2006 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom

[herbie]

2LZ, I'm interested in how you like the 14 tooth sprocket. I was on the fence about 14 or 15 and went stock with the 15. It suits me pretty well.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by herbie

2LZ, I'm interested in how you like the 14 tooth sprocket. I was on the fence about 14 or 15 and went stock with the 15. It suits me pretty well.

Considering I rarely hit 60 and only in short bursts, the 14 rocks for where I ride.

Here she is after some TLC.

[2LZ]

This makes the "difficult RX3 valve adjustment" look like child's play. Sheesh...
Waiting for my shims to come in......

[herbie]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

This makes the "difficult RX3 valve adjustment" look like child's play. Sheesh...
Waiting for my shims to come in......

Dang, you are more meticulous than I am and I thought I was OCD! Good on you for taking such good care of your machines! Part of the fun for me and motorcycling is the maintenance, it's almost therapeutic.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

This makes the "difficult RX3 valve adjustment" look like child's play. Sheesh...
Waiting for my shims to come in......

It's the trade off. Cam on bucket style setups are a bit more time consuming due to having to figure out what shim size you need and then waiting for them to come in.

The upside is, they don't usually need correction as often. Japanese manufacturers tend to be conservative with their valve checks, often stating every 16k miles, but the actual need to make an adjustment is easily past 30k in most instances.

[herbie]

Originally Posted by Megadan

The upside is, they don't usually need correction as often. Japanese manufacturers tend to be conservative with their valve checks, often stating every 16k miles, but the actual need to make an adjustment is easily past 30k in most instances.

I knew there was a reason I didn't get to the valve check yet, I just didn't know what it was!

My bike only has 18k miles on it so I'm probably good but plan on tackling it some time later in the year

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by herbie

I knew there was a reason I didn't get to the valve check yet, I just didn't know what it was!

My bike only has 18k miles on it so I'm probably good but plan on tackling it some time later in the year

Dan makes a good point regarding the valve styles. The bucket/shim setups are more stable for the longer haul, albeit vastly more time consuming and technical to service.

The scary part is my bike ran perfectly....with a rear exhaust valve that had zero lash and probably never closed all the way.

Herbie, this article was a WEALTH of information (linked to me from Gert @ Stromtroopers) and will save you tons of heartache with the tensioners, especially the rear cylinder. Feel free to bookmark it for future reference.

https://www.circlenz.co.nz/Library/s...and-adjustment

[herbie]

Thanks 2LZ! That looks like a good article, I put it in my favorites and will use it. I read on stomtroopers about what you found on your check, that's crazy. I'm like you as I have adjusted many many screw type valve lash adjusters and this would be my first bucket style check. I'm not afraid to tackle it as I've done lots of mechanical repairs over my 60 years