I am pretty mechanically inclined IMHO......and I will not be doing this myself. Of course I will wait until I have around 20k on mine, I'm not having it done at 15k.
I was looking through the Periodic Maintenance section of the 2010 FSM (page 2-3), and noticed that the 15,000 mile valve clearance inspection interval is only for US and CA bikes. All other countries get a 26,000 mile interval.
I bet this 15K number is purely dictated by emissions (keeping the engine tuned for lowest emissions), and not really required for mechanical reasons. I'm sure other countries don't have different valves, seats, cams, shims, or heads than the US and CA motors. Why else would they do this?
hmmmm
Miles vs kilometers? 26,000 km = 15,155 miles?
Good guess, but nope.
My manual indicates first valve adjustment at 42,000 km, or 26,000 miles.
For US and CA, it's listed at 24,000 km, or 15,000 miles.
I would think C1x is probably correct.
All of my other vehicles require more frequent maintenance because Canada is considered as extreme condition.
This is the first time I've encountered the reverse.
Does the clearence tend to tighten or loosen up with use?
Well, with all my valves set close to middle range at 20,000 miles and now at 55,000 all 8 EX valves at .006 or .007 I will have to plan on checking again at about 80,000. I also have to consider why all the EX valves have tightened up significantly while the IN valves have not moved.
Any ideas?
I don't think that Kawasaki considers Canada as extreme. I think that for the purposes of maintenance/training/spares they just treat US and Canada as the "North American Market" and so we get lumped in with our neighbours to the south. Which makes sense from an economic point of view when you consider the size of the the Canadian market when compared to the US market.
Sept 2011 Cycle World lists 26,000 miles as the valve adjust on the Concours. I'm guessing this is the latest model.
Misprint?
Must be, or maybe they used their time machine to get advanced information for their Sept. magazine which they sell in July, and everyone else will hear about it next month.
My bad, I was thinking the non-NA interval was 24,000 miles, and the misprint was from that.
To be clear, Kawasaki states the engine was designed for 26,000 mile / 42,000 KM adjustment intervals. However, they also state they only tested for EPA compliance with 15,000 mile / 24,000 KM adjustment interval.
Therefore, if you live in North America, the FSM states 15,000 mile / 24,000 KM for the valve adjustment interval, while the rest of the world is listed as the actual 26,000 mile / 42,000 mile adjustment interval.
Hope this helps.
Yes, the interval is 15K miles (or the equivalent distance in kilometers) for bikes sold in the US and Canada, 26K miles (or metric equivalent) for bikes sold everywhere else.
The reason for this appears to be EPA considerations but I have never seen that stated in any way by Kawasaki. If you know of any documentation, please point toward it as I have been looking for quite some time. Thanks.
Brian
Ain't doing mine until 26k miles -- I'll let you know how they are then.....