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nbilling · June 8th, 2015, 02:41 PM

Hi all, I recently bought my first bike (a used 88-07 Ninja 250) and decided I would do all of the maintenance on it myself, since I only paid $1000 for it and I have no idea what, if any, maintenance the previous owner did.

I rode the bike myself for several weeks before I decided to start working on it, to the office and just cruising around. Maybe 400 miles total, didn't notice any problems at all.

I picked valve clearance adjustment first because the ninja wiki said it should be done cold, and incredibly foolishly I thought I would have time on the day to do a bunch of jobs therefore I should do the one that required a cold engine first. Well, it turned out that I didn't finish the first adjustment for days and days.

In any case, when I finally finished and started the engine it made a terrible noise. I took the bike back apart and readjusted them (the first time I had mistaken the imperial markings on my feeler gauge for metric). This second time the engine sounded very healthy and I was quite proud of myself. I went for a 30 or so minute ride and life was good.

This morning I got on my bike and rode to work (again, about 30 minutes, but with more sitting in traffic), and about 400 yards from my office I took off from a stop sign and my engine started vibrating weirdly and making a funny sound. I got in and parked fine, but now I'm worried about riding home and about my ability to fix what's wrong.

I'm pretty sure that my valve adjustment is to blame, and just exploring my options I called a nearby mechanic and they estimated like $650 to $700 to adjust the valves so that sounds like a definite no-go on a $1000 bike.

Here is my best description of how the engine is being weird (I went for a very short ride at lunch to get food and try and work out what was wrong with the engine):
- Acceleration feels kind of bursty/unstable.
- Rolling off the throttle all the way, the revs dip down really far below idle before sputtering back up. The engine almost stalls (with the clutch all the way in, or even in neutral).
- There is kind of an overtone to the normal engine sound, it sounds kind of like someone typing a word on a typewriter. It will go something like half second of no sound, half second of typewriter sound, half second of no sound, half second of typewriter sound, etc.

The engine felt so good right after I adjusted the valves, I was sure that I had done it right. Is it possible that I didn't tighten something enough and they loosened over time? Am I going to do permanent damage to my valves if I ride home (about 12 miles) from work so I can attempt to check the valve clearances again?

June 8th, 2015, 02:41 PM	#1
nbilling ninjette.org member Name: nbilling Location: Kirkland, WA Join Date: Jun 2015 Motorcycle(s): 88-07 Ninja 250 Posts: 11	Valve clearance adjustment problem Hi all, I recently bought my first bike (a used 88-07 Ninja 250) and decided I would do all of the maintenance on it myself, since I only paid $1000 for it and I have no idea what, if any, maintenance the previous owner did. I rode the bike myself for several weeks before I decided to start working on it, to the office and just cruising around. Maybe 400 miles total, didn't notice any problems at all. I picked valve clearance adjustment first because the ninja wiki said it should be done cold, and incredibly foolishly I thought I would have time on the day to do a bunch of jobs therefore I should do the one that required a cold engine first. Well, it turned out that I didn't finish the first adjustment for days and days. In any case, when I finally finished and started the engine it made a terrible noise. I took the bike back apart and readjusted them (the first time I had mistaken the imperial markings on my feeler gauge for metric). This second time the engine sounded very healthy and I was quite proud of myself. I went for a 30 or so minute ride and life was good. This morning I got on my bike and rode to work (again, about 30 minutes, but with more sitting in traffic), and about 400 yards from my office I took off from a stop sign and my engine started vibrating weirdly and making a funny sound. I got in and parked fine, but now I'm worried about riding home and about my ability to fix what's wrong. I'm pretty sure that my valve adjustment is to blame, and just exploring my options I called a nearby mechanic and they estimated like $650 to $700 to adjust the valves so that sounds like a definite no-go on a $1000 bike. Here is my best description of how the engine is being weird (I went for a very short ride at lunch to get food and try and work out what was wrong with the engine): - Acceleration feels kind of bursty/unstable. - Rolling off the throttle all the way, the revs dip down really far below idle before sputtering back up. The engine almost stalls (with the clutch all the way in, or even in neutral). - There is kind of an overtone to the normal engine sound, it sounds kind of like someone typing a word on a typewriter. It will go something like half second of no sound, half second of typewriter sound, half second of no sound, half second of typewriter sound, etc. The engine felt so good right after I adjusted the valves, I was sure that I had done it right. Is it possible that I didn't tighten something enough and they loosened over time? Am I going to do permanent damage to my valves if I ride home (about 12 miles) from work so I can attempt to check the valve clearances again?