I messed up and my bike paid the price

[tapdiggy]

I did a valve adjustment on my bike yesterday. I thought I did it right but I was wrong. Today I went for a ride and broke an intake valve. I am considerably bummed out. Getting it fixed is unlikely for a while. Sucks. For some reason, though, I am teetering between the idea of fixing it, or pinching pennies for a new bike. I have to clear my mind and think reasonably about what I do. But I won't be touching valves on anything again without severe trepidation.

[ninja250]

Lemme borrow your frame, Holmes. j/k..
Bummer dude. Sorry to hear it. Fix her back up again. You'll miss 'er when she's gone. I'm scared of my valve adjustment when it comes time but will give it a go anyways..

[ninja250]

Hey, you know what..
If you have it paid off already, part it out on ebay if your motor is a couple grand to fix.

You could make a killing parting one of these bikes out if you have patience.

[Flashmonkey]

Oh crap!

Have you tried searching for a used motor on ebay or other local sources?

[RaceBikeRentals]

Originally Posted by Flashmonkey

Oh crap!

Have you tried searching for a used motor on ebay or other local sources?

+1, I've seen low mile motors on eBay for 300-400. Would be cheaper than fixing yours, plus you'd have some nice spares

[tapdiggy]

I won't be doing anything for a while.

[JokerSeven]

I'm sorry to hear that.

Next time I want to adjust my own valves, I will remember this post

[Betlog]

Sorry to hear, Truong.

P.S. If you don't mind, can you share what exactly you did wrong? This might be helpful to those attempting to do their own valve adjustments in the future.

[CC Cowboy]

Tear that motor apart and learn from it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[mrkyo]

Yeah, get a service manual, tear it apart again and try to rebuild yourself. At least you can learn how to put the engine back together.

[littledog]

Originally Posted by tapdiggy

I did a valve adjustment on my bike yesterday. I thought I did it right but I was wrong. Today I went for a ride and broke an intake valve. I am considerably bummed out. Getting it fixed is unlikely for a while. Sucks. For some reason, though, I am teetering between the idea of fixing it, or pinching pennies for a new bike. I have to clear my mind and think reasonably about what I do. But I won't be touching valves on anything again without severe trepidation.

Sorry to hear about your mishap.

This is kinda scary because I also adjusted valves this weekend.
I worked very slowly and carefully and I think that I did it right. I turned it over a few times by hand without spark plugs to convince myself I had replaced the timing chain correctly. It idles nicely, just like it did before. I am just heading out the door for the first ride. I hope it doesn't blow up.

[mikedabike64]

was the bike running ok before the valve adjustment? were you doing it as a routine maint?
I learned a long time ago if it aint broke dont fix it. I am sorry to hear its broke.

[Apex]

People shouldn't be swayed to not do a valve adjustment. It takes a lot of patience and double/triple checking your measurements.

To be honest, it is a pain in the butt. But if you have the patience and really check yourself, you do fine. I did my valve adjustments 2k ago, and it still purrs like a kitten.

[Greg_E]

OK, when you snap the head off a valve many things happen. The piston gets ruined. The head usually gets ruined. The cylinder usually gets ruined.

Here's my suggestion... Time for a big bore kit! When they bore the cylinder it should remove the scratches, it will come with new larger pistons, so you are left with the head work. Short term you might be able to have the dings in the head welded and smoothed out depending on how bad it looks. I would definitely beg, borrow, or buy the service manual and tear the motor down and have a look. If you were extremely lucky, there will be no real damage (highly unlikely).

[00v_Lucky]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

Tear that motor apart and learn from it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

+1 and some pictures would be nice


Sorry to hear about that, I hope you're able to ride again soon.

[Sailariel]

Truong, Sorry to hear about the valve adjustment. I`m pushing 9500mi on my bike and will have the valves adjusted at 12000. I will pony up the extra dollars and have them do it---still have two years left on the warranty.

[tapdiggy]

Originally Posted by Apex

People shouldn't be swayed to not do a valve adjustment. It takes a lot of patience and double/triple checking your measurements.

To be honest, it is a pain in the butt. But if you have the patience and really check yourself, you do fine. I did my valve adjustments 2k ago, and it still purrs like a kitten.

I agree that patience and thorough checks and rechecks are the key to successful results. I rushed it and I paid a big price.

[Flashmonkey]

Originally Posted by littledog

This is kinda scary because I also adjusted valves this weekend.
I worked very slowly and carefully and I think that I did it right. I turned it over a few times by hand without spark plugs to convince myself I had replaced the timing chain correctly. It idles nicely, just like it did before. I am just heading out the door for the first ride. I hope it doesn't blow up.

I think this is a key step that gets missed a lot. That and the rule of thumb that "if it feels like you're forcing it, then you probably are" is definitely something to look out for.

