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Ok... so I am ready to adjust my valve and I have a Clymer manual and it say the clearance is .005 to .040. This seems like a wide tolerance to me. Is this correct? I last did a valve clearance on a Triumph and memory tells me it was much closer. I thought it would be closer with a German machine. Any input?

Should be .015 on the intake and .030 on the exhaust. And make sure you do all 4 valves at once.

Thanks Buckster. I'll be doing the job this morning. And, looking at the manual again I just now realized that I was reading the clearance for the rocker arm end float and not the valve clearance which is very clearly listed on the facing page. Glad I needed to get a plug cap removal tool before doing the job yesterday. Need to slow down and smell the Castrol.

On the same topic, can someone explain to a relative newbie the pros and cons of adjusting the valve clearances on the loose side vs the tight side. Is there a noticeable difference in performance? Throttle response? Gas mileage?

I would say to do it exactly how it's called for. You want to have some drag but not too much. I suggest you balance the throttle bodies after the valves are done to spec and you will be rewarded with a crisper throttle response and my bike pulls a lot stronger up to redline. This is the best my bike has ever run. I finally did it myself after 8 years of ownership!

Thanks Buckster. I adjusted my valves and did TB sync about 2k miles ago (2002 R currently 21K miles). I did as you described, some drag but not too much. I guess I was asking about the difference in bike performance based on the tightness of valve clearances. I doubt I have the skill to really wrench that skillfully, more of an informational question.

Just make sure you do it cold.

You stated, "Ok... so I am ready to adjust my valve and I have a Clymer manual and it say the clearance is .005 to .040."

Looks like either a misprint OR they're mixing SAE and metric measurements.

FWIW,
Jeff