Yamaha Virago Valve Clearance Adjustment

[@thomaskosdemba9675]

i literally could not have asked for a better video concerning this matter. Thank you so much Steve.

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks man and thanks for letting me know the video is helpful 👍. All the best ! Steve

[@Conlan0215]

Great stuff. Very grateful that guys like you are taking the time and effort to film this stuff and share their knowledge.

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks man ! Glad the videos are helpful👍. Yep, info is getting harder to find on these old bikes so I figured making some videos might help folks out. All the best ! Steve

[@nucl900430]

All the questions I had are being solved by your videos, awesome mate, you are legend

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks man ! Glad the videos help some 👍. All the best ! Steve

[@jakelong781]

I have a 82 920. And there is this horrible tap. Almost like a cracked manifold on a ford 5.4. It’s definitely not the exhaust gaskets. As I changed them and the noise is still there. I’ll try adjusting the valves. But I could have sworn I did it when I rebuilt the engine a thousand miles ago. Unless my chain tensioners are bad and it the chain I’m hearing. Any who. Let me know what you think it may be. Great videos you make sir, love the content!

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks man 👍. Yep, I had one that had a crazy tapping sound that sounded just like the valves clattering away. Pulled the cams out and they were fine so decided to pull the heads off to see…to my surprise, this tapping sound was because the head gasket had rotted away and I was hearing the combustion escaping each time it hit LOL. Sounded just like tapping though. Swapped out the head gaskets and it was as good as new with just the faint sewing machine like sound the cams make normally.

[@scratchcoderig]

Great video I just bought a virago and it is s beast to start. I'm thinking it has loose valves.

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks man ! Yep, these do need everything adjusted (carbs included) to be able to start with just a rotation or two for sure 👍. All the best ! Steve

[@kbearpro]

Awesome video thank you for putting that together! 😎👍

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks...glad the video helped some 👍. All the best ! Steve

[@landisfishingadventures6534]

Awesome video this helps my dad and i out a lot.

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks and glad the video was helpful 👍. All the best ! Steve

[@landisfishingadventures6534]

@@StevesDIYs do you think it will help coughing through the carb??

[@StevesDIYs]

@@landisfishingadventures6534 hello, yes, if the intake valves are too tight and not closing very well it will allow compression back into the carb, but usually they won’t run like that )or run really poorly). Most times popping back into the carbs is something to do with the carbs either needing adjustment or cleaning I’ve found.

[@landisfishingadventures6534]

@@StevesDIYs thank you I don’t see an adjustment.

[@StevesDIYs]

@@landisfishingadventures6534 , there should be an air/fuel mix needle adjustment on the bottom of the carb between the bowl and the carb boot that connects it to the cylinder. Sometimes those get dirty or the jets inside the carb get stopped up so it doesn’t get the correct air/fuel mix.

[@jeffreygilley6618]

Thank you! Very helpful.

[@Vert-f2l]

Needed this vid as I recently bought a project where I can learn motorcycle maintenance. Just wondering are the valve intakes/outlet covers supposed to have gaskets in them ? The cover at the front cylinder on my virago had a stripped bolt hole and spewed hot oil when it warmed up. Will try and fix it with helicoil, just wondering if they need a gasket or can I just tighten them ?

[@StevesDIYs]

👍. Yes, the valve covers should have an oring seal that goes in the groove around the outer edge. It’s a regular round oring but makes the oval shape once pushed into the groove.

[@davidnewvine2506]

Hey Steve! I have a 90 Virago 1100 with a leaking exhaust valve on the rear cylinder. No compression whatsoever. I've never repaired valves before and just want to ask if the engine has to be fully removed to repair the valve? Thanks! David

[@StevesDIYs]

Hey man ! Unfortunately the motor will need to be removed from the bike since the frame attaches to the top of the heads and the rear head will need to come off to fix the valve. The nuts that hold the heads to the frame are also the ones that connect the long bolts that go through the heads and jugs down to the motor case so the heads have to slide up off of those.

[@ItadakiTontaro]

Hey Steve. I am having trouble starting my 97 xv750 on the both jugs. It will fire on the rear and if I can get it to hold through playing with the choke the front will eventually come online. After warmed up it fires back up, idles and runs great. I have cleaned carbs (twice) they still have the plugs on the pilot screw, replaced spark plugs, new petcock (was leaking). I will be checking the valves properly soon, but my question is will imporoperly clearanced valve cause hard starts like that? Even when it does fire it wants to idke at about 300 on only the rear until warm where it comes up to 1100ish. If you have any insight that would be great, thanks.

