Triumphrat

wrh49 · 01-24-2009, 12:25 PM

I'm afraid I'm in the need for a valve job on my 1999 Legend. OEM parts alone (BikeBandit) look like about $1200.00. Does anyone out there know of a cheaper way to go about this?

Gdsila · 01-24-2009, 10:13 PM

do you need to replace your valves or just check the clearances?

Woody1911a1 · 01-24-2009, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrh49

I'm afraid I'm in the need for a valve job on my 1999 Legend. OEM parts alone (BikeBandit) look like about $1200.00. Does anyone out there know of a cheaper way to go about this?

why do you think this ?

denny · 01-25-2009, 12:36 AM

I've heard the term "Valve Job" used when it should be described as Valve Clearance Adjustment. Years ago valve job always meant new valve guides, grind/replace the valve seats, new valves where needed, and new springs and keepers.

I am not sure how much a dealer charges for valve clearance adjustment, but it is very straight forward if you have some mechanical acumen.

Did a service department somewhere tell you you needed a valve job? Maybe they meant Valve Clearance Adjustment?

Give us a little more detail and someone will be able to help more. If the bike has more than 15K miles or so and the valve clearances have never been checked/adjusted it is possible that you have one or more burnt valve seats and then a valve job could be necessary.

Triumph maintenance schedule for Valve adjustment was originally every 6K miles. But later in the production run they modified that to 6K then every 12K after the initial check..

KD5QOQ · 01-26-2009, 10:34 AM

The parts are in fact expensive.
I hope you don't really need a valve job since the labor will be high also.
I don't think anyone like Kibblewhite makes aftermarket valves for our bikes.
In the old days valves could be renewed by cutting the seats and relapping (if they weren't that bad) but the new four stroke technology doesn't allow for that anymore.
Good luck and keep us posted.

KD5QOQ · 01-26-2009, 01:48 PM

Kibblewhite does in fact make valves for our bikes. Not sure how the pricing will compare.
http://www.blackdiamondvalves.com/default.htm

wrh49 · 01-26-2009, 02:20 PM

Thanks for the feedback -This bike has 50K+ miles on the clock. I did the valve clearance adjustment thing + some new shims on the intake valves about 3 mths ago. That took care of the problem ( only ran on 2 clyinders until engine got hot then 3rd cylinder kicked in & ran fine) but Now it's started doing the exact same thing again. That's what makes me think that the entire valve train needs to be dealt with.

KD5QOQ · 01-26-2009, 02:48 PM

I would check the clearances again to make sure that it is/was valve related.

denny · 01-27-2009, 12:16 AM

Compression check.

KD5QOQ · 01-27-2009, 06:30 AM

Doh! Why didn't I think of that?!