[SailorJack]

I'm at about 12500 miles on my N1000 and the manual calls for inspection at 15000. Other people mention (on another N1000 forum) that the interval in their manual calls for the first inspection at 26000 miles.

Should I do it at 15000 or at 26000? Either way the dealer will be doing the work. I don't like messing with valve adjustments unless it's the old school adjuster/locking nut type.

 

[stayup]

I've heard of some people checking at 600 miles.

I usually check every 10k miles

 

[SailorJack]

Good lord! Every 10k? I'd be doing valve checks twice a year!!!

I miss-spoke in my original statement, some of the other countries service manuals state valve inspection at 26K miles while US and CA says 15K miles.

On riderforums I don't think a single person who had there valves inspected at 15K miles needed adjustments. Some were on the tight side though. I'm not using that as an excuse to prolong the job but I don't want to worry about burning a valve every mile after 15000 miles if I go a little long.

 

[rcannon409]

Man, what a question. No one is goign to be able to say anythign that woudl help. Even if my bike was dead on in the same time frame, it means nothing for yours.

Rider magazine had a question abotu this in the back of their most recent issue. It was on the Concoures 14, but same idea applies. The answer was great. It made a HUGE thread here, and its worth reading. Not exactly our bike, but still...

Article in Rider magazine about valves

Worth reading since so many of these guys are great mechanics and technical people.

I'll check mine, myself. I've never paid for this service and found a mechanic who said he adjusted anything. I never trust THAT answer, so what am I paying for?

 

[SailorJack]

Man, what a question. No one is goign to be able to say anythign that woudl help. Even if my bike was dead on in the same time frame, it means nothing for yours.

Rider magazine had a question abotu this in the back of their most recent issue. It was on the Concoures 14, but same idea applies. The answer was great. It made a HUGE thread here, and its worth reading. Not exactly our bike, but still...

Article in Rider magazine about valves

Worth reading since so many of these guys are great mechanics and technical people.

I'll check mine, myself. I've never paid for this service and found a mechanic who said he adjusted anything. I never trust THAT answer, so what am I paying for?

Thanks RC. Now I'm not sure if I should get the valves inspected at 15k or never!

I'll probably just let it go a few miles over and enjoy the ride and bring it in later to have them done. Good thread though with lots of different opinions.

 

[allserene]

It's crazy how the same kit has different service intervals in different countries - I think its just what the suckers are used to paying.
Example - when I lived in the UK I bought three GM cars in a row. Oil change and service interval 20,000 miles (synthetic oils). Tire rotation - never.

Here in the US, many people change oil at 6k and some old timers are still at 3k !

I need to get a British Ninja 1000 (called SX over there ?) manual and see what they say there for the same bike as far as service intervals are concerned

 

[SailorJack]

Count me in as an old timer!!!!!! Hahahahah. I'm still at every 3K for my 2012 frontier and that's with synthetic oil!!! Same for my bikes. I guess to me it's cheap insurance. No my wifes brand new Accord? We go by the dash icons which are close to every 9K miles for an oil change. Crazy.

 

[allserene]

Count me in as an old timer!!!!!! Hahahahah. I'm still at every 3K for my 2012 frontier and that's with synthetic oil!!! Same for my bikes. I guess to me it's cheap insurance. No my wifes brand new Accord? We go by the dash icons which are close to every 9K miles for an oil change. Crazy.

I am an old timer too but I am still in denial ! My grandson is 21.

Synthetic oil is usually double the mileage, so a 3k change using synthetic = a 1,500 change using regular oil. No wonder my BP stock is going up ! However, peace of mind is invaluable and hard to get from any direction, so whatever gives us that is a good investment

With these howling kawas and given the compression ratio etc, I will be using the very best oil and sticking religiously to the service intervals for everything and changing the oil before storing for the winter. I was reading a harley forum where a lady said she always changes her oil in the spring before starting to ride - that leaves contaminated sticky junk and moisture in the engine all winter when the engine isn't getting turned over. Shudder !

No wonder they sound like that - oops couldn't resist that dig

 

[rcannon409]

All, I dont have time to put all those miles on my bike. I've got two, so that little bit of time gets split in half.

I like synthetic, but i think I'm wasting my money if we adhere to the one year change interval. What say you?

I mean, if I'm able to ride 6000 per year, but 4000 on the Ninja, 2000 on the concours 14.

Oh, and just an fyi..I'm pissed at every mile I put on the c14. Great bike, but its my wifes bike. I have it only because it will carry a passenger and still do over 150. Handles like a dream as well...But, even money, I'd not trade my Ninja for one. The Ninja has a feel that makes me resent riding something else.

 

[allserene]

All, I dont have time to put all those miles on my bike. I've got two, so that little bit of time gets split in half.

I like synthetic, but i think I'm wasting my money if we adhere to the one year change interval. What say you?

I mean, if I'm able to ride 6000 per year, but 4000 on the Ninja, 2000 on the concours 14.

Oh, and just an fyi..I'm pissed at every mile I put on the c14. Great bike, but its my wifes bike. I have it only because it will carry a passenger and still do over 150. Handles like a dream as well...But, even money, I'd not trade my Ninja for one. The Ninja has a feel that makes me resent riding something else.

Oh this is awful - I have a brand new 2014 Ninja but have only ridden it 5 yards in my garage and this bloody Wisconsin winter is killing me coz all I can do is look at the bike - we are promised 1 day at 1 degree above freezing next week and everyone is so thrilled !

I reckon my mileage will be 5k per year. My V6 Camry was bought in 2007 and has 38k on the clock and that includes a trip from Seattle to Milwaukee !

So yes an annual oil change on the Ninja every end of October with nice synthetic is my plan...

