30,000 mile update......

[sendler2112]

Well they don't check them and the service manual doesn't give valve check intervals interestingly.

Ridiculous! It's in every manual. Once at 1000km-600 miles and then every 4,0000km to 4,000 miles depending on the language and country of the manual. The first sign of trouble will be hard starting and poor fuel efficieny from too tight valves burning the seat. They must be considering scooters as throw away items. I agree 4k miles may be conservative but to say that you never adjust the valves until the engine acts up is complete neglect. These dealers are giving terrible advice and turning their back on money.

[ScooterMan]

Well they don't check them and the service manual doesn't give valve check intervals interestingly.

Ridiculous! It's in every manual. Once at 1000km-600 miles and then every 4,0000km to 4,000 miles depending on the language and country of the manual. The first sign of trouble will be hard starting and poor fuel efficieny from too tight valves burning the seat. They must be considering scooters as throw away items. I agree 4k miles may be conservative but to say that you never adjust the valves until the engine acts up is complete neglect. These dealers are giving terrible advice and turning their back on money.

I agree. So many dealers rarely work on these scooters that it's a pita for them to work on a PCX. Mechanic or not, the way scooters are put together with their hidden fasteners would slow most seasoned techs and the first time doing the job they'd either lose their ass or break a piece of bodywork, or both. Couple that with maybe the fact that they done a couple of them that didn't need an adjustment, and maybe this is just their standard advice no on these?

Regardless, it's poor advice and Sendler is right. I'm a former motorcycle tech and agree it should be checked. But at the same time, BRavo to you if you got 30k miles from the scoot and it's still running strong with no valve adjustment! I'm certainly not looking forward to having to do mine. At least I'm comfortable with how to get most of the bodywork off on my scoots which is the hard part actually!

[gn2]

By the time the valves become a problem the scooter will typically be on its third owner or already crashed and scrapped.

[SECoda]

My Honda dealer service manager basically told me a similar thing "off of the record". He said if it continues to start and run well then hold off until 15k miles but come in right away if you notice any change (sounds like a doctor). (I think the Forza is 16k for first check). My Arctic Cat dealer service manager actually did some limited testing on my PCX (starting it and running it a bit - asked about mileage) and said they don't need it at about 2k miles but the Honda guy basically said the same. He did say they would be happy to take my $150 for a valve check anytime I wanted and there are coupons for about $130 sometimes.

If I relied on my bikes for commuting I would be a bit more concerned. As it is I am a blue card rider and flyer. I have a robin blue plastic card with a hole in the middle. When the sky and the card colors match - I go riding or flying.

Well they don't check them and the service manual doesn't give valve check intervals interestingly. It should be noted that 125cc bikes are a dime a dozen here and they have a ton of experience with small Honda engines. When the head mechanic at my local flagship Honda Dream motorcycle shop tells me we won't check them unless there are signs it needs to be done I trust his expertise and experience.

[DAB]

Well they don't check them and the service manual doesn't give valve check intervals interestingly.

Ridiculous! It's in every manual. Once at 1000km-600 miles and then every 4,0000km to 4,000 miles depending on the language and country of the manual. The first sign of trouble will be hard starting and poor fuel efficieny from too tight valves burning the seat. They must be considering scooters as throw away items. I agree 4k miles may be conservative but to say that you never adjust the valves until the engine acts up is complete neglect. These dealers are giving terrible advice and turning their back on money.

Agree 100%

[you you]

By the time the valves become a problem the scooter will typically be on its third owner or already crashed and scrapped.

Now this is true..

[haildamage]

its not in the japanese service manual. we checked carefully when i told him about the valve check intervals as stated in the US service manual. again, i will trust a seasoned honda factory trained mechanic with years of experience who services a dozen 125cc honda engines a week or more over a the opinions of bunch of guys on the internet. it certainly wont hurt anything to check them if you have the time and enjoy it. however, paying a dealer to do it is probably a big waste of money!

[iceman]

It does not need to be in the service/shop manual, that's a how to at advanced level, the service intervals should be in the owners manual (is for PCX, should be for Forza) - the mech's should know about the intervals and all that is mentioned by Honda.

[sendler2112]

its not in the japanese service manual.

Ridiculous!

[gn2]

The valvetrain on Japanese domestic market scooters is made from a special material which does not wear.

