I did my first valve adjustment (on my Gen 4) a couple months ago. It was so satisfying doing it by myself!
It was straightforward for the most part. Here are a few points to consider:
- make your life easier by putting masking tape tags on all the various plug ends to match them back up after.
- you'll have to cut the rubber mat in a couple places which the manual doesn't mention as far as I recall.
- zap strap the timing chain onto the cam gears and crankshaft sprocket to preserve the timing and tilt the cams out of the way without removing them entirely. It'll be a little tight getting to the buckets for cylinder 4 but there will be enough room. I pulled my cams out the first time but still had to adjust a valve after re-installing and used the zip tie method the 2nd time around which was faster.
- make sure you have a pivoting magnet tool to extract those buckets.
- I used more 1.80 shims than any other size but I also have higher mileage (though relatively low rpm) than most bikes. I believe that most of my required shims were in the 1.75-1.85 range.
- this miniature ratchet combined with a 4mm allen bit will also make the job much faster when re/re'ing the cam cover bolts. They have a zillion threads and take FOREVER with an allen key, especially for the bolts tucked way back under the frame spar.
Naro Ratchet Driver & Bit Set | eBay
