Triumphrat

Flaco · 07-24-2008

Took my 05 Bonneville to the dealer for a 12,000 mile service and valve clearance adjustment. Bike ran perfect before. I bought it used May 5th w/ 7,000 miles and have logged 5,000 miles since.
No top end noise until I picked it up!!! Now it's F!@#%d-up!!!
NOISY VALVE NOISE!!!
I was going to do the job myself however they (the dealer) wouldn't sell me shims! Said I would have to order them... Should have ordered a shim kit, if available, and done it myself!

OK now, they told me the intake should be...
006 - 008
My Haynes says...
0.15 - 0.20 mm

They say Exhaust...
0.10 - 0.12
My Haynes says..
0.25 - 0.30

I'm taking it back to them tomorrow loaded for bear!!!
Please chime in with the correct valve clearance for my dearly beloved '05 790 Bonnie. Tors, jets, A&I X, K&N air, no Snorkle...

My clearances B4 adjustment were...
Intake 0.11 - 0.12 range
Exhaust 0.14 - 0-15 range
Plenty of power, no noise, nice sound...

Now lack of power, lot's of noise and exhaust sound diminished!!!

The only other thing they found was my rear brake pad is thin...
Duh! I knew that! I had already ordered tires and pads on line...

Thanks,

Flaco

ohiorider · 07-24-2008

Flaco - if you're talking mm vs mm when you discuss your readings vs Haynes recommendations, and:
Haynes recommends .15 .20 for the intakes and you were at.11 .12 - you were too tight
Haynes recommends .25 .30 for the exhausts and you were at .14 .15 - you were too tight
No wonder the top end was quiet. I adjusted mine to the Haynes (Triumph) specs, and my engine top end makes lots of tappet noise, just not quite as much as when the clearances were too wide before reshimming. Bike now has almost 30000 miles on it and no valve trouble, and good performance .... almost 10k since reshimming August of 2007.

I used the published conversion factor (.03937) to convert mm to inch, and here's what I came up with:
.15mm = .0059 inch (or round up to .006")
.20mm = .0078 inch (or round up to .008")
.25mm = .0098 inch (or round up to .010")
.30mm = .0118 inch (or round up to .012")

So if your dealer used thousands of an inch instead of hundreths of a mm, their math appears correct. They're talking thousands of an inch, Haynes gives you the clearance in .mm.

However, because their math is correct doesn't mean they properly adjusted the valves.

So, I can't support your conclusions about the dealer's use of inches vs mm, and have no idea if they screwed up your bike or not. Wish I could be more helpful.

Good luck.

Bob

Flaco · 07-24-2008

Thanks Bob,
I will take any and all info back to the dealer tomorrow...
Just wonder why all other Twins I have heard and rode with are not as noisy as mine after a valve job?
I too, converted mm to inch after posting...
I even fired up a T100 right next to mine and said "this is how it supposed to sound" as mine did when I brought it in.
Just don't want to burn valves and loose power and milage...
I'll see what the dealer says tomorrow..
Best regards,
Flaco

Flaco · 07-24-2008

Oh yeah Bob, et al,

I forgot to mention that I dropped it off at 9:00 a.m. and picked it up at 2:00 p.m.
Was it too hot? Not cool enough? The Haynes says let cool over night B4 adjustment!
Would this be a factor for adjustment accuracy?
Just a thought...

Flaco...

CAPTDON · 07-24-2008

As I have said before: If they dont do a good disco rythm steady@ 12000 mi- dont F- w;/ them. If worried about being "too tight" -check the compression. If it aint broke- dont fix it!
Triumph has altered their rec's on valves from 10k - 12k - to 16k now I think? Mine sound like normal Bonne valves - not quiet, but no rythm either. @ 12000 mi - I will do a comp test if their is no reg rythm to them. Then take it evrery 6 mo?

ohiorider · 07-24-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flaco

Oh yeah Bob, et al,

I forgot to mention that I dropped it off at 9:00 a.m. and picked it up at 2:00 p.m.
Was it too hot? Not cool enough? The Haynes says let cool over night B4 adjustment!
Would this be a factor for adjustment accuracy?
Just a thought...

Flaco...

It's a good thought, but I don't know how cool an engine has to actually be before one should do the valve check. I always check mine in the am after it is parked all night. I did have a BMW dealer in the Pittsburgh area several years ago who would first drain the oil on my K bike, position a couple of large fans blowing over the engine, and do all the other work, saving the valve clearance check until last. Never a problem with this bike's valves over 65000 miles.

Bob

RedBird · 07-24-2008

If it were me, I would measure the valve clearances tomorrow morning BEFORE taking it back to the dealer--only takes me about an hour to do this and I am SLOW.

I am not surprised that a mechanic on this side of the pond uses thousands of inches instead of mm. I have yet to find feeler gauges manufactured in mm (I don't count the ones manufactured in inches with the mm conversion stamped on them--they are worthless, IMHO). Also, I have not found any torque wrenches manufactured for Nm--just the inch-pound and foot-pound ones with a Nm chart on the opposite side of the handle--takes longer to use the Nm scale on these than to convert to inch or foot pounds and use the wrench for what it was designed for, IMHO.

Flaco · 07-24-2008

Thanks Larry!
I would do that, however I am a surface miner that leaves to work at 4:00 a.m. on my ride...
I thank you, and I will take your printed response along tomorrow to the dealer with all the others posts...
It all sounds so simple, but I got to keep my machine 'Top Notch'...
Best,
Allin...

PAAS · 07-25-2008

Personally, if I got a dealer to check my valve clearances, I would expect them to ask me to bring the bike in the night before (or in a truck/trailer) so the motor was stone cold when they did the job. If the motor has been run within a few hours of them checking the clearances they will probably get false readings. My experience of these engines is that there normally tends to be a fair bit of noise from the top end, especially when compared to water-cooled multis.

mrt202 · 07-25-2008

I've always adjusted mine using .006-.008 for intake and .010-.012 for exhaust. It's a little noisy, to the point of being normal.
BTW, a bad valve job is when you take the cams out to adjust the valves and put them back in 180* out of phase with the crank. Ask me how I know! But hey, there's no better excuse to do a BB than when you have a hole in a piston and 4 bent/broken valves.LOL

Always,Always take your time and pay attention when adjusting the valves!