[@StevesDIYs]

Hey ! For the valve clearance question, if they are a bit tight on the gaps, it could cause low compression, but usually the cylinder will never fire up steady since the gap gets even smaller when the cylinder begins to fire and even more compression is lost through the non seating valve. If they are a bit too loose, they just tap some, but the cylinder will still fire up and run normally. From the info you gave, I would suspect that either a little bit of crud has built up in the idle circuit of the carb where the mix needle is or…if the bad petcock allowed fuel to go down into the oil when it was sitting, it might have diluted the oil enough that it washed the rings out and you aren’t getting good compression (that has happened to me a couple if times over the years. ) For the carbs, if you drill out the plugs that cover the mix needles and take them out to clean the circuit completely, be sure to turn them in to a soft seat and count the turns (and partial turn at the end)…that way you can set them back to the same turns out once they are cleaned out. One last thing it could possibly be is that the carbs just need syncing. If the butterfly is closed more on the front cylinder, it won’t get enough air and fuel compared to the rear so it won’t fire until things start warming up and the motor is less sensitive to the imbalance. Checking the sync is very easy with a couple of vacuum gages and it is easily adjusted with the screw that links the two carbs together. Hope this helps a bit and let me know how it goes. All the best ! Steve

[@ItadakiTontaro]

@StevesDIYs thanks for your response. I am still having issues with this old girl. I have checked cold compression 131 rear, 139 front. Valves in spec, it's got spark, bought a new battery which helps but doesn't solve things. Tried the old plugs, cleaned the ones in there now (they have 1500km on em). I am not an electrical guy but I did check resistance at coils, wires and the pickup coil (by the seat, I believe thats its name) these all seemed in spec. Took the carb off to drill pilot plugs out, had the carbs ultrasonic cleaned at a shop they checked floats were set good. I have new carb-engine boots (them aint cheap :S). My pilots from factory were set to 1/2 front and 1/16 rear which is wild. Well anyway I had it running and tuned nicely at 1 3/4 each, synced. But still, wont start cold. I have tried half turn incriments all the way down from 2 1/2 on cold starts and still nothing. Cold being room temp. It seems to have all the ingredients to start up no problem but a guys still gotta sit there cranking for 5 minutes before throwing a new starter and battery in her lol. Get a little heat in the cylinders and off she goes. I should also mention this issues seems to have gotten progressively worse. I don't remember this issue when I bought the bike and infact when I first saw it run it was -20 Celcius and fired right up, with the carbs greener than the hulk himself. I apologize for the long reply, I wanted to pack as much info in as I could. If theres anyway a guy could support you for your time let me know. Thanks Steve.

[@paidbysteel133]

Great video thanks

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks and hopefully the video helped a bit 👍. All the best ! Steve

[@pinpointte]

Great video! Do you know what the valve clearances for an 83 xv500 is? Waiting for my manual in the mail still and I’m reading all sorts of numbers online :/ thanks!

[@StevesDIYs]

Hey…sorry for the delay in responding. My manual doesn’t have the specs for the xv500 so I’m not real sure…probably best to wait for the manual as there’s a ton of misinformation out on the internet for sure.

[@Pilsner6996]

You seem to have tons of knowledge on the viragos. Someone used the wrong filter cover on my 1987 virago 1100, oil holes don’t line up, so the top end hasn’t been getting oil for 6000km! What damage has this done and how is it possible that it’s still running fine.

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks man 👍. That’s amazing that it’s still running after so many kilometers with the oil flow restricted from the wrong oil filter cover 😮. Actually, the oil flow from the filter cover feeds oil to all parts of the motor so not only was there hardly any oil to the heads, but also very little oil to the rod bearings and piston wrist pins. I would definitely be concerned that the oil pressure was low due to excessive wear. Unfortunately there is not an easy way to check the oil pressure unless you add a pressure gage to the oil filter cover. If you could locate a good filter cover as well as a damaged one (tabs broken off for example), you could drill and tap right in the center of the damaged one and add a gage temporarily just to see how much pressure you are getting. Then if all is good, swap it out for the good one and then you’d have the extra with the gage to check the pressure in the future as well. Let me know how it goes once you get the correct oil filter cover…I’d be interested to know if it did survive unharmed and there’s no major bottom end knocking or extreme valve clatter. All the best ! Steve

[@Pilsner6996]

@@StevesDIYs adjusted the valves and put on a new filter cover. Bike runs and sounds great, I hope it stays that way too. Hats off to ya for the help and knowledge you’re proving to many many people.

[@StevesDIYs]

@@Pilsner6996 Thanks man…I appreciate it ! Glad it wasn’t damaged and you were able to catch it in time 👍. Safe riding and all the best ! Steve

[@boxer71c55]

Steve would the procedure be any different for a 750? Thanks.

