Adjusting the Valves on the Predator

[kc8pnd]

It started starting hard slowly. I ride it hard most of the time for 1 to 2 hours every weekend. I would say close to 3 to 4 hours a week. As I said before it slowly started to do this, before I had to crank it over 3 or 4 times then a few weeks later choke it and now I have to take the air tube off. I think its the shims. There is no power loss that I can tell, this thing rips when its not spinning.

[wolffie]

does it backfire at all under decceleration? im willing to bet you need some bigger shims. if you got time, tear the beast down and order a shim kit. just follow my guide and you should be fine. if you encounter any questions along the way, just PM me and i can do my best to help you out.

[kc8pnd]

I don't notice any backfiring. It does blow gas vapor back out the carb (white mist) some times. I did order the shim kit, from hotcams so it was $90 never seen this thread till today, ordered it yesterday. O need to download a service manual from somewhere, I seen one a while back but never downloaded it.

[wolffie]

yeah download it because IMHO, the Predator's owner manual is not very good. i bought one and find it less than stellar. they dont do alot of "explaining", and there are very few pictures.

[kc8pnd]

I got filler gauge in the mail today, ran out and took the front fenders and gas tank off, removed the valve cover and loosened the cam chain tensioner. I then slid an .06 filler under my intake cam and it would not go in. ran a .10 under the exhaust and it was perfect, just a slight drag like we want. So I removed the intake cam and dropped the little C shaped bearing stop (?) down into the motor, it landed pm the bottom cam sprocket so I fetched that out with a long screw driver. After all all that I started trying shims until I found one that worked for that valve ( long process) I then put the motor back in time which was very easy once you see how its done, I skipped that stupid brass link crap, the chain will work the same no matter what tooth its on. Any way, I put it all back together and hit the start button, BAMM it started instantly just like t use too!! I warmed it up and gave it a ride around the yard and was amazed at how much better it was running. Its like a rocket now that the shims are back to normal + the HMF & air box mod that I done after it started acting up. If you pred is doing what mine was doing then order the shim kit and do this adjustment, its easy, took me about 90 minutes.

[wolffie]

Originally posted by kc8pnd
I got filler gauge in the mail today, ran out and took the front fenders and gas tank off, removed the valve cover and loosened the cam chain tensioner. I then slid an .06 filler under my intake cam and it would not go in. ran a .10 under the exhaust and it was perfect, just a slight drag like we want. So I removed the intake cam and dropped the little C shaped bearing stop (?) down into the motor, it landed pm the bottom cam sprocket so I fetched that out with a long screw driver. After all all that I started trying shims until I found one that worked for that valve ( long process) I then put the motor back in time which was very easy once you see how its done, I skipped that stupid brass link crap, the chain will work the same no matter what tooth its on. Any way, I put it all back together and hit the start button, BAMM it started instantly just like t use too!! I warmed it up and gave it a ride around the yard and was amazed at how much better it was running. Its like a rocket now that the shims are back to normal + the HMF & air box mod that I done after it started acting up. If you pred is doing what mine was doing then order the shim kit and do this adjustment, its easy, took me about 90 minutes.

thats what i like to hear!! yeah it isnt that hard of a process but it is alot of "trial and error". good to see things worked out for you.

[kc8pnd]

I was nervous at first but I plowed through, I think I started 6 pm and started it around 7:45 pm, it was just getting dark. I would much rather do all this stuff myself as long as its not real hard, and you don't need any special tools. It really gives you a sense of pride.

[wolffie]

yeah it does give you a good sense of pride. when i first did it, everything seemed so intimidating, but it really isnt bad at all! in some regards, i think it is just as easy as jetting a carb.

[harescrambles]

Here is a chart to show the correct shim to use,,, so's to cut out the trial and error. there are examples on the chart to get you started.....

[rocketman1985]

I have been looking at this thread for a while now. But i dont understand the chart could someone help me out? I just want to make shure that i know every thing thanks. Oh yeah very nice thread i dont think i could do this my self without your help. Im going to do this soon. I will let people know the progress as i go through it.