Valve Adjustment - First Time

[Bob_Roller]

Unless the timing is way off, you won't notice anything .

I've had my '81 R65  a little over 36 years and when I check it, I usually don't have to adjust it .

The few times I have adjusted it, it wasn't much of an adjustment .

The electronic bean can has few parts that will wear out .

About the only thing that is common, is sticking advance mechanism .

[BPT]

I was wondering about the advance mech. sticking but hadn't looked into that yet.

[tunnelrider]

As far as I know, the timing is ok. By that I mean it seemed to be all this time. The only noticeable strangeness now is the fluctuating idle. I'll plan to just do a basic valve adjustment and get the carbs right for now.

Yes do that BPT, that will put you on the right track.

Playing around with the idle speed and mix to balance the carbs takes time and patience, and unless you have a big fan to put in front of your bike to provide cooling you need to go for a ride, firstly to get the engine up to normal operating temp, then riding inbetween adjustments, to cool the engine (as you will keep it running while adjusting and listen to the exhausts, trying to even the 'pop' so they are the same). I take a combination phillips head/flat head screwdriver and 10mm open end spanner (for the cable adjusters) in my pocket.  As mentioned, Barry has posted a really useful link on the technical FAQ's board on carb tuning by ear:
http://www.bmwr65.org/YaBB2.612/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1274863320

If, after doing your valve clearances and playing around with the carbs, you still have a high idle problems then I'd look at squirting some lube in the bean can.

Any easy to notice symptoms that the timing could be off?

I've had to slightly adjust my timing once. Performance wise it was obvious, it was stumbling, not quite firing right, below 3500rpm, esp. noticeable after take off (fine) then holding speed at about 25-45 mph (stumbling).

[Justin B.]

On our r65 and r100 if they set very long "stuff" starts growing in the transfer(?) jet.  It's the get in front of the main jet that has all the itty-bitty holes in it.  It'll idle fine, good when at cruise, but very stubborn getting there unless it's partially choked.  This will happen after 3 months or so of being idle.

If you want to run down to the south side of town I'll be more than happy to "supervise" your valve adjustment.  And, we can check timing and carb sync afterwards...

[JBHemlock]

I've always heard that you want to adjust the valves cold, but lately I've seen some stuff suggesting that this only applies to older bikes like the /2. I've always adjusted my valves cold, but it sounds like you're saying they're fine to adjust after a ride. What's the consensus on this?

Also, hi! New member here

[wilcom]

I've always heard that you want to adjust the valves cold, but lately I've seen some stuff suggesting that this only applies to older bikes like the /2. I've always adjusted my valves cold, but it sounds like you're saying they're fine to adjust after a ride. What's the consensus on this?

I believe it's a warm motor  when you are adjusting the carbs. The valve settings are for a cold motor.

"Back in the day" we used to set valves on cars with the motor warm and while it was running.  Glad I don't do that anymore

[Barry]

I had also heard from a very creditable source that valve clearances don't have to be done stone cold.  Obviously you wouldn't want to adjust them with the engine hot enough to cause burns but a few years ago I decided to try checking them warm and then checked them again stone cold the next day. There was no measurable difference.

Being able to do them warm fits nicely into the annual service. Drain the oil hot and leave for half an hour, change the filter, check plugs and ignition refit the drain plug and then it will be cool enough to check the valve clearances before refilling with oil.

I'm sure  we discussed this once before because I remember mentioning that I once had a car where the clearances were not only done hot but with the engine running.  It was hard on the feeler gauges.


Here we go - the thread from nearly 2 years ago where I first tried doing them on a warm engine.
 
http://www.bmwr65.org/YaBB2.612/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1439431305/2#10

[wilcom]

the clearances were not only done hot but with the engine running.  It was hard on the feeler gauges.

I still have a feeler gauge with dents in it somewhere LOL. Yep you would turn it down till it grabbed the gauge and then loosen til it just slid thru without grabbing.

No feeler gauge no problem, just adjust by ear. CLACK CLACK to loose CLICK CLICK still too loose, click click, almost... [size=8]tic tic [/size]....ahh , just right.

[JBHemlock]

Being able to do them warm fits nicely into the annual service. Drain the oil hot and leave for half an hour, change the filter, check plugs and ignition refit the drain plug and then it will be cool enough to check the valve clearances before refilling with oil.

Yeah, that makes things a lot more convenient. I used to adjust the valves, then button everything up and go for a ride to warm up the oil and do a change.

[BPT]

To Justin - be careful with an offer like that, I might just take you up on it. And bug the crap out if you with a lot of questions. Seriously though, it would be nice to have an experienced set of eyes and ears to have a look and listen.

I've had some things come up the last few weeks and had to delay this but looking at getting into it again. Of course, next week will be the hottest week so far this year - just my luck. So we'll see if I can deal with that and try to do at least a basic valve adjustment in the next week or two.

I did crank it up and took a short ride last week. I played with the idle screws (the throttle adjustment, not mixture) and was able to get the idle high enough that it didn't seem like it was going to die.  And it stayed that way until I pulled into the drive at home.  Maybe I'll get lucky and it will stay that way the next time I fire it up....

[Justin B.]

Bring it on!  PM me if you want my address...

[BPT]

Thanks Justin, I might do that at some point. I'm going to attempt the valve adjustment in the next couple of days, if everything goes right.  We'll see what happens after that. I have a feeling I'm going to need some help with the carbs afterwards.
  One question about the adjustment: I'm following everyone's recommendation to do just that for now, just a simple valve adjustment. Should I not worry about checking the torque for now?

[Justin B.]

If you are going to re-torque you should do it first as it may cause clearances to change.  But, if you don't have any seeping around the head gasket it's probably not a 100% needed thing to do...

[BPT]

Thanks, Justin. Nope, no seepage. Since I've had the beast it's been leak free in that area. I know everyone said to keep it simple and just do the valve adjustment for now, just wanted to make sure that wasn't considered an automatic part of that process.

[Justin B.]

The only one I ever had seep was on a new R100/7 I bought.  On my way up to Alaska I had to stop at a gas station in N. Dakota and bum a torque wrench.  I retorqued, reset the valves, and continued on my way with no seep. Probably the gasket settling in since I would guess I had less then 5k miles on it...