Africa Twin CRF1000 adjusting Valve Clearances

[@rongodwin8931]

Great video. I just checked and adjusted my valves including my first ever shim under bucket adjustment, using your video as my guide. Having just retired from 30 years as a teacher, I feel qualified to say that you would make an excellent teacher. Thanks for the help.

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Thanks Ron, I appreciate the positive feedback. Its funny that you talk of teaching: this year I am going to launch a series of 1 day service school sessions for all of the bikes I write manuals for. Check out my website for details. www.marksmotorcycleparts.co.uk

[@James-r9c3m]

Oh my gosh, made me nervous with the sprocket bolt in hand while manipulating the sprocket and chain:) Thank you for the teachings, I will watch this multiple times prior to doing this myself.

[@michaelorr181]

You are a great teacher , you know I wish I was half as talented! Bet your an awesome dad.....

[@ducatiparts110mb]

That's a great compliment. Thank you

[@raycollington4310]

Best AT valve explanation yet. If there is cam position that allows inlet and exhaust adjustment, I'm not sure why Honda specify three positions for the process. Just do as you are told, I guess. Thanks Mark!

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Hi Ray. I agree, but its a Honda - so complicated is good, and more complicated must be better.... Thanks for the positive feedback, Cheers, Mark.

[@FesteringBaboon]

The E1 position doesn’t make sense as piston 1 is midway down the intake stroke. The piston should be at TDC on the compression stroke the same as it is for cylinder 2.

[@stuartelliott3951]

First time I have done a valve check and this video was fantastic. Thank you Mark

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Thanks. I always appreciate positive feedback...

[@zylko78]

Just a hint, you can zip tight chain to a sprocket and remove it from the cam altogether and hang it wit a pice of wire or screw driver, depends on the bike and amount of space. Then when you’re putting it back on a shaft it’s a bit easier as you don’t have to position chain. It helps even more if you have to deal with two cam head.

[@bryanmontgomery4050]

Paint marker is your friend.

[@adamsmith2484]

Thanks Mark, brings the book to life which I really needed.

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Hi Adam, Thanks for the positive comment. All the best, Mark

[@SalverTere]

Great video! Great explains, I have to check the vlaves on mine too in the next weeks. Thx so far from Germany!

[@mr.whiskers3283]

How'd it go?

[@chrigdichein]

really good 👍🏽 thanks for the inside. You can ask Honda to change large service to a small on even, so they don’t have to touch the valves at 20t or so, they will be even fine at 50t, in fact no need to adjust them until you hear them I got told

[@stalincat2457]

That is very poor advice. Normally the wear of the valve vs valve seat makes the valve lash decrease. You cannot hear this. Eventually the valve doesn't make (enough) contact with the seat to dissipate it's heat and the valve will burn or break, ruining the cylinder head (burn) and maybe the cylinder and piston (break). Please don't skimp on preventive maintenance untill you hear things breaking down.

[@chrigdichein]

@@stalincat2457 Yes, but in general on a normal used AT that makes 50t without valve adjustment, wont need a check at 20tkm which reduces the bill from 1200AUD to 300AUD! I am talking about the first 20tkm service. There are two ways uniquely the AT drives its valves, one is the old fashioned way by pushing down a lever on them. If that needs adjustment it will be surely noticeable.

[@stalincat2457]

I am aware that with Honda engines there's rarely any adjustment necessary. However, telling people that they should just skip it till 50t or until they hear their engine rattle is weird advice. What if I told you it is cheaper to never check valve clearance on a Honda VFR Vtec motorcycle but just ride it till the engine blows and then install a used engine? I may be right but that's just weird advice ;)

[@chrigdichein]

@@stalincat2457 I believe people are not so stupid to understand, when I say ‘ask your Honda dealer for a small 20tkm service instead of a full blown one, they will understand. Its about the low km one will regular use on the bike. If the dealer accepts and it doesn’t mess with the warranty... thats what we did. Who wants full cover and security can go for it, as you can change your oil all 5000km, but there are options. Thats all what I am saying, there are options where you don’t have to throw out 💸 for no reason. manage your money

[@ducatiparts110mb]

I cannot condone skipping service work or extending the intervals. If the manufacturer says you check it… then you check it. Cost of ownership is an eternal issue, but it is rather arrogant for any of us to suggest that we know better than the manufacturer, and for every few owners who got away with saving some money there will be one who wishes he paid more attention to the service schedule.

[@DustyBiker]

Doing this now. Great video and thanks for sharing.

[@HorizonsleatherBlogspot2012]

Mark, thank you. I ordered your service manual as well, cheers!

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Many thanks, just logged on and seen your order. We have a bit of a backlog but everything ordered over the holidays will go out today or tomorrow. Cheers, Mark

[@TheSweetasanut]

Brilliant very well made

[@premiumyt8625]

Genial saludos cordiales desde Patagonia Chile

[@mattyb7736]

#2 Robertson head screw screwed into a bit of dowel. Instant Honda special adjuster tool

[@scottycarver5186]

Great work

[@LyonsLeo]

very helpful

[@pisklakiwogrodzie]

Great video. It serves as an instruction for me. It is worth mentioning a slight discrepancy in the alignment of the marks on the sprocket with the T1 mark, which results from a stretched timing chain. The instructions say that you should aim perfectly at the horizontal line above the T1 mark. When the chain is stretched, the marks on the sprocket are not parallel to the housing. When the gear is set parallel to the housing, the T1 mark is set at the height of the letter T1 and not at the height of the horizontal line. I'm doing it for the first time... and my conclusion is that valve clearance should be measured when the gear is parallel to the housing, even if the T1 mark slightly does not coincide with the mark on the housing. Can you confirm that ? Thak You. Paweł.

