How often should i adjust my valves?

[400excaleb]

i bought mine brand new in march 2005 and havent adjusted them yet. should i.

[GPracer2500]

Honda says you should check/adjust them after the first 100 miles and then every 600 miles after that.

[iamabowler]

mine doesnt have an odometer on how do i tell how far i've driven :D

[GPracer2500]

Yeah, I don't know why they use miles. Hours would be better. Basically, you'll have to guess.

Once a year is good for some folks. Every month is appropriate for others. It just depends on how much and how hard you ride.

After a several checks you'll get a sense for how much the clearences are moving each time you check them. That will help guide your sense of how often is too often or not often enough.

State of tune makes a big difference too. A completely stock 400EX is pretty forgiving on valve check intervals. Start hopping them up and the maintence intervals get shorter--sometimes a lot shorter.

Good rule of thumb is: when in doubt, check them.

[guinness77]

Yes.... check them. If you've never done it... it's easy. Just get a tech manual or look for the instructions on this web site.

[04TRX400EX]

I'm in the same situation. I also bought mine in March of '05 and have about 60 hours on it and my valves have never been checked or adjusted. I was going to have my local dealer do it around 20 hours but they said to wait until 50. Is it really that easy to check and/or adjust the valves? I just don't want to screw anything up wear Honda says "oh, well since you did it and now it's broken, we're not going to cover it under warranty."

[GPracer2500]

It's not that hard. If you have decent mechanical apptitude don't hesitate to learn how. There are a couple of helper articles floating around. I'd just get a service manual. I think you can get pdf versions on E-bay for less than 10 bucks. Then you'll be set for everything you attempt to fix/maintain on your machine.

just $0.02

[bmurray]

400excaleb,
do it yourself. It's very easy. It takes longer to remove the plastic and tank than to adjust the valves. The second time the plastic removal is down to a minamal with removing only the tank cover, tank(2 bolts), and side covers. You can leave the fenders on (atleast on my 05). Print out the D.I.Y. article here at exriders. I feel a bit of comfort knowing it's done right. Good luck.