A KTM 390 Adventure Valve Clearance Check 

You are doing God's work here Matt. Thanks to you I built confidence to do work with my bike myself. Thank you for that! Cheers from Europe.

I did my first valve check at 10K miles, the exhaust was a bit tight and I'm not a contortionist, so I pulled the engine to get better readings and ultimately set the valves, intake in the middle of the spec, and exhaust at the loose end. One BIG tip if you need to change shims: I zip tied the chain to the cams before I pulled the cams. It's easy to roll them back into the middle to do all the shim changes, and then I just rolled them back into place, reinstalled the caps, and triple checked both the clearance and timing. I didn't pull the engine the second time I checked them, but I did make some better feeler gauges by riveting short, pointed sections of feeler gauge to long, slim handles. I also plugged every hole in the head with rags. I wouldn't want to split the cases because I dropped something. It's a fussy job, but not that bad if you take the time to get stuff out of the way.

Thanks Mat for this video, so helpful not many people show this process, I’m at 12k and mine has never been apart but this has given me the confidence to check them myself 👍 keep up the great work.

Thx for the vid. Nice to see the valves were still in spec after 18k miles. I thought getting to the valves on my klr was a PITA but this is a whole nother level of fun........ugh.

I am driving through West Virginia, but I will watch this when I stop. Been looking forward to seeing my BRILLIANT idea realized! Thank you Matt! - Frank

Awesome, I’ve got this coming up too. Thanks Matt!

Thank you Matt for the video. Short and clear indications. Little upset b'cause no adjusting needed to be able show us more things. But all good to know this engine is working just fine.

Great video Matt! I have been afraid to tackle valve check/adjustment on my own, but you show its not that tough of a job (another one of your videos I saved for reference). Thanks for posting!👍

Thank you Matt!!!

So that is why my local dealer here in Canada quoted me $400 for valve clearance check on my 390 Duke so I passed on getting it done even though I have 18000 miles on it. Maybe next year if I still have it !!

this bike is difficult for valve adjustment but i will do it , thanks to this video

Just serviced mine mat had to change the plug so thought I may as well check valves it is a bit involved but mine were all ok so peace of mind...when i reassembled it would run and then die eventually found out the new bosch plug was duff!..it went in the bin and an ngk has gone in...great vids of your maintenance hopefully mine will be good for another 10k...

This is why I bought an XT250 😊

Good job, I wish I had your patience.

Good Lawd. I have a Norden 901 Expedition at 11,500 miles and my dealer is set to check the valves BUT they admitted they’ve never done it so I’m not a lot more confident about them doing anymore than me trying. I have a terrible thought that the bikes gonna be worse off after their work which I’m likely to find it was fine anyway. What to do… Thanks for video

Splendid and simple...How would you rate the bike overall from a quality perspective on a scale of 1 to 5.

this is cool. I'll never do it, lol. One thought and one question. I'm not master-mechanic, but would recommend trying to not stop mid-project to do other stuff. That simple reverse process is infinitely harder if there's been some time between disassembly and reassembly. YMMV. Q: So, what does KTM charge to do this job? That's a lot of work. (which probably means shop time, and $$, but I'd be thinking of letting them do it anyway). I realize every bike is different, some valve jobs are simpler than others.

Valve clearance checks are the curse of the modern motorcycle, quite often no attention required...but you never know!

Wow, I thought it was gonna be easy due to the video only being 15 mins long 😅 Very well made video though!

Would a shop typically remove the radiator as well? I'm having the valves done; if they take it off, I may as well get a coolant flush.

After how long do you need to check the valve clearance?

Swap out the cheap nasty OEM bosch plug for an iridium one which should last 30k.

Mic too quiet Matt. Put it closer

Hey where can I buy shims for 390 adventure valves, so far it’s very confusing which kit is right , and where I can find info on valve clearance gaps tolerance ?

The only downside to this motorcycle is the valve adjustment. What would happen if I don't do the valve adjustment?