and boy are the exhaust lash adjusters hard to get to. It took me three hours (with breaks) to take the head cover off (after moving the radiator, coils and removing the front engine mount ) and get those set. The intakes took all of 20 minutes.

All of the valves were tight - could not get the feelers between the cam and the tappet :eek:. I set them at the loose end of the adjustment range.

Filled the float bowls and fired it up and ta-da it started and seemed to like the adjustment. Nice and smooth with no valve train noise. Next I'll sync the carbs and good to go for another 6000.

Jeff

Good Job Jeff. I took mine in and had the valves done cause I am SURE I would have punched someone in the face before completion.... Glad you had the Patience! :)

My cover is off now and all mine are on the tight side at 500 miles too. I'm thinking about all four of those exhaust valve adjusters and scratching my head...not a job to do without coffee or alcohol involved!:eek:

John, I really think a beer would have helped even more - except I wouldn't trust my work as much!

The worst part was stressing about dropping a socket or something down into the bowels of the engine. I actually tied my feeler gauges to a string and had a big tie-strip tied to the other end. That set up came in handy as I could hang it on the bars and have it at the ready all the time.

The worst part was stressing about dropping a socket or something down into the bowels of the engine.

Just stuff a paper towel between the cam chains.

My bike is at 18,000 miles and needs the valves checked / adjusted but I don't know if I have the patients to do it like I used to. My dealer did a great job last time and the price wasn't bad.

Adjusting the valves definitely isn't that difficult to do, but you do need to set time aside for it as you don't want to rush yourself and screw everything up.

I love the fact that this bike is so ridiculously easy to work on.

Yes imagine the words as my 9mm rachet bit rattled down the cam chain galley! It was binding and pulling off the ratchet extension and I would just pull it off with needle nose pliers and of course it slipped on the final Right side intake. Thank heaven for that little magnet on the end of an extension thingie!! Will surely stuff a rag down there next time eh?

My dealer did a great job last time and the price wasn't bad.

Snake - How much did it cost to have it done?

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I'm going to be doing mine in the next week or so. I'm not too excited about it, but it will be an adventure. I'll take it nice and slow.

I'm going to be doing mine in the next week or so. I'm not too excited about it, but it will be an adventure. I'll take it nice and slow.

Go here (http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_do_I_adjust_the_valves%3F) for reference. Read all the articles a few times and get everything ready in advance of actually doing the job.

Definitely block out enough time to do the job.

be sure and put a rag or something in the cam chain galley! I had fun fishing out a small socket with a magnet!

When I do mine, I set aside 2 days. One to take everything apart. The second day to adjust the valves and put everything together.

That way, I'm fresh when doing the actual adjustment.

But I also have 2 250's in the garage (mine and my wife's) so I still get to ride when working on one :D