Yamaha Super Tenere Valve adjustment

Adjusting the valves on my 2014 Yamaha Super Tenere.

[@got_to_roll]

Thank you for this video! I do most all service myself but was talked into letting a "pro" handle this job. I ended up taking mine to a Yamaha dealer and certified shop in Woodinville, WA. They quoted $600, charged over $1,000 and really messed my bike up. I first noticed 2 missing fasteners on the cowlings. Then I found oil pouring from the blown valve cover gasket because the mechanic "topped off" my oil with 1.5 liters of oil. He was judging oil level with the sight glass. Apparently certified to work on, but unfamiliar with the Super Tenere. I had changed the oil the day before I dropped the bike off and told them that. They did eventually replace the valve cover gasket at no additional charge and refunded a small portion of my initial payment. *ASK if the person who will be working on your bike has done this service on a Super Tenere before. Find a mechanic who has. Lesson learned.

[@skrabill]

Wow, what a fiasco! I'm glad it worked out in the end.

[@Romenet310]

This is one of those when you get done and you sweat the question “Does it start??” Right before you press the start button.

[@woodly1069]

Hey Steve, Tim from KY here. I just checked your work at 70K on the old Tenere, she's still PERFECTLY on the valve spec. CHEERS!

[@skrabill]

I'm not surprised. They usually only need adjusted once (unless you put a gazillion miles on it). Glad to hear she's still running good!

[@Patriot-Logic]

I prefer Ducati but after 30 years in the industry Yamaha’s attention to detail is Amazing!

[@airhead8188]

Thank you for making this video. Very helpful. I am in the middle of that project right now.

[@paulvanreenen6986]

Hi Steve, After watching your clip I decided to take my Super Tenere to a reputable Yamaha dealer for a valve job! Came back purrfect! I have a '14 also blue same as yours. I built my own 2 can stainless muffler which now has the deep throaty sound. About 15 pounds lighter too. I must say I love this bike. So meticulously built too. I have a few clips on the Ytube too. 👍

[@tomwright9599]

Excellent video, thanks for taking the time to make it. I have to do my 2015 this winter. Some good tips here.

[@billpacheco790]

Great vid! I just paid $1K to get this done on my 2013 Super T (60K miles) including a new cam chain tensioner. Only one dealer, out of five contacted, would even do the work. Wish you were my neighbor!

[@skrabill]

I would have gladly done it for $800, lol

[@V4zz33]

I have done it at 28k miles with the Major service included and only paid £475 parts included... £75 was the parts tax included... I have watched someone who has done it around 80k and it was still in speck for him so I won't be getting this done in a while.;))

[@gahlanaventis]

Is there any big difference from 2013 and 2014 regarding the engine and whole bike reliability?

[@TheNwmd]

Thank you for a very useful video. This idea with zip ties is just brilliant! And to remove valve cover this way is very good idea too. The job doesn't look so painful. Well, not much more painful than in case of other motorcycles, at least. )

[@richardmourdock2719]

I'm reasonably mechanical, like to do stuff myself, but this video convinced me to take the bike to a shop... yeah, I hate paying the money, but if it's going to take me seven or eight hours the shop will back up their work with a warranty, so .... it's going to be worth the $s. Thanks for making the vid and leading me the right direction. With 29K miles my 2015 runs like a top... always lived by the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" theory... really makes me wonder if I even want to take it to the shop.... When I heard hemostats are required, well, yup, getting out the check book. Rock hammers I got, hemostats, not so much.

[@skrabill]

Lol. I don't blame you one bit. It is quite an undertaking on this bike. I've heard the valves don't really move once you get them set for the first time, so it should only be a one-time cost to get them adjusted.

[@zaks9919]

@@skrabill Yup checking is easier than adjusting ..

[@oknevals]

There is guy who put 280k miles on two Super Teneres back to back. He was checking valves every 25k and only adjusted one at 75k even though it was within spec but barely. Another guy told me that he was checking valves on early model of Honda cb500x for 120k miles. Never needed adjusting. He said he knew that Honda tested that engine for some ridiculous number of hours and it never went out of spec.

Nice Work!! Thanks for the video! 🤘🏻✨✨

[@yahoozooltan]

Hello, Nice work. I am planning to get a super terenere. Now I ride a TDM900. Just an idea. If you do not want to remove the clutch cover, you can just take out the plastic cap, put the transmission in 5th or 6th gear and rotate the rear wheel. That way you just have to check the marking under the cap, but you do not need even that. You can tell where is the TDC just by looking on the valves, and putting something inside the engine through the spark plug hole. (yes there are details, like you have to pass TDC by some milimeters, and than you have to measure the valve clearance, and so on...). Thank you for sharing the video with us!

[@joshuabradley8676]

Nice. I wish my S10 was that clean and pretty!

