How fast to your valve cover?

[fish]

If you have another scooter - how fast can you be looking at your valve cover?
I think the record for a Kymco is just under 4 mins (with a screw gun)
four 10mm hex bolts, 2 phillips to lift the seat/bucket off; 2 phillips and pop off the front body panel.... Badda-Bing you are looking at the valve cover.
(the funny part: my dealer wanted 2.5 hrs of shop time just to "get through all those body panels", $362. Obviously they'd never adjusted the valves on a scooter model they had been "selling for years")



Fish

[homie]

Brutal...

[BRed]

On the Helix, late model Elite 250s and the MF04E (Reflex, Big Ruckus & Foresight), there's an access panel on the left side with one trimclip.

Under that plastic panel, you have access to both intake and exhaust valve adjusters, which are EXTERNAL....no need to even remove the valve cover.



pic credit to ChuckTuna

Set them on a cold engine by the static adjustment method (line up the flywheel and cam timing marks with valves in overlap)
or warm up the engine with a 5 mile ride and set them HOT (the way Honda trained the mechanics on the Helix)...
with the engine warm and running, loosen the adjuster quadrant with a 10mm, turn the quadrant to get the level of "tic" that suits your driving style and lock it down.

Done.....in minutes!

You can actually adjust the valves on the external adjuster engines in less time than it takes to get to the valve covers on most scoots.

[you you]

On the Helix, late model Elite 250s and the MF04E (Reflex, Big Ruckus & Foresight), there's an access panel on the left side with one trimclip.

Under that plastic panel, you have access to both intake and exhaust valve adjusters, which are EXTERNAL....no need to even remove the valve cover.



pic credit to ChuckTuna

Set them on a cold engine by the static adjustment method (line up the flywheel and cam timing marks with valves in overlap)
or warm up the engine with a 5 mile ride and set them HOT (the way Honda trained the mechanics on the Helix)...
with the engine warm and running, loosen the adjuster quadrant with a 10mm, turn the quadrant to get the level of "tic" that suits your driving style and lock it down.

Done.....in minutes!

You can actually adjust the valves on the external adjuster engines in less time than it takes to get to the valve covers on most scoots.

Amazing. Never seen that before

[hfnut]

Awesome design! If all scooters/motorcycles were that way.... Just goes to show you that they can be designed to be maintence friendly if the manufacturers were to get outta our pockets....

[fish]

I remember seeing that somewhere. Very cool solution. Due to design limitations?? Frame member dead in the way, or?
This could not cost too much for the manufacturer..?
Wonder if it has a limitation of some kind...or is a design compromise?
PCX owners and a few Forza folks would trade their Klondike bars to find this setup behind a popoff panel!!!
Fish

[BRed]

It's a clever system and almost foolproof, since the quadrant limits the range of adjustment...
you can set it to where it won't run well, but you can't set it where it breaks something.
You could burn a valve if you got carried away.

The design is intentional for ease of service.....
the limits of the design is probably surpassed by the higher performance of the new 4 valve engine.....
I don't see the external adjuster system working as slick with 4 adjusters.

anyway, the dealers hated the design.....
anyone with a 10mm and a good ear could adjust the valves on a 1980s-2008 Honda 250cc scoot and do it without shims, feeler gauges or torque wrenches...

It's a testament to the design (ECU rev limited to 1500 revs below the design rpm spec) that the engines last forever with a regular oil change....
it's common to see 100,000 mile Helix and Reflex and I know of at least one 100,000 mile Big Ruckus...
my 2 have almost 80,000 miles between them.

The Forza will definitely generate some shop work for the dealerships, given the horror stories on broken body panels.
BTW, after taking mine apart several times, I'm betting they're breaking the right rear body panel, right??

It has an annoying little panel interlock at the rear edge in addition to the Phillips head screw and taillight interlock....
only visible from under and very easy to miss!