[WhiteNoise]

^^ Want!
What happened to common sense?
Will 'Ol pal of mine Google" tell us what the Japanese service manual says? Ya think?
C'mon! Why would Honda's PCX's be so different by you haildamage? I think your mechanic's are just too busy fussing with sooo many scoots that a valve job is just too time consuming. Time is $money$ One scoot rolls in, as one rolls out! All day long.....everyday.
Simples.

BTW, it's good to see you posting here again Happy New Year!

[scisor34]

I have no idea what the Japanese manual says, nor do I care. The fact that experienced mechanics in countries in which the PCX is so prevalant don't bother to check the valves unless there's a reason, to me, says a lot. Those are the guys who live it every day, they've seen it all. My PCX has 30,000 trouble free miles, makes sense they could be right......?

[haildamage]

there are no valve check internals in the japanese owners manual. no valve check intervals in the official japanese shop service manual materials. the cheif mechanic checked everything he had on the PCX very carefully when i told him about the US intervals and found nothing. you can bet that they would have noticed by now if people were having problems caused by their practice of not checking the valves on all the PCX and other similar honda 125cc engines they sell and service. they do a $10 oil change if you bought it there, so pretty much everybody brings them in regularly.

if i am not mistaken in previous conversations the guys in thailand said there are also no valve check intervals given in their manuals. why do they list them in the US/UK manuals? i can only speculate. maybe they want to generate revenue for the shops?

in this thread we have a guy with 30,000 miles, no valve checks and no problems. i am not following this forum so closely these days. has anybody reported a problem caused by neglecting to check the valves?

[SECoda]

Not that I can remember but I can remember a lot of broken tabs and panels from attempting to inspect them - even by some of the dealers.

[sendler2112]

there are no valve check internals in the japanese owners manual. no valve check intervals in the official japanese shop service manual materials.

It's in there. Absolutely no question about it. Check the valves. To think that any engine without hydraulic lifters would have an official factory spec of "never check the valve clearance" is ludicrous.

[iceman]

Well, I just checked the Thai owners manual and that has valve inspection at 600, 2.5K, 5K, every service basically. There are a lot of PCX in Thailand but the manual still has the same advice (perhaps for Honda Corp to cover themselves). It's then the dealer who would have to pay for service under warranty if something bad happened due to neglect and never doing what Honda advise.
It's in Thai and google translate would not translate it, but I compared the service schedule pages with the UK one, and it's the same for the valve and everything else looked the same (but I concentrated on the valve check line).
I believe this is still a live link to a Japanese PCX manual (can't be bothered to translate it though or search for the schedule)
https://docs.google.com/a/motorcycle...NTc5M2Qx&hl=en

[haildamage]

Well, I just checked the Thai owners manual and that has valve inspection at 600, 2.5K, 5K, every service basically. There are a lot of PCX in Thailand but the manual still has the same advice (perhaps for Honda Corp to cover themselves). It's then the dealer who would have to pay for service under warranty if something bad happened due to neglect and never doing what Honda advise.
It's in Thai and google translate would not translate it, but I compared the service schedule pages with the UK one, and it's the same for the valve and everything else looked the same (but I concentrated on the valve check line).
I believe this is still a live link to a Japanese PCX manual (can't be bothered to translate it though or search for the schedule)
https://docs.google.com/a/motorcycle...NTc5M2Qx&hl=en

that link is not working for me. can you fix it please? i know my 2011 manual doesn't have it, but i would like to check if this one does. alternatively, do a CTRL +F search for "バルブ"

[iceman]

try this (you need a google account and then click continue)
http://tinyurl.com/qeagp65
Either way, up to the owner if they get things checked. Just strange one country out of all the rest 'may' not state the valves need checking (owners manual).

[haildamage]

my japanese isnt great but i can read valve, km, engine oil, etc, etc.

on page 85 of the 2015 owners manual it says to do the first oil change after 1,000 km or 1 month and to change the oil every 6,000 km or once a year. this is all i am finding for a maintenance schedule in the manual.

it is very interesting that they don't call for the extremely frequent valve checks that are in the other owners manuals?

http://www.honda.co.jp/ownersmanual/Hon ... pcx&y=2015

[you you]

my japanese isnt great but i can read valve, km, engine oil, etc, etc.

on page 85 of the 2015 owners manual it says to do the first oil change after 1,000 km or 1 month and to change the oil every 6,000 km or once a year. this is all i am finding for a maintenance schedule in the manual.

it is very interesting that they don't call for the extremely frequent valve checks that are in the other owners manuals?

http://www.honda.co.jp/ownersmanual/Hon ... pcx&y=2015

I think it's in the "fool and money" section...