[mtngoat]

Hello ALL!

New to forum; first post. Just got my 2012 CBR250R; last Saturday & I absolutely love this little BEAST! It rocks on the back roads & does well on the highway too & still gets about 73MPG so far for me!

Im using it as my work commuter etc.; so I'm ready for my 1st service by dealer.

I know the valve clearances must be checked & adjusted if needed; with the 600 mile 1st service. Dealer quoted me a price of about $200. Not too bad; said it was cheaper because they do not actually physically check the valve clearances; instead they do a compression check and if it is within 150 to 160 PSI; the valve clearances are supposedly ok.

Is this an acceptable method?

I would think the valve clearances would have to be pretty far off; way too tight; or too loose for a compression check to show any reduction in compression. Don't think this could indicate whether or not the clearances are at the max tolerance +/- of the specs. Makes me worry that by the time my next valve clearance check is due at 16K miles; the max tolerances may be exceeded way before the 16K mile check; since they may have already been at max spec at the 600 mile mark.

I look forward to all your input.

Thanks!
The MntGoat

PS - Sorry about the title goof up; tried to correct it; but can't figure out how to edit out the "Year Make Model" etc. part.

 

[jsonder]

Hopefully MotoMike and others who've worked at this will reply soon. I'm just as leery of this approach as you are, and I'd be looking for an independent shop or another dealer. 150-160 psi is what I'd expect from my wife's Rebel (9:1 compression).

With my NX, I checked the valves when I noted that it seemed a bit harder to start (so I had 3K miles with it) and sure enough one was tight so that one was dropped two shim sizes and the other 3 valves got a one size reduction. I suspect that the bike had never had the valves adjusted prior to that. 14 K miles later I'm still within spec, but, I expect to keep checking every few thousand miles. This is an older engine where you pull the cams to change the under bucket shims.

 

[CeeBeeArr]

That is a very (Very) poor lazy cheap pointless way of pretending to do a service check. The clearance is there to make sure that under all operating conditions the valves will fully close. The theory is that, as the parts heat up they change dimension and the clearance will be reduced. Hopefully not to the point that the valves don't close and therefore leak and then start to burn.

Checking compression only tells you that there is approximately 0.000" clearance up to whatever. Who really knows when such a pointless test is done?

What is the point of designing a fine mechanical device only to have such poser technicians screw around with it.

In My Humble Opinion (of course)

 

[BBRMotosports]

You can do a cylinder leakdown test but that will only tell you if they are so far out of spec that the valves are being held open. the only correct and accurate way is to physically check the clearance.

 

[Wynne G Oldman]

A compression check only tells you that you've got a problem. The whole idea of servicing is to prevent problems happening. If I were you, I would never use this dealer again. There is a Honda dealer in my town, but he's a f***ing idiot. I take my bike to be serviced at a place I can trust, that is inconvenient for me to get to, but I know does a good job.

 

[mtngoat]

Hey guys thanks for the input! Just confirms my bad feelings about it. Stinks; as this is the dealer I bought the bike from; now my trust has been lost.

I am going to check with another local dealer; to get their version of a 1st service and hope that it is the same as Honda's version. LOL

I may speak with the service manager again to let him know that I do not approve at all with substituting a compression ck for an actual valve clearance ck and see what he says. Then based upon that conversation I will know I may be looking for another dealer to do any work required; warranty or otherwise if I cannot do it myself.

What should the cost be if they just ck valve clearances w/1st service, versus actually having to adjust the valves too?

Thanks again for the quick replies!

 

[Wynne G Oldman]

Checking the valve clearance is less labour intensitive than actually adjusting them. I don't know what mechanic's charge per hour in your part of the world, but just think how much a 16 valve DOHC 4 cylinder bike with buckets and shims is going to cost to do a major service on, where they usually have to remove the camshafts to do it, compared to our single, and be happy. I'll give you a clue, it's around £600 over here. Most people don't bother, and just change the oil, and pretend that they've done a service.