And as always, short trips are the worst thing for an engine.

There you go giving good advice again... now I can't ride next door for a beer anymore!   

That is slimy!

I would have told the dealer that I am not paying him for "all the other" things he did as that was not what I told him to do...  You requested he check the valves and that is what you agreed to pay for if he took it upon himself to check and do a list of other things that "he" felt was needed then that is on him...  Now after I told him this and he got pissed then I would have looked at the list and determined how many I felt was worth paying for and perhaps negotiated what I felt was a fair price but he would get the point that you don't do what ever you feel like doing and expect to be paid for it..  You do what the customer ask and any additional items you call and get pre approval for before doing.  That is the proper way to do business.

I would have told the dealer that I am not paying him for "all the other" things he did as that was not what I told him to do...  You requested he check the valves and that is what you agreed to pay for if he took it upon himself to check and do a list of other things that "he" felt was needed then that is on him...  Now after I told him this and he got pissed then I would have looked at the list and determined how many I felt was worth paying for and perhaps negotiated what I felt was a fair price but he would get the point that you don't do what ever you feel like doing and expect to be paid for it..  You do what the customer ask and any additional items you call and get pre approval for before doing.  That is the proper way to do business.

^^^^that

Afm,
since I'm in Europe the manual calls for a first valve inspection at 42000 km / 25000 miles.

is that 42000km/25000 miles listed in the manual for the c14's in Europe??  if it is then I don't see how they could deny any warranty work here in the US if something happened if you didn't do the check at 15000 miles.  as far as I know its the same motor! 

I would have told the dealer that I am not paying him for "all the other" things he did as that was not what I told him to do...  You requested he check the valves and that is what you agreed to pay for if he took it upon himself to check and do a list of other things that "he" felt was needed then that is on him...  Now after I told him this and he got pissed then I would have looked at the list and determined how many I felt was worth paying for and perhaps negotiated what I felt was a fair price but he would get the point that you don't do what ever you feel like doing and expect to be paid for it..  You do what the customer ask and any additional items you call and get pre approval for before doing.  That is the proper way to do business.

+1
I would be *FURIOUS* if a dealer or any contractor of any sort did work I did not specify or authorize.  No approval = no pay.  And if they did something I want undone, they can pay to undo it, too.

is that 42000km/25000 miles listed in the manual for the c14's in Europe??  if it is then I don't see how they could deny any warranty work here in the US if something happened if you didn't do the check at 15000 miles.  as far as I know its the same motor!

This point has been debated quite a bit.  The best reason that I have seen it that US C14's have the shorter valve check interval is due to EPA regs.  Or it could just be the fact that Mama Kaw wanted to throw the US dealers a bone and gave them a $500-$800 job that "needs" to be done more often.   

...just sayin' ...my GL1800 had just over 50,000 miles before I had the valves checked...not one needed work, I don't intend on giving a dealer business just 'cause. I'll wait at least 25,000 miles before submitting...just

Dave

...Despite what the post above said, damn few people will hear it either (one way or another).  There are simply to many other noises, and most of us wear helmets and ear plugs...

jjsC6,
I always use earplugs and helmet but I still can hear and tell apart the noises the bike makes. It's even worse when I switch from my noise cancelling headphones to earplugs. The NC headphones filter all those mechanical, constant noises very well, so when I put on the earplugs instead and start the engine, things become very obvious. But as said, I am a compulsive obsessive bastard have a very sensitive hearing. I can't sleep in a room with a wind up watch. I can hear my hamsters using their exercise wheel two rooms away, with the door closed. I can hear when my girlfriend comes home from the way she opens the door downstairs in the building where we live... 

My z1000 i took in for its first valve check at 25K.  Dealer gave me back the bike with a $900 bill.  Said the valves "did not need done"  and they spent more time tightening bolts and going over other things..... 

Dealer was too lazy to do the work.  And justified his bill with labor costs.  Don't take a dealers word for it,  They can be just lazy too.

You gotta be kidding me. A real mechanic could tighten every exposed bolt/nut on the entire bike in 30 minutes.

I think this is now an issue of preference.
When us early adopters were reaching that first 15K mark, there was no history of others we could reference.
Now, I think the pattern is well established.

Many of us have found the valves to be a little on the tight side at the first check, but nothing worrisome.
After that, they appear to stay pretty stable.
Which leads me to believe... the head and valvetrain is well designed, and they don't wander much at all. Kudos to Kawi!

For my own bike. We changed a few shims that first check and everything stayed within spec until the 75k check, when one more was out of spec. (we changed a couple to center them up again)

It is truly amazing how across the map this issue is. From what I gather from this discussion is when the time is right, the time will be right. Happy ground seems to be about 25000-30000.

Hey Fella's
I just got my bike back from my dealer from a valve adjustment. The service manager is a good friend .  15 out of 16 needed a shim. Also fixed the cooling fan issue( blown fuse).Hopefully it will not happen again.  I have 18000 miles on my 2010. I was going to wait to have the values done until 24000 miles.

C44

OK,

Here's a question that I haven't seen answered.  Given the US has a lower mileage recommendation than Europe does for checking the valves, are the European clearance specs wider in range or are the ranges the same as the US specs?


Jeff

Hi there, my feedback with this issue:
I just got mine back from the dealer. I'm in Germany so the manual calls for 42000 km/ 26000 miles.
He did the valve job with a bit more than that (45000 km or 29000 miles) since I hit the mark being on a long trip. He found 7 valves slightly on the loose side and changed the shims.
I mentioned before that I heard the valves (a kind of tik tik at 2000-2500 rpm). When I pointed out the noise to my girlfriend she could also hear it, but of course she had no idea what it was. Now the noise is gone, and my gf agrees 
And for those of you who think I'm crazy: you're just jealous because the purple little men only speak to me.

Hi there, my feedback with this issue:
I just got mine back from the dealer. I'm in Germany so the manual calls for 42000 km/ 26000 miles.
He did the valve job with a bit more than that (45000 km or 29000 miles) since I hit the mark being on a long trip. He found 7 valves slightly on the loose side and changed the shims.
I mentioned before that I heard the valves (a kind of tik tik at 2000-2500 rpm). When I pointed out the noise to my girlfriend she could also hear it, but of course she had no idea what it was. Now the noise is gone, and my gf agrees 
And for those of you who think I'm crazy: you're just jealous because the purple little men only speak to me.

I am certainly no expert, but I have been told that with modern engines, valves typically go tight over time, not loose.  No?

Valves wear in tighter not looser is correct. This happens because as the valve closes back into the head it wears into the seat area which raises the valve stem in the head which of course decreases the clearance at the shim/bucket/cam interface point.

I will do mine at 15000 and probably never touch it again. I always set all my valves at the far loose end of the spec. It probably doesn't actually make a difference but I feel it frees up frictional losses and revs out nicer......and it stays within spec longer too.