Valve checks on motorcycles - a few questions.

[paz]

Bike shims are the same principal as car shims

Most cars have hydraulic tappets, not shims. And simple small bikes have screw adjusted tappets.

[ktm jeff]

Yes paz , most cars do , but "back in the day" , there were cars that had to have their cams removed , to replace the shims ( as some bikes now ) such as Lancia . Hydraulic tappets are better in many ways .

[JesseLeeOver]

Yes paz , most cars do , but "back in the day" , there were cars that had to have their cams removed , to replace the shims ( as some bikes now ) such as Lancia . Hydraulic tappets are better in many ways .

a

My Datsun 240z was a '71, so those cam towers were adjusted by using shims, even the L28 six out of the '78 I installed used the same system. Before I went turbo I added a high rev camshaft and had to bring the cam up and away from tappets a bit. Chucked the carbs and went FI when I added the little turbo to the car. No muffler because the turbo muffles noise well anyway. At 276 horse power and a mean straight six sound with a spooling turbo, that little car boggied. Wish I had that car here in the LOS.

[tomyumchai]

the easiest way to check any work has been done by a thai is to take the bike in 'dusty and dirty'. if they checked the shims then the rocker cover area will have an oily mark along the gasket face and there will be mucky finger prints all over the cover. same goes for oil filter covers and around screw on filters, there will be spillage where the old bits or covers were taken off.

-if it looks as dirty/dusty as when it went in then they probably didnt do anything.

in nakon sawan kawasaki i returned to find my ER6 throttle bodies off on my 24000 service but theres no need to remove them to get to the valve cover. the valve cover was clean. afterwards the bike never ran sweet again which makes me wonder *who's* throttle bodies do i have now??? i sold it soon after as it wasnt the same bike any more.

.....my CRF went in for an oil and filter change and came out with a slight damp spot round the drain bolt but no oil around the oil filter cover. the seat also fell off later as they hadnt refitted it properly.

from now on i do my own servicing.

[ktm jeff]

Heres a good tip for everyone who wishes to check if the correct work has been done , at Honda , and elsewhere . Paint a "bridge" over the joining surfaces / matting faces / surfaces with some clear nail varnish . Might raise some eyebrows when you go to buy it . When / if the components are seperated / replaced , the "bridge" of clear varnish / paint will be broke . J L O , That was some advanced work back then , blown , with FI . Some friends have used one bike carb per cylinder on some engines to good effect . Brings a tear to my eyes , thinking of cars / bikes i cant bring to Thailand. .

[Happy Grumpy]

In many years here I don't think I've ever been satisfied with Honda's so called 'mechanics'.

One thing that maybe useful for you is to write a very neat and straight forward list of what the service entails.

Never trust them to see that it's the 24k km one or whatever, then look in their service manual and see what they should do.

Write everything down, simply and clearly. For the valve clearance, write down what it should be on your list, and draw a line for them to write what they are when they check them.

When you present the list, also include some cold drinks for them and be very nice and polite.

Basically how you would treat a spoiled lazy child that you really need to do something for you.

With this, you might, just might get a satisfactory service from them.

[CarolJadzia]

From what I have seen of Thailand it mirrors the same as England just with more notable extremes.

8 years ago when the Honda clunk I borrowed got a flat I took it to the nearest bike shop I found. Typical scooter shop. Family business, it was evening when I arrived, the whole family sat watching telly eating their evening meal surrounded by scooters. The bike was outside fixed and ready to go as soon as I returned in the morning and they charged me 50 bht. If I was riding a scooter I would happily go back there, but would never dream of taking a big bike there.

We hired big bikes off some Russians to take a tour, both bikes were new and looked well maintained. But when I saw how they were handling the bikes in the workshop I knew it was not a place I wanted to go back to for a service on my own bike.

I have since gained a new friend. His name is Keen and he runs Keen Big Bikes on Koh Samui. He trained as a mechanic at university in BKK, rides a Honda Blackbird and has people travel from all over to have their bikes serviced by him.

In the UK I can get a measure of a garage by the amount of red I see when I walk in the door. Many people recon they are DIY mechanics and will have a go themselves at a job, only then when things go wrong will they take it to a garage. So as a motorcycle mechanic you are used to seeing rounded off heads and seized bolts. Snap-On do the specialist tools that help with issues like those. I have a set of Snap-On flank drive sockets for instance. They grip the sides of bolt heads rather than the corners. A standard good workshop in the UK will have at least a couple of Snap-On or Mac tool chests in the workshop. Now that is not going to be the case in Thailand. But you can still get a measure of a garage by how the workshop looks. What tools and equipment they have. Main Agents should have the genuine manufacturer specialist tool boards as well.

But then there are also good and bad mechanics. So talk around. I cross reference online, see if they have a facebook page for instance as many main agents do now. See if they are being recommended by others. Like I mentioned above Keen has people travelling to the Island to have their bikes serviced by him.

A good mechanic will not leave any signs they have been inside your engine. It should be returned to you cleaner than when you dropped it off but if it was clean to start with then no change.

Of course if you let a monkey work on your bike he will probably start using badly fitting spanners or 'mole' grips to undo bolts and leave oily fingerprints everywhere. No chance I would let a muppet like that touch my bike in the first place.

[ktm jeff]

Sadly , the issue with with lazy , sub-standard , rip-off mechanics is not confined to Thailand , although the standard of the Honda "mechanics" seems to be falling as fast , and as far , as the "Honda" products themselves . Thats from an English engineer .

[marcusmarsh]

@ Carol Jadzia, have you got the mechanic, Keen,s, telephone number / details ? (I have googled it and not sure if its taking me to correct contact details).

I will need a good mechanic for future services etc and will be living down on Koh Phangnan so would happily take it to Samui if he knows his stuff.

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Today Ive been considering going back to the Bigwing on Monday to have a word about, and show them, the valves that were replaced. I can speak enough Thai to at least let them know Im not happy and the reasons why. Plus let them know there are more than just me that aint happy.

But what good would it do ?

[CarolJadzia]

@ Carol Jadzia, have you got the mechanic, Keen,s, telephone number / details ? (I have googled it and not sure if its taking me to correct contact details).

I will need a good mechanic for future services etc and will be living down on Koh Phangnan so would happily take it to Samui if he knows his stuff.

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Today Ive been considering going back to the Bigwing on Monday to have a word about, and show them, the valves that were replaced. I can speak enough Thai to at least let them know Im not happy and the reasons why. Plus let them know there are more than just me that aint happy.

But what good would it do ?

Keen big bike supply

He is on facebook https://www.facebook.com/KEENBIGBIKE

Only a small place. Picture below is me helping a mate fit a new exhaust to his BMW. Not a big workshop but enough.

[ktm jeff]

marcusmarsh , i think a phonecall to Honda HQ in BKK , and e-mail / photos of the shims that DID need replacing would help , and a return visit to the Honda "mechanic" to see about a refund of the money back they effectivly stole from you ..