[@StevesDIYs]

Hello, the procedure for a 2nd Gen xv750 would be the same as in the video for this one (it’s a 1st Gen 750), except that the specs for the gaps might be different.

[@boxer71c55]

@@StevesDIYs thanks Steve, what gen is a 95? Trying to learn.

[@StevesDIYs]

@boxer71c55 hey again ! The ‘95 xv750 (or xv1100 as well) would be a 2nd Gen 👍. The 1st Gen bikes were from ‘81 to ‘83, then there were a couple of transition years that are part 1st Gen and part 2nd Gen designs. In ‘86 (for the US models) they released the 2nd Gens that pretty much stayed the same until they stopped producing the Virago model and switched to the V Star

[@boxer71c55]

@@StevesDIYs thanks!

[@chuckh8199]

wondering if you ever experienced a ' popping ' on idle - my 87 will do that - seems to run fine once into the main circuit - but on idle will pop - seems lean - but wont go away - any ideas ?

[@StevesDIYs]

Hey man ! Yep, I’ve had them do a popping back through the carbs on idle before and you are right that it’s probably either a lean condition when the butterflies are closed and the idle circuit is in play or it could also be that the carbs need sync’ing as they are sensitive on the idle circuit. Might be worth it to spray a little carb cleaner around on the carb boots to see if the revs increase that would indicate a leak making a lean condition. If there are no leaks and also a little adjustment to the air fuel mix needles doesn’t change it any, I’d probably check the carb sync. If the sync is off, one cylinder will be stronger and will drag the other cylinder along at a higher rpms than it wants to be going so it will pop as it tries to keep up. There’s another video on the channel on syncing my first Gens, but the 2nd Gen’s are very similar on the process (and the center adjustment screw is easier to get to as well). Hope this helps a bit and let me know how it goes. All the best ! Steve

[@chuckh8199]

@@StevesDIYs hey thanks for the reply do you think the out of sync condition is causing the rear feeding carb to be WAY too rich ? its so rich its a dead hole - gets fuel - way too much - gets spark - but wont ignite - carbs were cruddy so I got the K&L rebuild kit - changed seats - needles - main jets - and pilot jets (with new spring - jet - washer and o- ring ) the slides with diaphram seem to be fine - resist when pushed up and come back down nicely - I didnt mess with float heights as I didnt think they needed adjustment since they were fine before pulling the carbs - but now the rear feeding carb is terribly rich - Im scratching my head - thoughts ?? the front carb had a 132 jet - rear had 128 - I replaced with new ones from the kit - I dont have a shop manual - wondering if I messed that up - but also thinking the difference wouldnt cause such bad flooding - I did a bench float test - filling the bolws from a line attached to a bottle holding it high - bowls took fuel - then shut off - so I was confident the floats were working correctly - hmmmmmmmmmmmm

[@StevesDIYs]

@@chuckh8199 👍. Does yours have a little fuel pump like my ‘89 1100? If so, I did the same and bench checked my fuel height in the bowl with gravity, but didn’t realize the fuel pump seems to give it a bit more than gravity does as mine did the same thing. I ended up checking the fuel height on the bike after turning it on to let the pump fill it up and mine were too high so I had to adjust them. Might try checking on the bike to see if the pump makes yours go a bit higher as well

[@use14s]

Hello, I am one of your followers, and your work is beautiful. Can I ask you how many questions about Harley xv535?🇮🇶

[@StevesDIYs]

Thanks 👍. I don’t have a xv535, but I think they are very similar to the xv750’s for many things if you have some questions. All the best ! Steve

[@jeremyburnett503]

My 1982 cover says valve clearance is 0.10 amd 0.15 is that not correct? 1982 750 virago.

[@StevesDIYs]

Hey man ! Yes, that is correct, the .1 and .15 are in millimeters which converts to .004” and .006”. If you have a set of metric feeler gages use the .1 mm and the .15 mm ones 👍

[@Don-nw5sy]

Will I need to drain my oil prior to this?

[@StevesDIYs]

Hey man ! No, it’s not necessary to drain the oil to set the valves since the side cover doesn’t need to come off (just the vanity cover that’s says Yamaha and the center plug, but the oil is not up that high in the motor. There will be a little oil that is up in the valve covers, but it can be soaked up with a paper towel when the little covers are taken off. Hope this helps and all the best ! Steve

[@sdmerkr]

Yup, broke that f-ing cap…. Grrr.

[@StevesDIYs]

Dang...I think it’s that dumb arrow Yamaha put on the side of the motor case that throws everyone off on which way the little cover comes off. 🙁

[@alphabloo6315]

What's the part number?