valve adjustment, speed and mileage

[GZ250]

Had first time valves adjustment on my 05' GZ250 at 19900miles from the dealership. i was having power loss and i could feel that the bike is not maintaining the power and the mileage went down to 55 mpg. otherwise everything was ok. so decided to have the valves checked and it was a very good decision. the mechanic told me that the exhaust valves were tight. after the adjustment i can feel the difference. i got back the speed and mileage. now it touches 75mph every easily and on the first fill up i got 63mpg. i dont go at 75 but now the ride is smooth and i can go faster. even in head wind i can maintain the speed and it is such an incredible difference and now i realize that valve adjustment is a good idea if speed and milages is going down.

the guy did a test ride and after he came back told me that my clutch is missing and probably needs replacement, he said" when i go in the 3rd gear it just revs up- you know what i mean" i said yes i know what you mean, you mean i give you more $$$, they told me the parts and labor for clutch is $200. but i dont have any trouble and i never feel any clutch slipping or missing. last year (almost more than 6 months now the same guy told me that my front brake shoes need replacement) and i am still using the same old ones and no problem. So always be careful with the suggestions and advise from mechanics.

i told this guy that i would stay at the shop while he does the adjustments. he took the gas tank and covers apart and than he told me the engine is hot and the manual says that it should be cold so he put two fans to cool down the engine and it took like 20-30 mins. he was done in 1.5 hrs. but he charged me for 1.8 hrs ($79/hr). when i came home and did the calculation for the 0.3x79 he over charged me around $23. i called the shop and they were good enough to refund the overcharge, i am their regular customer anyway. i think the valve adjustment can be done in one hour if engine is already cold as they have all the nice tools and lift up the bike to a nice position to work with.

so thats the story of valve adjustment.

[Rick]

Just had my valves adjusted as well, and noticed a big difference not only in the power and pickup (especially in the higher RPM range), but also in the way the motor sounds. More of a low end rumble now versus kind of a pulsating hum before.

[alanmcorcoran]

Mine also ran much better after a valve adjustment (at about 3K) but they also (allegedly) did a lot of other stuff, so it's hard to tell if the valve adjustment was the main cause of the improvement. I've put another 400 miles (many short trips) on since then and it's still running a lot better than before the service.

[David Bo]

Alanmcororan, what did the bike shop wack you for that valve adjustment service?

[mr. softie]

GZ250...This is my free advice and is to be taken for what it is worth. Next time adjust the valves yourself. Shouldn't take more than an hour to do. Consult the manual available on this site.

As far as your clutch slipping, what oil are you running in your GZ?

[GZ250]

I use the Suzuki brand (10W-40) from the beginning and it seems to work ok and as i said i dont feel or think i have any clutch problem. The only time the gear does not engage fully if I do not pull the lever fully up and that happens if I wear different kind of shoe that i am not used to and that is just because of the thinkness of the shoe.

Now for the next oil change i am think of using the Rotella as i read a lot about that in this forum, so i will try that. do we get Rotella in (10W-40) ? havent checked that oil so i dont know much about that.

by the way when a clutch starts to show any signs of problem (slipping) what are the indications. For doing the valve adjustments myself, now i know where they are and how they look like, i will gather courage to do myself

Thanks.

[dannylightning]

when your clutch starts to slip you will know it, you know how you feel it grab and the bike goes as soon as it grabs. when its slipping its not gonna take off so fast and you got to give it more throttle to get it moving. slipping is a good term cus that's what a clutch feels like it is doing when it slips..

just changing out he plates and all that is really simple, i have not done that my self but i watched my buddy do his dirt bike and there is nothing to it. i think soaking the new clutch pads or disks what ever you call them in the oil before you install them takes longer than taking it apart and putting it back together. might take longer your first time but it is a simple process. that is as long as you don't have to change out any other components in the clutch that require disassembling a bunch of parts.

[adrianinflorida]

When the clutch is just beginning to slip, it usually manifests itself by slipping towards the top of the power band in each gear. You'll accelerate away just fine, and as you get towards the shift point, the clucth will slip, and you'll notice the engine sounding/feeling like it's in neutral (Revving up like it's not in gear/under load). The worse the clutch gets, you'll begin to have problems getting off the line, and even to the point of puting the bike in gear, leeting off the clutch lever and it woun't stall, as it would with a good clutch.

[GZ250]

When the m/c was new i was getting 63-65mpg on highway and side roads going 55-65mph. Recently the mileage decreased to 55mpg and some power was lost but that i did not feel much. So i had the valves adjusted and the exhaust values were tight. Now the power is back and it touches 70 easily and in two fill ups i got 63 and 65mpg. so get the valve adjustments on time DIY if you can.