Hello, I have friend who recently bought a 990. The first valve check is needing to be done. He would like to learn the procedure and not have to take the bike to the local dealer here in the Orlando area. He is looking for suggestions on a VERY good and honest mechanic or private owner that is willing to help with the valve check. He would rather pay to watch and learn instead of getting ripped off (he has had a bad experience in the past). We welcome any suggestions on how to best proceed. Thanks.
I just did the valve check on my 950. It is a bit of a long process as you have to measure the gap, then take the cams out and measure the existing shims to see what size you need to replace them, that is if your valves are out of spec. Im not too far from Deland but Im out of town more than I am home for work so It wouldnt be practical for me to try to do it. Its really not too difficult a job, just time consuming. If your friend has a good place to work on it and a decent set of tools I would suggest he just do it. There are excellent guides to the procedure online and its a great way to get to know the bike, and save a ton of money. You would need a place that it could be apart for a few days possibly. I couldnt find shims locally and had to order them. Couldnt even find Harley Vrod shims (same size) in Orlando... guess no one rides their vrod enough to adjust them. If he were to get in a bind and I were in town I could be persuaded to help out, and there are a couple of other 950 inmates in the area too.
I've started doing my own valves- done them 3x, so far. I started out by posting in the regional forum to find other owners near me, then had a 'tech day', inviting folks over to my home to wrench on bikes. I offered food in exchange for someone helping me work through the valve adjust process. It worked! The process isn't that difficult. It's a bit of a chore to get down to the valves- pull body work, pull tanks, pull radiator loosen oil tank, pull air box and carbs, then you're finally ready to pull the valve covers. Once you're there, rotate the crank to find TDC on the appropriate cylinder, then carefully remove the cam bridges and dig in. Tools- this can all be done with basic hand tools. Buying the 'crank locking tool' from KTM might be a good idea. I know people have made their own using an appropriate sized piece of metric all-thread or a long bolt, but I just coughed up the $10 or whatever. The large hex-drive socket (a massive allen wrench) to turn the crank can be found in local auto parts places- I found mine in an AutoZone or something similar. Came as a set, it's something like a 12mm or 14mm. Might also think about getting one of those magnetic parts grabbers (extendable antenna with a magnet on the end) for pulling the shims out of the buckets (sometimes they 'stick' because of oil) or finding parts you dropped. Oh yeah- when you pull the carbs, stuff something down in to the intake bores to prevent parts from falling in. BE VERY CAREFUL REINSTALLING/TIGHTENING THE CAM BRIDGES. The material is very easy to cross-thread/strip, and it's not a cheap process to have them helicoiled. And it's embarassing. The forums are a great place for info, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who will chime in with advice/guidance. My suggestion is to get a piece of foam-core project board before you start. As you pull a part off, sketch the part's shape on the board and poke holes for the bolts in the appropriate positions. When you're reassembling, I've found it really helps me keep track of all the bolts, I know exactly where each one goes and I know if I've missed anything. There are a couple parts that use different sized fasteners- lower oil tank uses longer (?) bolts than the upper mounts use. It's a good way to keep everything straight. Bottom line- it's not that hard, it's pretty straight forward, and if you can do it, it'll save you $$ do DIY rather than paying shop rates. Plus you're learning more about your beast. G
Hello, Im Dan the guy who has the KTM 990 ADV.and wanted help with valve check.. Thanks for the info. Yeah . id like to try to get together when you do your valve check again. Id like to watch and help if i can. Thanks Dan
Too bad you didn't post up before christmas. We could have done three at a time. I did mine for the 3rd time and my boy did his for his first time. My son and I are in the same boat as otown, we travel for work and are gone alot. If you google ktm 950 Hall of Wisdom there are great step by step and pics. My son bought a 10mm shim kit for around 70 bucks, has all the sizes. Not a bad investment if you are going to keep the bike forever, like me. Just go for it. You'll feel ..... I don't know something, hopefully not frustration.
Thanks for your help. well, let me know when you need to do again id like to watch and help if i can.heres my email. dansnook2810@gmail.com:
