Adjusting the valves in the front cylinders. Please forgive the cheesy 70's rock! Update: the diameter of the hub on the cam sprocket holder tool is 16mm.
Just wanted to stop by and say thanks for making these. I may not have an RSV4 yet but I'l be doing the job on my Triumph Daytona over the winter break. I'd say I'm slightly above average skill level when working with cars or bikes, especially if I have a good parts diagram in front of me but this is a slightly intimidating project with some much room for error. However watching your videos both helps me see as well as understand why how everything works together. Perhaps if I pick up the RSV4 in a year or so this will be even more relevant!
your a fucking brave man tearing down a beautiful rsv4. Unless it was running like a chaff cutter i wouldnt bother with valve clearance etc. if it aint broke!
I checked the valve clearances at 1,500 miles because other RSV4's were having problems. I found my clearances were wrong, so I continued to check them every 1,500 miles. They needed to be adjusted every time. Adjusting them this often is what kept this engine alive for 7,000 miles of hard riding on the track.
You mention hard track use, for a Tuono road bike do you reckon they should be checked that often? Manual calls for 20.000km, but i see a lot of bikes have wrong clearances after only 2-4000km…
3rd cam exhaust front bank 8:34 . You said clearance was .008 which is at the bottom of the spec. To increase the gap you decrease shim size, but you went from an 88 shim to a 90? Or am I missing something? I would have said you needed a 86 shim...
awesome video. great instructional and camera work.. now if this was only on the RSV1000R since that's what I'll be working on lol... i know most is the same.. im just worried about the timing more than anything. i also have a sticky valve to fix.. hoping some penetrating fluid under the bucket will fix it. fingers crossed that it's not a bent valve...
Thanks for the feedback. I've never worked on the Rotax twins so I'm not able to help. Timing is easy if you have a workshop manual. Dont be intimidated. Just go slow and label all the parts when you remove them. Good luck with it.
Hallo Shaun. Great videos. It gives me a nice look inside the engine, and a how too do. Keep up the good work. I also have a front exhaust valve that can not be adjusted anymore. I need to replace the front cilinderhead. Do you know if that is possible with the engine still in the frame?
Great series, these helped me understand the process before I cracked my own open. My question is, did you use a crows foot on the front bank and cut the video out? Or did you go off of feel alone with a wrench? Thanks
Thats what I thought, I was just curious because I didnt know about them (crows feet) until after I realized my torque wrench didnt fit, so I practiced what 22.13lb/ft foot felt like at the length of my wrench and went by feel. Im undecided if I want to pull the cover off and have another go at them.
Great videos Shaun,thanks for posting! So only tools are threaded bolt to lock crank,pin tool for the rear cam to lock it as well and the cam gear holding fixture? correct? Also,did you pull any left side engine covers like stator cover to access flywheel? Thanks again for the great videos,keep em coming!
Yes those are the only special tools I used. I'm going to make a new cam gear holder that fits properly. And yes I did pull both side covers. Thats the only way to access the threaded alignment holes for the crank divots
Ok so there is a front bank crank alignment hole on the stator side? are your valve shims for aprillia or do the shims fit any bike? i know aprillia wants alot of money for there shim kit. you wouldnt have a video of the left crank alignment hole?
Thanks for pointing out the fact that I didn't cover the lock position for the front bank. I'll do another TL;DR video later today covering the key issues.
Thank you so much for this series of videos Shaun! There is unfortunately no one to trust in Israel except for myself :/ Your videos answered allot of questions I had. Do you think you will be doing cam chain tensioner replacement any time soon? :)
Shaun Nielsen Hi Shaun, my name ist Marco and I come from germany. One question, I need the Tool to block or fix the crank shaft on the top. can you send me a Photo with the measures, I will create it self or can you tell me a adress where I can buy it? you can send me the Infos to my Email : Marco.zimmer72@t-online.de. this would be great! Kind Regards Marco
I know this is an older video so I might not get a response but I was wondering why you tend to favour going to the top of the spec? Me not being particularly skilled mechanically would think the mid point would be best as they then have room to go in either direction.
Good question. With this motor I've noticed the clearances close up quickly, especially on low mile motors. On something like a GSXR or CBR I would aim for the middle. Aprilia have issues either with valves stretching (most likely cause) or valve seats hammering up into the heads. Both cause the clearances to shrink rapidly. And zero clearances can cause a burnt valve, which can cause the valve head to snap off. Not good.
Hello, thank you for the video. I have one question. Does Aprilia required to remove de cylinder head in order to change the chains and caliber the valves. I have one valve guide that broke down and then it damaged the piston. If so my mechanics should have checked if the valve guides were in good shape. Thank you in advance for your replay.
Hello Shaun, thanks for the great Vids. It gives me confidence to take on this job. *Question is, do I need to remove the flywheel on the left side for the front bank or can I keep the rear locked with the pin and a gear jammer to hold the front bank in place?
Mine had 13,254 miles. The rear cylinder was ok. Front cylinder 1 intake loose by .002 thousands and 2 exhaust loose by .001 thousands. The next time I do mine, I'm going to clean the back side of the timing gear ( the gear with the chain) with brake clean and mark an outline of the cam to the gear with a sharpie. This way I won't have to remove the stator cover or the clutch cover. I did this yesterday and it worked, but I removed the stator cover and locked the crank and used a pin (I think a 5 mm bolt) to check the cam timing, to be sure it was perfect. And it was. Next time I'll just mark the back of the cam gear with the chain. I worked as a auto mechanic for 30 years and a motorcycle mechanic for 8 years and this job start to finish took me 15 hours. (Fumbling through it the first time is tough, could probably take 4 hours off next time). But I am very picky and did a good job, every wire and hose is routed properly. Also I did have to grind and file the cam holder tool to get it to fit onto the head and then had to file and sand the part that the cam slides onto. Making the tool work took at least an hour. The metal the tool is made of is kinda soft so be careful if you use power tools. The holes to bolt the tool to the head did not line up so I bent it a little to line them up. I did not drill the holes larger. Good luck.
There is a large air hose that goes right across the center of each valve cover. I have been a mechanic for 40 years and have lots, lots, and lots of tools. Still I was having trouble getting to the clamp for the rear cylinder. The front cylinder I could not even see where the hose went. ( I did not remove the throttle bodies). So I took tin snips and cut the hoses, went to the hardware store and found brass fittings that fit perfectly to join the hoses back together. Then put a small wire ties around the hoses to secure them. These hoses are most likely vacuum hoses for the exhaust to draw air into the exhaust when you let off the throttle. To improve emissions. I would however use metal not plastic to join these back together. I went to the plumbing dept. and found nice 1 inch brass sleeves.
I you mark the back side of the cam with a sharpie. Remove the spark plugs and insert paper towels to make sure nothing falls into the engine. Turn the crank using the access hole on the clutch cover and turn the engine until all the cam lobes are not pushing on the valves, then you can mark the back of the cam gear with a sharpie. The cam itself has an oblong shape, mark all the way around it. Then make your own marks on the center gears with the sharpie. Use these marks when you put the cams back in.
Hello Shaun, i have one question. In Video Part 4 you´ve blocked the crankshaft with a longer bold on clutch cover side. Now you´re blocking the crankshaft on generator side for front bank, but i think there is no difference, right? Is it necessary to remove the generator cover to block the crankshaft when you already removed the clutch cover? I´m doing valve adjustment right now, but i cannot put a bold in the hole on generator side, the flywheel is blocking it´s way. Do i really have to remove the flywheel?!
Hi, Yes its necessary to align the crank on each side. Check the workshop manual - mo_UK_RSV4_APRC_11_12.pdf. This has full instructions on how to align the crank correctly on each side - its critical to get the alignment correct with the crank lock and the cam pin to get proper cam timing for each cylinder bank. Its possible to do with the flywheel in place but I pull it off just for ease of access. I'll get more video to explain and upload it next week.
Thank you for your fast answer. I already found some more informations about flywheels. There are basically two different types of flywheels: Kokusan and Mitsubishi see www.af1racing.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=39839. If you have Kokusan Flywheel like me, there is no possibility to put the cam pin for crankshaft lock! So you have to remove the flywheel, for your information i have an aprilia rsv4 '12 R APRC, no factory. I will get the special tools to remove the flywheel and go on with valve adjustment.
Hi Shaun! Mauro from Chile. Love your videos. Shaun I have a question... I did a engine rebuild on my 2016 RSV4, once I put it all back together, I cant get the rear cylinders to fire up. The bike starts, no check engine (I got a TEXA scanner), I got spark when I tested the coils with the computer, inyectors got pulse and everything. The bike Idles on the front cylinders and back fires strongly. I checked my timing and it looks right, the holes in the cam and the crank are aligned. Im out of ideas (im using the aprilia service manual), any tips that you can give me?
Hi Mauro. When in doubt, always follow the basics. 1-fuel, 2-spark, 3- compression. Put petrol in the tank and connect the fuel system. Crank the engine while the injectors are visible. If you see them squirting a good fuel spray, go to step 2. If not, investigate. If you see the plugs fire while the engine cranks, make sure the coils are connected to the correct cylinders. Then go to step 3 Verify valve timing. You said the timing marks all line up -better double check. Go back to the manual. Dont assume you did anything right. Do you feel compression and suction if you put your finger over the spark plug hole while the engine spins? If none of this helps, move on to another project for a while. Clear your head. Remove all assumptions. Sleep on it, then go back to it and the answer will appear. Hope this helps. Let me know what the issue was after you find it.
@@ShaunNielsen I checked fuel, all inyectors are working, I replaced all spark plugs, now the bike olds idle but backfires like hell while idling (still feels like running on two cylinders, the front ones). Compresion on the cylinders is 190 psi to 210 psi so I think they are ok. No fault codes on the computer... I also doble checked timing and everything is on point. Feels like part of the combustion is going back throw the admision port... Dont know what else to do Shaun
Hi Shaun, thank for the video, I have a favor to ask you. Can you give me the dimensions of the support for camshaft gear? Mainly the diameter of the central holder. I'm going to build it up. bye
