Valve adjustment

I haven't had my bike serviced in about 10K miles. I called to schedule an appt with my mechanic, who asked about the valves, and it looks like it was about 30K miles ago last adjustment. I'll double-check my records. Anyway, he said something like 7 hours of labor for the valves (well, it takes SacMike 10 to change his headlights, but he's not a professional after all). I'm thinking 7 x $95/hr = ~$700, and that doesn't include other 8K work. Am I about to get scalped???? (Maybe we need a NORCAL tech day where someone can "show" me how to do it, and I'll drink beer.)

JB,

7 hours (for a pro) is way too long, even for a re-shim. And he didn't even give you a different price for a check vs. an adjust, which makes me suspicious.

This is one maintenance that is definitely worth learning to do for yourself because it is almost all labor cost. And just think how much closer you'll feel to the machine after a few quality hours of TLC.

Sounds high to me. I just had mine done with two needing shims & it cost me $250 which I know is on the low end. Others have said that $350-$400 is about normal.

Mine were done at my local bike shop by the same Tech who has done all my service. I was charged $235.00. Two exhaust valves were slightly out of adjustment.

Tech installed four new plugs, new coolant, O-Rings, lubed all levers and pivots, checked and cleaned air filter, inspected cams and indicated they looked almost new, disconnected windshield auto-retract connection and checked battery. Total labor was $282.50 and parts were $38.32. $30.00 tax brought the total to $351.30 compared to your quote.

Keep going!

Sounds way high to me. I haven't done a lot of them but have done a handfull and it doesn't take that long if you have the shims if you need them. The last time on mine, I checked with the dealer in Bend and they had shims so I tore into it. Needed two shims on the exhaust side so off to the dealer with shims and micrometer in hand. The blank stare from the parts guy told me all I needed to know. After I left he knew a few things about his ancestry that he didn't know before our conversation.

Got back to the shop and got out the surface plate. fortunately I needed thinner shims so I started lapping shims and two hours later I had removed .002" from the old shims and was ready for assy. Job done and I still had less than the 7 hours you are talking about.

Go find another wrench. I hear good things about Roseville and I'm sure MM2 would be glad to buy your lunch while you are there.

Gotta agree with everyone else JB. Normal time is about four hours labor at whatever the prevailing rate is. Perhaps the Tech is figuring lunch, breaks and time for his afternoon latte...

Take a look at FJR Tech and and see how easy checking the valves is. It only gets interesting if one needs adjustment.

Good luck!

--G

+1 with everyone, way too high..I would not trust that dealer with checking the air in my tires.

Well Hans, Figure $80 to $90 for beer, $50 for assorted munchies, A few bucks for parts..

$700.00 seems rather high.

But.....

When you factor in the mental anguish, the potential damage to your relationship with your kin folk, brought on by hosting a bunch of Loonies for a few days.. :blink:

I dunno. Seven hundred might be cheap after all...

Last time mine needed the valve check/adjust (2 exhaust IIRC) my independant mechanic charged me 4 hours ($300) and that included a CCT change out. Just about $400 with price of CCT included.

James, based on our recent tech day, my guess also is a competent mechanic should be able to do the check in about 4 hrs. including shim changes if necessary.

Key word: competent mechanic.

IIRC, I paid around $400 and it needed a couple adjusted. Still, amortized over 28k-30k miles.....and it is NOT something I feel competent to do. Other minor tune-ups like plugs, balancing injectors, changing stators, etc., are one thing, but for me, tearing into the engine and getting the timing correct...not so much.

Hans, you might give Ray a call, or call Roseville to get an estimate for comparison.

Thanks for all the great advice. I'm gonna look some more into alternatives.... Didn't even know my bike had valves. Next time I'm getting a valveless motorcycle. Better yet, one without an engine.

Picked up my '05 from PCW in Schenectady, NY last night. They're mainly V Max guru's but work on other hi-perf bikes too.

New bike to me but with 30K figured it was time to set a baseline so I had them do:

-Valve lash check (all intake & exhaust valves dead nuts in the middle of the tolerance range)...valve covers not previously removed.

-TBS (#3...I think it was) needed a small adjustment)

-Compression check (#1 & #2 @ 215, #3 @ 205, #4 @ 210)

-Replace CCT(which I furnished)

-New plugs, check & clean air filter, overall eyeball condition assessmant

Total....$450

John (owner) took it for a test ride and couldn't say enough about the ergos, handling, clutch, brakes, etc....he loved the FJR, was very impressed with and will seriously consider buying one so he and wifey can do a little 'get-away' cruising.

Danny,

Nice score on the best year FJR.

You were smart to take care of all the unknown stuff now because once you get riding this summer, you're not going to want to stop. Sounds like you must have been "reading up" before you made your purchase.

Now get that thing off that trailer (what a disgraceful avatar picture! ) and onto the road!!

Fred W said:

Danny,

Nice score on the best year FJR.

You were smart to take care of all the unknown stuff now because once you get riding this summer, you're not going to want to stop. Sounds like you must have been "reading up" before you made your purchase.

Now get that thing off that trailer (what a disgraceful avatar picture! ) and onto the road!!

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Haha....Fred, when yer right, yer right!! How's this one? (even tho I forgot to put the bags on!)

Funny thing happened on the way to the photo-shoot...well, actually after I got back. That little lake is about 10 miles from my house but when I got back home there was over 130 miles on the trip meter!! Anybody else run into this, is it peculiar to the '05's only....what's going on, odo-warp, FJR black hole?? :blink:

Oh yes. :yahoo: That looks much better. Whew!!

And it took you no time at all to find the biggest weakness in these bikes. They must somehow violate the time/space continuum because every time I ride mine I lose track of time for hours, sometimes days, at a time and always seem to end up far away from where I started.

Fred W said:

Oh yes. :yahoo: That looks much better. Whew!!

And it took you no time at all to find the biggest weakness in these bikes. They must somehow violate the time/space continuum because every time I ride mine I lose track of time for hours, sometimes days, at a time and always seem to end up far away from where I started.

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Whew!! I was afraid it was just me....feel much better now!!

Now if I can just wake up some morning on the west end of the Kancamangus all will be well in the universe!

Mine is in the shop now. I delayed my valves until 30k. My riding buddy, same year bike, same mileage, reported that his valves were fine as well.

I did have a fairly significant issue with some kind of oil breather valves or something. Still waiting for the bill and details of what was wrong.

Still less $$ than my BMW. I was going to the shop 4x a year. A shop bill of 4-$600 really isnt that painful when only once every 2 years! :yahoo:

GillaFunk said:

A shop bill of 4-$600 really isnt that painful when only once every 2 years! :yahoo:

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Speak for yourself. I need to get mine done every 9-10 months. At $644.82 it hurts.

Here's the breakdown from my valve adjustment from two weeks ago:

5.4 hours of labor @$78/hr. Two valves re-shimmed.

Almost $200 in parts: Coolant, plugs, gaskets, o-rings, grommets.

'Shop fee' - $12

Sales tax - $15.

Owie.

I REALLY need to learn to do this myself.