:  RUBBER!  Perished rubbers are Tim's go-to in Car S.O.S. when it comes to restoring an old vehicle - this Tim is thinking that's the issue with this 17 year old Tiger too.

I spent today putting things back together and double checking everything.  The vacuum system that feeds the idle control wasn't plugged in 1-2-3 (I had it 1-3-2).  That's something stupid enough that it might be the culprit.  At this point I don't care what it is, I just want the bike to idle to the point where I can depend on it to not stall on me and leave me hanging.

If I get it all back together and find that I'm still stuck with an intermittent stall I'm going to start systemically replacing all the rubbers in it.  Doing a deep cleaning on the fuel injectors is an idea too.  I ran into an old guy at Canadian Tire who swore by Sea Foam for cleaning fuel systems, so I got a can.  I've got some in the Tiger tank for the rebuild which will hopefully be done by tomorrow.  In a perfect world the Tiger will be back to normal and I can go after the valves in the winter if I'm so inclined.  If it's still stalling out on me, It'll be a perished rubber hunt next.

I'm already on it, replacing things as I find them...

It seemed like an extraneous expense when I got this set from our local NAPA auto parts shop, but having o-ring replacements at hand saves a lot of waiting.

A very shiny valve cover going back together again.  10Nm is all you tighten the valve cover down to.

Replacing the o-rings at the fuel inputs (I replaced the original terrible plastic ones with these aeronautically sound stainless steel ones shortly after getting the Tiger). 

I was hoping to get it all together, but I'm fabricating rubber grommets and trying to look into details as I go, so this is as far as I got in the 35°C heat.