[@V4zz33]

Same here, using it for commuting all year round and no garage, just cover...

[@nikolas18v]

There are so many voids in the video, mainly due to your decision to apply often fast forward motion, which makes it very vague and difficult to watch its content. Which results in the omission of important phases of the entire procedure. By enriching it with all the lost details plus by providing us with more in-depth details on every step towards the adjustment of the valves of this motorcycle, I do believe that in the end, you will certainly have created a complete and very educative DIY video for everyone willing to do the same job. Provided that you still have the same footage available then the preparation of such a video providing comprehensive information and a complete how-to-do approach would be more than welcome. I'm saying it because I liked your video very much, hence my suggestion, since I strongly believe in its added value even after such a long time that you've uploaded it

[@kevinpate8551]

Red or yellow nail polish on the chain/gears works also so u know if it moved or not

[@Fortemagno]

Good job mate! enjoy your beautiful bike! love super tenere

[@volneinardi7336]

Moto de verdade... Transcontinental!!!

[@ukgardener973]

Nice!

[@Disturbeh]

thanks for the video. Have you not used mounting silicone for the gasket?

[@Romenet310]

I will never, ever attempt this myself. Lol

[@marcuspotts7221]

Good job! glad my old BMW r1150gs takes 10mins a side with screw and locknut......then again I'm 20hp down and have to do it every 6K

[@user-rm1mf8eh3d]

very ~~~ nice~~~~~

[@scottwatson8628]

What boxes and rack do you have on your bike, looking to add that to my Tenere And that set up looks pretty solid.

[@skrabill]

SW Moto racks and Micatech boxes. Sorry to say that Micatech is no longer in business, though.

[@highwayman1218]

Howd you secure the bottom sprocket from jumping?

[@ronnickel3754]

I have the same question!

[@paulvanreenen6986]

Did you forget the front fasteners for your airbox.? Enjoyed the clip. Had mine done @ Yamaha. Came back with ticking sounds it didn't have before. ( all good. Silent would have been bad... Too tight) Will suffer it until I just do it beter myself. 👍

[@skrabill]

Yeah. I caught it before I finished up, but left it out of the video. Nice catch!

[@rugby3874]

Did any of the mechanical noise go away. I have a 2017 super tenere and it is as noisy as my 2012 super tenere

[@skrabill]

I didn't notice any difference in sound or performance at all. I always thought the Tenere was pretty quiet. At least more so than quite a few other bikes.

[@pbshooter100]

Well if one had never done a valve check/adjust then this video is lacking as much of what one needs to know is just FF by. However there are some good tips here that are good to know although with some video editing said tips could be shown in probably 5 minutes of video. So typical of most DIY type videos you'll need to watch several others to get a complete picture of how to do the job.

[@janstolk486]

Wow that is a lot of messing around ! On my BMW k750 it takes 15 min to check and about one hour to change a shim . Mind , if you need the clutch done , you have to take the transmission out , that takes just as long but you dont have to do it so often ..

[@Kwhopperfan]

How far out of spec were the exhaust valves that you felt it best to loosen the adjustment instead of leaving it alone? Factory setting? Or was someone into it before?

[@skrabill]

I bought the bike new and this was the first time the engine was opened up, so nobody else had been in there. The service manual gives the acceptable range of clearances. All of the intakes were within spec, so they didn't need to be changed. All of the exhaust valves were outside of the acceptable range, so smaller shims were used to increase the gap until it fell within the specified range in the service manual.

[@Kwhopperfan]

Steve Krabill I’ll have to get the manual and see what the range is, no one online is very specific about the specs Example .007-.011 or .025-.028 and they found the adjustment to be .008 on intake and .022 on exhaust. I’m just relieved to know I have a lil ways to go before it is needed, only pushing 16,500 miles on my 13 now.. thought that’s when they were due but I guess not.

[@skrabill]

@@Kwhopperfan They are due for a check at 26,600 miles on the Tenere. Intake spec - 0.10-0.16mm Exhaust spec - 0.22-0.28mm

[@skrabill]

FYI - My exhausts were all in the 0.16-0.18 range, so they were a little tight. I adjusted them so they all came out to about 0.25mm - right in the middle of the spec.

[@Kwhopperfan]

Steve Krabill thanks for the info, I really appreciate it, that is definitely too tight, well worth the adjustment. Mine sometimes sounds a little noisy up top so I’m wondering if they are loose. I’m not a high rev rider but I have an open exhaust with a matching power commander fuel map

[@djc4769]

Video doesnt show the removing of the shim buckets? Did you just pull the cams out of the way and manage to get them out that way? Without removing them from the bike?

[@skrabill]

Yes, move the cams over and use a magnet to lift the bucket. I'm about to do my wr250r and it has the same arrangement. I'll do an in-depth video on how to do the actual checking and adjusting on that bike.

