Commuting! Suzuki SV650 (naked) vs Honda NC750s

[the Ferret]

The trouble with adjusting valve clearances with feeler gauges is it requires a certain "feel". How much drag on the gauge is too much or not enough? My brother a factory trained Yamaha mechanic had the feel. He'd ask me to try it on my 650 Yamaha twins with screw nut adjusters and I honestly had no clue when feeling it. Then he would adjust them properly. Same with torque on bolts and nuts etc. I have no feeling for it, so I don't work on things. I'll do oil changes or chain adjustments, but I won't even attempt motor work. Have no mechanical aptitude as they would say.

I've heard/read enough horror stories of guys adjusting their own valve improperly.... heck we had a guy on the CB 1100 forum that a dealership mechanic told him he had 12 out of 16 valves out of spec at its first check @ 8,0000 miles, when literally no one else on the forum needed a single valve adjusted at the first service. Either he was lied to OR the mechanic had no idea what he was doing.

 

[Dan German]

The trouble with adjusting valve clearances with feeler gauges is it requires a certain "feel". How much drag on the gauge is too much or not enough? My brother a factory trained Yamaha mechanic had the feel. He'd ask me to try it on my 650 Yamaha twins with screw nut adjusters and I honestly had no clue when feeling it. Then he would adjust them properly.

Go/No-Go feeler gauges are one of the greatest inventions ever. I learned that in my Beetle days. And anyway, bikes with screw and locknut adjusters rarely (if ever) require such precision that you need mystical “feel” of the drag on the gauge.

 

[Klap]

Go/No-Go feeler gauges are one of the greatest inventions ever. I learned that in my Beetle days. And anyway, bikes with screw and locknut adjusters rarely (if ever) require such precision that you need mystical “feel” of the drag on the gauge.

I was going to bring this up too- I bought my first set of “Go/no go” feeler gauges 40 years ago, and it REALLY made a difference in my confidence level when doing anything which required fine tolerance work.
The first set I saw were actually made by a tool and die maker, who ground them himself, and then I saw a commercially available set. What a great idea!

 

[the Ferret]

Never heard of go-no go feeler gauges. I'll have to look them up. My last experience with feeler gauges was in 1973 on my TX 650 Yamaha.

Edit: ok just googled them and watched a video on their use. Those are interesting and very nice.

 

[dduelin]

My dad taught me how to use a feeler gauge on a 1970 Honda 50. I’ve thanked him countless times over the years for the things I learned from him. My feeler guages quite possibly date from 1970 as he gave me my first stocked tool box. I have my own version of go/no go petals. I remove the knurled wheel and remove the two petals representing minimum and maximum clearance for the clearance being measured or adjusted. I find it easier to manipulate it and feel drag with just the one petal in my fingers. Check with the minimum one first. If it won’t go or is too draggy then adjustment is needed, if it goes easy then use the maximum. If it doesn’t go then clearance is within spec. Move on to the next one. I’ve almost never found a screw and lock-nut tappet valve train going loose over time, only tighter.

 

[Rydinon]

The feel is easy to describe, and I think, easy to learn. There should be almost no drag at all on the feeler gage when you are checking before adjusting. If you play around with the set of feeler gages on one valve for a few minutes, you should be able to figure this out. If not, you must have a mechanically adept friend who can show you.