Valve Adjustments??? : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

flying V · 08-14-2003, 07:26 PM

I ran into a fellow rodder today and was talking to him about how great the bike is and he said his 02' was very close to 10k mlies and he was dreading dropping the $400 for the mandtitory valve adjustments. I was blown away because in my short (but very informative) time on this forum I had never seen it mentioned. I then called my service dept. and the writer told me it was only to inspect the shims and not to worry. He said the $400 covers the whole 10k service.( What a ripoff) He said the MOCO was going to change this to 50k miles soon because there had not really been any issues. I felt a little better but decided to consult the REAL experts...YOU GUYS .Any feedback or real world issues would be most appreciated.

bpolly · 08-14-2003, 07:31 PM

there was a section on that in the vrod general family. the post in there might help. not sure when it was you might want to go back to june and go from there

flying V · 08-14-2003, 07:36 PM

Thanx , I will look

vette family · 08-15-2003, 07:19 AM

I did the 10k and 20k myselft, the cost was minimal for the inspection only new gaskets. All valve clearances were within specifications, so from my point of view they could at least move the inspection up to something around 30 to 40k. Most wear will happen in the first 10k so everthing should be ok.

Not sure how things have changed but some *** bikes used to require it at 800 miles.

mr guido · 08-15-2003, 01:44 PM

I just checked my local dealer, because I'm now past due for the 10k, and they want $691 just for the BASIC 10k service! Then, if the valves need adjusting, it's another THREE HOURS LABOR, which puts the total around the $915 range. Oh, and just to top it all off, my bike would be their first v-rod to service at 10k. It's now time to check with my not-so-local dealers...

ksa v-rod · 08-16-2003, 06:05 AM

vette family, the service manual specifies quite a few special tools for the valve clearance check work - did you buy them, do without, improvise...? i would like to do my own servicing, and will buy the special tools if necessary, but would like to avoid unnecesary $$. thanks,

steve

beermaker · 08-16-2003, 10:41 AM

my dealer charges a straight hourly charge. How many hours to do the check. I just got my 5000 done but I am not really looking forward to the 10000.

vette family · 08-16-2003, 11:19 AM

ksa v-rod
The only special tool you need it a long stem swivel 6mm allen wrench available from Snap-on or any major tool distributor. The alignment tool for the spark plug hole is the other tool they suggest but the gasket doesn't move once it is in place in the rocker box. Then all you need is feelers to check the clearance and a mic if you need to adjust the clearance. With a floor lift this really isn't a bad job, it just takes a little time and patience. I figure that what I would have to pay to have it done at the dealer and the possibility of problems I'm much better off doing it myself

mr guido · 08-16-2003, 02:57 PM

beermaker, I don't know for sure, but I had one dealer tell me 6 hours labor + parts.

HawgDoc · 08-18-2003, 03:20 AM

mr guido, ask your dealer to refer to his warranty time manual. the figgures you noted are totally out of line. The 10k service calls for 4.0 hours. Then the change of shims is 0.2 each. a maximum of 1.6 if ALL the shims need replaced. In this scenario, the 10k service with ALL shims changed would be a total of 5.6 hrs. At $75/hr. that would total $420 for the labor. Sounds like someone looked at the flat-rate manual and just doubled it. I'm here to tell ya, once done a time or two, a tech should be able to beat that time.

Flying V, your dealer sounds much more in line.

ksa v-rod · 08-18-2003, 05:47 AM

thanks for the info, vette family - i'll give it a go

steve

beermaker · 08-18-2003, 01:00 PM

guess I cant complain much the labor rate is only $42.00 an hr. for my dealer.

flying V · 08-18-2003, 02:45 PM

$42 is real good. Most individuals charge that or more.

mr guido · 09-02-2003, 03:42 PM

Well, just as a follow up on this, I finally had my 10k service done. For those of you that don't trust your mechanical skills, it definitely pays to call around. The prices I received were ~$915, ~$620, ~$450, and ~$350. The funny thing is that the guys that charged the most had never performed a 10k service on a v-rod. The cheapest price was also at a dealer that appeared to have the most experience/knowledge about v-rods. The tech even said they have yet to find a v-rod that needed valve adjustments at 10k - he had one v-rod come through that need 2 minor adjustments at 20k. My bike needed no adjustments.

I wonder if the extended service periods for the 2004 v-rods will push out the valve inspection interval...

Polizzio · 09-02-2003, 04:08 PM

That is very good to hear really. I will probably skip the 10k valve adjustment unless I detect considerable top end valve noise/clatter at that time, and delay such service till 15 or 20k. Thanks for your follow up me guido.