2014 Honda CB500X valve adjustment // How to replace valve shims 

🤣 I'll do a full teardown and tutorial with the CB500F soon. I'll be sure to have all the camera gear and a generous supply of Dos Equis ready before I start that adventure! 😉👍 --QM

Thanks for watching and leaving feedback! This process isn't difficult if you're mechanically inclined, but it is tedious and time-consuming. If you can afford the downtime, doing the process yourself and ordering the specific valve shims is the cheapest option. I prefer to have a complete set of replacement shims in advance to minimize the wait. If you can't afford the downtime, then paying a shop ~$500 for the maintenance is painful but somewhat reasonable... especially considering the labor involved. Good luck with the project! 😉👍 --QM

🤣 Yep... that job is a pain in the a$$! I'm sure my neighbors were wondering who wandered into the neighborhood and had a Tourette's attack... all the screaming, cursing, and throwing tools around! 🤬😂👍 --QM

But trusting someone else to put all that back in the correct places and well!!! Mmm not sure

No, unfortunately, I couldn't go on the Eclipse trip. My CB500X was down for this maintenance, and my back wasn't ready for 1000+ miles on the Rebel 1100. I also had some family stuff happening Thursday-Saturday, so that took precedence. I feel terrible because I said that I was going on the trip, and several people made plans to meet with me. 🤦‍♂️😢 --QM

Howdy, John! Those are good questions, and I've often wondered the same things. The primary difference between automotive and motorcycle valvetrains is the use of hydraulic valve lifters vs mechanical (direct) lifters. Hydraulic lifters use oil-filled cylinders to damp the motion between the camshaft and valve stems, and this system self-adjusts over time to compensate for wear. Mechanical lifters have direct contact between the rocker arms and the valve stems, so these need periodic adjustment to compensate for valve wear. Automotive engines have larger displacements and generally don't rev as high as motorcycle engines, so they can afford to lose some power/efficiency in the valve train. Hydraulic lifters create parasitic loss in the engine due to pumping losses and heat conversion in the oil cavities. Hydraulic lifters also have problems with valve "float" under high-RPM operation, so that also makes them less desireable for smaller engines that NEED to rev in order to make decent power. Motorcycle engines are smaller and produce less power, so hydraulic valve lifters incur too much loss for those applications. The simplest mainstream mechanical lifter is the tappet-style, where the rocker arm connects between the camshaft and the valve stem. This is most commonly seen in air-cooled engines where the tolerances are larger and wear rates are typically higher than water-cooled engines. The valve stem side of the rocker has a screw-type adjuster with a lock nut to hold its position. These tappets must be adjusted periodically to maintain sufficient valve clearance as the engine ages. Shim-type lifters are just as common as tappets, but they are generally found only in water-cooled engines where the tolerances are tighter and the wear rates are lower. The rocker arm has a fixed face or roller instead of a screw adjuster. The valve stem is topped with a hardened-steel "shim" of a certain thickness. Over time, the valves will wear into the seats in the cylinder head, and that reduces the clearance between the valve stem and the rocker arm. The valve shims need to be replaced with THINNER shims to maintain proper clearance (closure) for the valves. Anyway... that's the long discussion of why motorcycle engines rarely have hydraulic/automatic valve lifters. You can find more research material here, if you're interested: www.motorcycle.com/ask-mo-anything/ask-mo-anything-why-dont-more-motorcycles-use-hydraulic-valve-lifters.html . Cheers! 😉👍 --QM

@@QuasiMotard Sorry I asked! (ha ha!) Thanks for the long explanation.

B​@@QuasiMotardGreat explanation and really like your video. Shimming seems a pain but doable. I'm still thinking of buying this bike, is it reliable and good on the highway?

@stoicwarrior346 Thanks for the feedback! Yes, the CB500X is a very competent and reliable machine. I use it for commuting and long-distance trips because it's efficient and has almost 300-mile range per tank of fuel. Here is a recent video from my 3000+ mile cross-country trip: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-duZNnsnp4eI.html . Cheers! 😉👍 --QM