Valve Inspection and Camshaft health check - 1983 Honda Magna V45

Performing a needed valve inspection on the Magna V45. An important maintenance step to making sure that your engine is in good condition and making the correct amount of Power!
The Honda Magna was the first muscle bike that started a craze that has lasted for 40 years. Sporting a 90 degree V4 engine, Hydraulic Clutch, and shaft drive the Honda Magna was a direct attack on Harley. A cult following to this day the Honda Magna is a true classic that deserves more attention from the motorcycle world.
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[@magnamole]

Links in comments for Parts I have used in recent videos. Wrench hard and ride safe!

[@whatyoumakeofit6635]

Those magnus were bad ass bikes. I was 14 and my cousin, 350 lbs, took me for a ride. Stopped at intersection. Hung a right, doing a burn out, pulled into a wheelie and rode it for about a 1/4 mile. Scared the shit out of me. I loved it and have been on bikes ever since.

[@magnamole]

Great story! glad you are here, thanks for watching!

[@ZPDSurvival]

I just picked up an 83 Honda Magna V45 in very nice condition. 24,000 miles on it. I got it started before I bought it and had smoke out the tailpipes. Sounded good revved to 3,000. The people selling said that their mechanic said the motor needed to be rebuilt or replaced. I pulled the plugs and they all look the same. Rich and not oil soaked. Did a compression test and all cylinders are the same at 95 psi. I know that is low but they are all even. Going to do a leak down test. If that proves good onto the valve adjustment. That's why I am here. Subscribed. Great Video.

[@magnamole]

Yeah that compression is low but even may even suggest it is alright. Valve adjustment may help the compression, curious to hear how it goes! My magna has about 25000 miles on it now running strong!

[@ZPDSurvival]

@@magnamole I just did a wet compression test on one cylinder and it was exactly the same psi. Not checking the rest of them. This is a cold compression test. Moving on to valves. Picked up the tool set today. Thank you for showing your set up. i work on multiple dual sport bikes. Never had a Magna before. Also been wrenching on Honda accords and old school Vdubs for many years.

[@ViewlessSquid]

@@ZPDSurvivaldid it end up being the valves?

[@ZPDSurvival]

@@ViewlessSquid It was not the Valves. On Carb #1 where you adjust the idle on the left side is the easiest to take off the bowl. The float was not even connected to the pin and the motor was being flooded. I pulled the carbs and went through all the bowls. #1 was the only on disconnected so I was wondering if the mechanic did this on purpose and told the people I bought it from that the whole motor needed to be rebuilt. Anyways, I bought 4 K&S Carb rebuild kits and just cleaned and rebuilt the bowls. Then adjusted float height as none were set correct. I inspected the carbs throttle bodies and they were pristine. The Bike runs great and the smoke is gone. I did a number of other minor things and now It just needs a new clutch and front fork seals replaced.

[@magnamole]

I am hopefully finishing up the fork seals this weekend myself, then my magna needs some miles. Glad to hear it was a simple fix!

[@wvangus82]

I'm fixing up an 84 sabre 700 and I have to agree, the valves are a most of the day job. All 16 of mine were at zero lash lol

[@magnamole]

It definitely is on a v4, mainly just getting at the valve covers lol. Mine were almost all right in spec, few were a thousandth tight but nothing that far off! Thanks for being here!

[@flatbill2]

So glad you put this video out because I have to do this on mine also. My valves are clacking loudly and two cylinders aren't firing.

[@magnamole]

It is pretty simple to do it just takes some patience. Set aside a day or two to get it done and just take your time.

[@tea4me324]

Those center stands are so cool I got a 97 and she only has the one leg. I wanna do a wellness check on the bike but nervous to open her up.

[@magnamole]

Center stand does make it very easy, there are some inexpensive motorcycle jacks out there that can help get it upright. If the bike is running well, no noises, you probably are fine. A compression check can give you a good idea as well. But if you do a little research, find a service manual, and just take your time it is not as scary as one may think. Thanks for being here!

[@fitzstermoto]

Good job filming and explaining! The only thing I would recommend with filming is to check your ISO settings. Some of the video footage was completely blown out by the sunlight and way too bright so you couldn't see much. Aside from that, I think you did a great job! Looking forward to the rest of the videos for sure!

[@magnamole]

Definitely! I had left it in aperture priority and I must of bumped the exposure by accident, but good reminder to check my workflow and do some in process checks of my clips. I appreciate the feedback! We can always be better together!

[@fitzstermoto]

@@magnamole That definitely makes sense! I absolutely agree with that! One other bit of feedback (not a huge deal by any means but just another way to improve it) is in the beginning where you sped up the video for 30 seconds while you were working. There was complete silence and it's a bit awkward - I think it'd be a lot better even with some background music and/or a voice-over. That's what I would recommend anyways but regardless, great job still!

[@magnamole]

@@fitzstermoto I debated adding some music again, will definitely put it in the future rewatching it now! Thanks so much!

[@Givebesseygive]

Hey what was the mileage and how long since the bike had the valves adjusted? I have a v30 84 im thinking of doing this. the only part of the procedure im worried about is putting the crank in the right position for each cam, its fairly convoluted in the manual but maybe ill figure it out once i tear into it !

[@magnamole]

The prescribed amount for my 83 v45 is 24,000 miles. I have no history of this bike's maintenance so as far as I know it was never done since the bike only had 19k miles on it when I bought it. If you remove the spark plugs and cover the spark plug hole with your finger you should feel pressure when the piston is coming to TDC, top dead center. Use the marks and that feeling of pressure to verify you are TDC on a compression stroke. Visually the cam lobe should be pointed up and away from the valve spring. Take your time to make sure it is right, verify your work, and have fun!

[@Givebesseygive]

@@magnamole thank you much! I'm thinking I can wait until snow because the bike has 17k on it , probably never done before, and seems to have good power(my first bike so I have no idea what power should feel like). I saw one of the two valves you did were out of tolerance but I watched the whole vid and didn't catch the condition of ths rest. I'm only curious because I've heard running a bike with out of spec valves can result in more damage

[@magnamole]

@@Givebesseygive I only adjusted a couple valves, rest were in spec and left alone. If you can accelerate all the way up the RPM range and the bike feels healthy it is probably fine to wait, I did the same thing. Loud tapping noise would be a bad sign, otherwise it should sound like a big sewing machine. A compression check would be a simple and non invasive way to test the bikes compression, which would be affected by out of tolerance valve clearances, among other things. As far as feeling it should hit about 6500rpm then feel like you have VTEC and the bike should pull strong all the way to redline.

[@nicholasmumola]

I don't think that this is a reliable way to set clearance. You should have two feeler gages and losen both valves at the same time and set them both at the same time. That's how it's done on BMW's or any motorcycle engines with 21:40 four valves per cylinder.

[@latosz18]

Why u didint Remove spark plugs ?

[@magnamole]

It would have made it slightly easier to turn over but it turned over well enough with them in and just never took that step.