I used to work for a company that collected oily sludge from the tanks at the back of garages and cleaned it up and resold it as cheap "own label" oil in cheap stores - so top brand synthetic is the one for me and my lovely Ninja

 

[SailorJack]

I'll probably start going 5000 miles between changes once I hit 15000 miles (which should be next month). I'm looking at hitting the 20000 mile mark by June, my bikes 1 year anniversary since I bought it with 7 miles on the clocks. Not to bad.

 

[allserene]

I'll probably start going 5000 miles between changes once I hit 15000 miles (which should be next month). I'm looking at hitting the 20000 mile mark by June, my bikes 1 year anniversary since I bought it with 7 miles on the clocks. Not to bad.

Sounds a good plan. Actually I think I will do a mid season change this first summer of 2014. This a high revving engine with 11.5 to 1 compression for use in sporting mode and we are not talking toyota camry. So yes I think it deserves a 2,000 change the first year

So 200 miles by me, 600 miles by the dealer at first (rip off) service, then 2,000 by me, then one by me before winterizing in late October 2014

Filters are quite expensive at around $20 delivered (Amazon) but to protect a 12k bike I reckon they are worth it.

ok the scene is set - come on Spring !

 

[rcannon409]

Allserene, whatever you do, dont look to other markets for an answer as how often to check valves. You'll start drinking, and possibly develop a drug problem.

No consistency. The uk market shows a longer interval. Must be us emissions related?

 

[allserene]

Allserene, whatever you do, dont look to other markets for an answer as how often to check valves. You'll start drinking, and possibly develop a drug problem.

No consistency. The uk market shows a longer interval. Must be us emissions related?

Nah it's how consumers have been conditioned. The US has a lot of "restricted practices" and "price maintenance " in all sorts of areas despite the illusory free enterprise. All this rotating wheels and 3 k or 6k oil changes and no nipples on public beaches are like something out of the 1950's. Luckily I live in enlightened Wisconsin where they have beer tents on the public beach and they don't execute people or have road tolls. As far as drinking and drugs are concerned, I leave that to the inadequates of this world who think that the tappets are a Motown group

 

[rcannon409]

NICE!! Now, the real question..does anyone in Wisconsin have time enough to worry about someone smoking an electronic cigarette in a park? Utah has those people, and its going to banned. Awesome....not because its unhealthy. It might influence kids.

I've seen a ton of threads regarding valve adjustments and I dont think one of them has ever shown valves to be THAT bad. Other than the early Honda CRF 450's. I'll bet yoru right..it says 16,000 because someone said it needed to. Not for any real need.

I think I'll check mine at 16,00 just because we have such long winters and It will be a cool project.

 

[allserene]

NICE!! Now, the real question..does anyone in Wisconsin have time enough to worry about someone smoking an electronic cigarette in a park? Utah has those people, and its going to banned. Awesome....not because its unhealthy. It might influence kids.

I've seen a ton of threads regarding valve adjustments and I dont think one of them has ever shown valves to be THAT bad. Other than the early Honda CRF 450's. I'll bet yoru right..it says 16,000 because someone said it needed to. Not for any real need.

I think I'll check mine at 16,00 just because we have such long winters and It will be a cool project.

I wish they would get some valve actuators like a Camry then we could could all relax for 200k miles.

 

[rcannon409]

Remember that old honda Nighthawk S? Hydraulic lifters would not suck. I know it did nto rev as high as modern bikes, but big deal.

I worked at a Honda shop then and you could not give those away. It was early in the season, probably April, and we had a Black/blue one on the floor.

Jokingly, we made a blow out sales tag and hung it on the bike. We priced it at 899.00. It was tow weeks before anyone noticed. Even the guy who noticed bought something else.

**** near the perfect bike. No valves to adjust, no chain to adjust.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_lifters

 

[Michael D. Smith]

I was told to get this done since Ive passed the 25K mark...wasnt sure if this is somehting I should try and do myself or get it done by a certified mechanic. Talked to my neighbor who has a Ninja and Ducati and he said its much cheaper to get work done on jap bikes and this job can be quite an ordeal (like a couple hours per valve) * 16 valves equals 32 hours of labor and not having done it before could be even longer and the fact that if you mess anything up, your back to taking it to a mechanic anyway.

 

[rcannon409]

Ducati is tough because their system opens and closes the valve. We use spring pressure to close.

With the ninja, Figure most of your valves will be ok. The likleyhood of all being off is very small. You measure and decide if its good or no good. If its ok, thats it. Leave it alone.

If its off, then you need to remove the cam. Either intake cam or exhaust cam. You might find only one valve out of all 16 need work. In that case, you might remove only the intake cam (or exhaust, whatever)

When you get it apart, you'll see a shim. It will be numbered, or you measure it. Then you buy a thicker,, or thinner shim as shown on the shim chart.

It takes a lot of parts removal to measure.

What you dont know is how the bike was put together in the first place. Was one valve on the low end of ok right form the start? Who knows.

If the piece of mind is worth it, by all means do it, but be prepared to pay a shop 300.00 and find "all valves ok" on the invoice.

If you pay someone to do it, insist on a "map" of what the valve measurements are.

 

[Michael D. Smith]

Im sure a seasoned rider/mechanic could give you tale tell signs of valve adjustment issues but I have no idea other than the recommended intervals to get it checked but dont really want to shell out $300 just for the peace of mind. I actually dont mind working on this bike and prefer to for most of the work that I can perform myself (like chain/sprocket replacement)... just dont want to get into the top end of this engine and figure out that its more complicated than anticipated (or needs expensive tools that I dont have) and get stuck in the middle of doing the job having never done it before.