[@djc4769]

Cheers. I managed to get them out. Now just gotta to a run around to all the shops to find the new shim sizes. Thanks for the video. Has been a help.

[@YotieKiller1]

Nearing the dreaded 22K myself, can't wait.... ugh

[@skrabill]

It's not that bad . . . just take your time and be ready for it to eat up a whole day.

[@used2befast]

Awesome video! But made a note, buy new Super Tenere, sell it before it needs a valve adjustment. :) $1K to a dealer is painful and I just don't think I could pull cams out like that. Whew.

[@phillipturner959]

I don’t think you put the bolts in each side of the air box, better check it, just trying to help.

[@skrabill]

Nice catch! Fixed as soon as I was done filming. I wondered if anyone would notice 😂

[@user-gi4pt9ni5o]

How to cct install?

[@skrabill]

I will make a separate video for that.

[@punrein]

I had my valve adjustment done by a boutique shop. Now my cruise control doesn’t work! What could they have done wrong? I’d take it back, but it took them 6 weeks to do the job because they didn’t have the valve cover gasket. Aaauuuggghh!

[@skrabill]

It would have to be a plug somewhere that they missed. The tank rotates up pretty easily, so you should lift up the tank and start digging around for loose connections. I'll bet you find one that didn't get plugged back in when they were reassembling.

[@punrein]

@@skrabill thanks!

[@dcasteaux9181]

Great video, greeting from Cambridge UK. Thanks for taking the time to make it. I too have a 2014 Super Tenere with 22,000 miles that is due the same adjustment. BTW, have you experienced any intermittent issues with poor idling/stalling when pulling away? I have this problem though in the US & Canada there is a recall for poor throttle causes by a corroded wiring loomkzbin.info/www/bejne/kJ7Xg5SPns17ecU (but I'm certain that is not the issue I have), Also, I have also heard that Super Tenere intake valves can easily get coked with carbon build up (I could be wrong) - were your valves OK?

[@skrabill]

Greetings UK! I previously had a 2012 that I put about 25k miles on before I picked up my current 2014. I don't ever recall having fueling issues with either one in the 65k combined miles I have on Teneres. I do think the '14 has a better map and runs smoother and a bit stronger than the '12, but as far as fueling problems? Not yet.

[@skrabill]

Oh ... and the valves looked fine.

[@rugby3874]

That's ridiculous what it takes to set the valves. Yamaha should have made of more maintenance friendly motorcycle

[@motokev2727]

common with most fuel injected bikes.

[@motokev2727]

I've watched a lot of videos on valve adjustment on many road bikes. Most don't even need the adjustment even at 50K miles. Most bikes life is maybe 70K miles before serious worn issues. Why not skip the valve adjustment and throw the bike away at 70K miles. And by the time it needs a valve adjustment, let's say 50K miles the bike isn't worth much, maybe $2K.

[@skrabill]

I tend to put a lot of miles on my bikes, and I tend to ride them in areas that are not always easily accessible. I prefer to keep them maintained so I minimize the possibility of being stranded. It seems to be working because I always seem to be able to make it home under my own power. All that said . . . I have done quite a few valve checks through the years and my experience has taught me that none of them move very much after the first valve adjustment. Every single bike I've checked was out of spec on the first scheduled valve check. They don't move much after that, if at all. I assume that is due to brand new parts seating themselves in. These days, I will typically only do the first valve check/adjustment and skip the rest of them.

[@scottdemoor49]

The clearance was too tight??? You know it is easy to remove a thousandth or two with a file or stone. What is weird is the gap usually get more loose with wear not tighter. Just saying??

[@skrabill]

Not true. As the valves get worn into the valve seats over time, the gap that is at the top of the valve stem gets tighter since the valve itself is effectively sitting deeper in its valve seat.

[@Marc-zf3xv]

Dang almost looks easier to take the engine out.

[@skrabill]

Almost, lol

[@motokev2727]

looks like too much work.

[@zaks9919]

Valve shims are a joke , my car & 3 bikes use them , none of the dealers decided to generate good will by stocking a good supply., but guess what, I never gave these 3 dealerships any recommendation or further business ! It's %100 bull shit.

[@crackletime7102]

Stevie Wonder! We need to talk. Where’d you get the soundtrack? We should do the next one...Why didnt you spend time on focusing on the actual job? ‘This is the feeler, this is how loose it is’? Always appeal to the newbee, brah

[@skrabill]

It was already a monumental project without adding in a "how-to" and I don't think this is something a newbie mechanic would want to tackle anyway. I did a "how-to" for the clutch because I think pretty much anybody can pull that off, but pulling cams isn't for everybody.

[@zaks9919]

@@skrabill Agreed with your reason Steve... Too bad sound on u tube is so loud on some tracks like music, & too quiet on narration ..ha, & they want to sell me a premium version?