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Techically you're right, but don't overthink it... So long as the cam lobe is well away from the follower, the position of the cam does not matter as the base circle is a constant radius.

[@pisklakiwogrodzie]

@@ducatiparts110mb Thank you.

[@denkkk]

Excellent tutorial, I've been tearing down my AT the past couple of days. Been taking it slow as I'm stuck at home and have no rush. Two questions, did you use the original gasket and did you use any sealant on cut out end of gasket. I've read some people do some dont, was wondering what your opinion was on this? Cheers

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Yes, its best to use sealant around the cut out for the camshaft. I use ThreeBond.

[@denkkk]

@@ducatiparts110mb Hey thanks for the reply, I can now finally put the bike back together.

[@davidsegarra8213]

Greetings from Spain I am watching your video, could you tell me the measurements of the tool for the chain tensioner, minute 30:15. thank you very much for this help

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Details are in the book, available from www.marksmotorcycleparts.co.uk.

[@landocycle]

What happens if you drop a bolt into the cam tunnel? Can you magnet it out? Would fitting a rag in there to fill the hole be wise? I think that would be my only concern/fear for the entirety of the job. Thanks for the clear video!

[@ducatiparts110mb]

good idea, but i'm not sure you could easily get a rag down into the camchain tunnel to catch one of the sprocket bolts without making it difficult to remove the sprocket from the chain. Far better in my opinion to work slowly & carefully & wash you hands when they get oily to help you grip the parts.

[@landocycle]

@@ducatiparts110mb cheers

[@brandonroberts9717]

Video helped a lot thx. Just wondering if it’s ok to leave the crank shaft wherever you last adjusted, or if there’s a set point it’s supposed to go back to?

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Full description available here... www.marksmotorcycleparts.co.uk/product-page/honda-crf1000-africa-twin-service-manual

[@jbyrne27]

In the video you explain that if the final adjustment is off at the end of the process, you can center the clearance by adjusting the rockers themselves. This sort of begs the question, why not skip the shims and just adjust all the rockers? I could see that if you are getting out of range of rocker adjustment then you'd need to fit new shims.

[@ducatiparts110mb]

The rockers adjust only the exhaust clearances, and the shims adjust only the intakes. 1 Check everything so you know what you are dealing with 2 Remove cams and adjust intakes if necessary 3 If you have removed & replaced the camshafts, or if you know the exhausts need adjusting, Check and adjust exhausts. If the exhausts measure up just fine in step 1, then you remove & replace the cams, you need to recheck and if necessary adjust the exhausts in step 3 because the action of removing & refitting the cams might have affected the fitted exhaust clearances.

[@zyonsdream]

I’m assuming that the exhaust valves use set screws because they are more likely to need adjustment more often than the intake valves? My 2017 AT has 12k miles. I hear no ticking, it burns zero oil and it’s power is spot on. Is it really worth the time it takes to tear the bike down if you have zero symptoms?

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Honda will have all manner of 'good reasons' why they made it that way - my personal belief is that they just like taking the complicated route sometimes. Yes its always worth checking at he specified interval. Power and noise change imperceptibly as the engine ages so you can't really judge its fitness that way. Whilst you should find that everything is in tolerance, my 6000 mile bike needed several valves adjusting when I serviced it for the book. I would not have guessed that from the way it ran, but afterwards it ran noticeably better.

[@Ironparker]

Fantastic video and great help! One question: How long did it take to remove everything just to be able to get to the valve covers? :-)

[@ducatiparts110mb]

The first time a couple hours. After that about one hour. Honda seems to love making things overlap each other so you have to remove loads of stuff to get to the bit you're servicing. Full details in the book available from www.marksmotorcycleparts.co.uk

[@atheistbaba3036]

Why need to open all that? Was it troubling?

[@ducatiparts110mb]

I did it to support the book I've written, and because its in Honda's service schedule. Even when you don't feel that anything is wrong, you still need to follow the service schedule.

[@pursuitofhappiness..]

Thx a lot .. who knows adjustment interval and any signs that valves must be adjusted

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Check every 16000 miles. You don't get any signs other than what the feeler gauge says - the engine will get slightly louder / rattly / rougher running, but by the time its noticeable you'll have left it far too long.

[@pursuitofhappiness..]

@@ducatiparts110mb thx...mine has 20.000km and when engine is hot sounds a bit ratly maybe because of oil viscosity I used 10w40 instead of 10w30 what book said

[@brandonroberts9717]

Does anyone know if it’s crucial that when making the final tightening after adjustment that you use a wrench that gets the specific torque setting right?

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Yes it is. As with everything there is an allowable tolerance, but too loose and it will slacken off in service, too tight and you'll strip a thread.

[@dougiequick1]

Mystified so far how there are conventuall looking adjusters on rocker arms and yet you are pulling the cam to adjust via shims.... WTF? buckets and shims AND adjusters??? And no one else is even questioning this?

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Buckets & shims for the intake and rockers with screw & locknut for the exhaust side. Its typical Honda to take a straightforward job and make it more complicated than it needs to be....

[@TuscanRider]

It's just an easier way to adjust exhaust valves without dismount everything like in twin cams engines... I guess cause usually on every engine the exhaust valves are the first ones that need adjustment in the engine life

[@albertoj.mollinedo4116]

bad idea to do mechanical work with a wedding ring, a guy I know almost lost a finger with that. shorted the battery with a wrench and the wedding ring the ring melted on his finger.

[@ducatiparts110mb]

Omg. Good advice. Thanks

[@michaelorr181]

Douch bag no moving parts no volts no amps just wrenches ? Were you allowed to climb trees as a child or were you sheltered ?

[@michsky46]

you like female doctor