When I adjusted my valves last fall it took me the better part of 5 hours or so, and this was with me disassembling the bike the night before. Everything was done in tiny increments and nothing was forced or rushed. The engine still hasn't blown up yet, so I guess I did it right haha.

If you're feeling up to it Truong, I say you try and rebuild the engine. The amount of confidence you'll have in yourself afterwards will be astounding.

[CZroe]

Not to draw too much attention to your condition, but it shows that you likely took extra care and yet this still happened. That's all I need to know when considering doing anything more than a oil change, brake pad/shoe replacement, or tire change. Thanks for the warning.

[Sailariel]

JET, I used to feel comfortable working on older Brit bikes and two strokes. These new bikes are another learning curve altogether. The only OHC machine I ever took apart was a 1956 NSU--and that was quite intimidating. On the Ninja everything is so compact. With my XXL hands, I can`t get at half the stuff. Good thing that the machine is reliable. Besides, I really don`t want to void my warranty. I do my own oil changes, brake shoe changes, air filter service, chain adjustment, cleaning, and lubing---all the easy and fun stuff.

[Greg_E]

It was very likely incorrect cam position when taking the measurement. To snap the head off you normally need a pretty big gap between cam and lifter (or where ever it gets measured). Took me about 4 hours on my old Katana, and it has adjustment screws. Thankfully my Buell has hydraulic lifters and doesn't really have an adjustment.

I still vote for big bore kit.

[deezyellownutz]

Man... I'm so afraid of working on valves or anything after blowing up a Mazda 626 that I just got the head rebuilt. I also did a tranmission on my 1993 ZX7R, blew that up and ended up with a used motor...... lol. I know what your feeling. My heart still races when I think of that ticking it made. *makes me feel like nails on a chalkboard*

I have always wondered with these bike where the cut off is as how much money to spend on repairing a motor vs replacing it with a used motor with 1K miles. I always believe that if I can get away with a used motor with only a few hundred miles is better than fixing up an already dead motor. Don't get me wrong, I would love to tear it down and learn the ins and outs. I have and it never turned out well. I just don't see it being cost effective when you have to factor in all the parts / work / tools and time needed to rebuild when the motors are less money.

Either way, I hope you get back on the road again soon. I'm sure either route you decide to take has the same end result. To get back on and ride another day!

I was able to find this.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/08-Ka...Q5fAccessories

Sometimes the trick on ebay when looking for parts for this bike is to search as EX250 instead of 250R.

Good luck!

[Flashmonkey]

Originally Posted by Sailariel

JET, I used to feel comfortable working on older Brit bikes and two strokes. These new bikes are another learning curve altogether. The only OHC machine I ever took apart was a 1956 NSU--and that was quite intimidating. On the Ninja everything is so compact. With my XXL hands, I can`t get at half the stuff. Good thing that the machine is reliable. Besides, I really don`t want to void my warranty. I do my own oil changes, brake shoe changes, air filter service, chain adjustment, cleaning, and lubing---all the easy and fun stuff.

LOL the supersports are even worse. Compared to my gixxer, the little ninja is a dream to work on.

Originally Posted by deezyellownutz

I also did a tranmission on my 1993 ZX7R, blew that up and ended up with a used motor......

How'd you manage to blow that up? I only ask cuz the transmission on my 92 gixxer sounds like it's on its way out. My season may be ending soon

[tapdiggy]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Not to draw too much attention to your condition, but it shows that you likely took extra care and yet this still happened. That's all I need to know when considering doing anything more than a oil change, brake pad/shoe replacement, or tire change. Thanks for the warning.

You are mostly correct about the care taken CZ. The valve that broke was checked and adjusted, and rechecked and adjusted at least twice. But I was also a bit rushed because of an afternoon event I was attending. The possibility is that I missed a step somewhere in the process, for instance not tightening down the locknut properly. I don't know for sure.

As for anyone else not doing their own valve maintenance, I will not discourage it. I only know that this incident has taught me the value of absolute attention to detail, and allotting enough time in which to properly complete the job.

[deezyellownutz]

Originally Posted by Flashmonkey

How'd you manage to blow that up? I only ask cuz the transmission on my 92 gixxer sounds like it's on its way out. My season may be ending soon

I left the engine out for a few days and the temperature sensor dried up and wasn't working also probably put back the old thermostate and road it 1 miles from the house onto the high way and the engine died. Overheated and never started again. Gears worked though! = )

Reason for switching the transmission was 2nd gear was popping out during acceleration and grinding.

Ended up picking up a used motor in Update NY for $500 - The attempt to replace the gears ($300), tools to get the job done ($100), TOW ($250 on a SUNDAY... damn them) off the highway cost me $750. After that I just decided to find a motor rather then dumped even more money because now I had a bike that didn't run at all. = ( This was years ago maybe when I was 22.

[Flashmonkey]

Ouch! What's even worse is that your engine cost less than the towing charge.

[izmail1215]

I,ll take this a warning for me...