[frog13]

I've said for years that manufacturers are intentionally making these products difficult . Even the 4 valve units could be made so easy adjustment were possible. ...shame , shame .
Screw the consumer in the name of the "almighty" dollar , yen etc .

[dkazzed]

My local Kymco dealer quoted 0.5 hours to do the Downtown 300i's valve adjustment.

[Forza 300]

On the honda sh 150 all you have to do is take two Philips screws out to get the plastic cover off and then your looking at the valve cover less then two minutes.

Don

[fish]

On the honda sh 150 all you have to do is take two Philips screws out to get the plastic cover off and then your looking at the valve cover less then two minutes.

Don

Cool beans!
OK, you win.
BUT.....I like to have a coffee and scratch and look at things and take breaks while I'm getting to the valve cover.
Shoot, it takes me longer than that to set up my furniture and get the break area organized.
Mechanical things are neat to look at - when they're working riight and clean.
2 screws. Wow.
See......there is a lesson there for the committee that designs these things!
All designers should first be mechanics.
2 screws....geez.
Fish

[fish]

My local Kymco dealer quoted 0.5 hours to do the Downtown 300i's valve adjustment.

Test that out once....and report back with your service labor bill. (get in there and seal the lock nut on the adjuster screw with a dab of paint....see if he actually gets there)
Of cousre, first the scoot has to sit over night - so bring your jammies.
Fish

[hfnut]

On the honda sh 150 all you have to do is take two Philips screws out to get the plastic cover off and then your looking at the valve cover less then two minutes.

Don

Yep, that's what I found on the Sh150! Really easy to access the valve cover and the battery box too, the only downside to adjusting the valves on the Sh150 is the lower valve (exhaust) is a bit tougher to get to than the upper (intake) valve but not horrible. Just make sure that you don't over torque the valve cover bolts! Ask me how I know that! I believe that the bolts and valve cover gasket along with the valve cover bolt washers (rubber) are single-use and need to be replaced each time you remove them...remember only 7 ft/lbs... Take it easy! Well, at lest the valves on the Forza don't have to be adjusted as often...maybe I'll try to cut a hinged access panel if I can find a suitable area to place it.

Ride safe...spring is here!

[conv1900]

Good stuff.
some MFG. must think service & access isn't important! ( or at least for the cust.)
Did I miss it ,or didn't anyone post the time for Forza 300 ?

[BRed]

in a race to remove the valve cover, the Forza will probably come in dead last.....
by the time you can remove the valve cover, the scoot has been stripped to the frame and had the luggage box and probably seat as well, removed.

[fish]

On the honda sh 150 all you have to do is take two Philips screws out to get the plastic cover off and then your looking at the valve cover less then two minutes.

Don

Yep, that's what I found on the Sh150! Really easy to access the valve cover and the battery box too, the only downside to adjusting the valves on the Sh150 is the lower valve (exhaust) is a bit tougher to get to than the upper (intake) valve but not horrible. Just make sure that you don't over torque the valve cover bolts! Ask me how I know that! I believe that the bolts and valve cover gasket along with the valve cover bolt washers (rubber) are single-use and need to be replaced each time you remove them...remember only 7 ft/lbs... Take it easy! Well, at lest the valves on the Forza don't have to be adjusted as often...maybe I'll try to cut a hinged access panel if I can find a suitable area to place it.

Ride safe...spring is here!

You find the right place to cut .....for Pete's Sake post it!!
This thing ain't the Mona Lisa...
Remember , " measure twice, cut once" cause I'm gonna be bummed if we're cutting holes to get to the coil instead of the valve cover. Also, I can rent a chimp if small hands are needed.
Keep us posted....
Fis

[fish]

in a race to remove the valve cover, the Forza will probably come in dead last.....
by the time you can remove the valve cover, the scoot has been stripped to the frame and had the luggage box and probably seat as well, removed.

How do you say ," Oh crap!" in Thailand?
I love adjusting valves on a scooter, normally....this is a bummer.
Fish