Valve clearance RE change spec?

[Noj]

Hi All
My 2022 Himalayan was in for service yesterday. When I picked it up, I had a chat with the mechanic who had done it. Known him and the dealership for years.
He knows I do most jobs myself, just had the service due to it still being under warranty in the UK.
What he told me was the next time I do the tappets, RE have advised that the inlet is the same, however to set the exhaust has been revised to 0.18 -0.20
It came out in an service update.
Interesting.
Cheers Noj

 

[Roy Gavin]

For all bikes or for later models?
My 2017 bike went from a dealer service at 5000 km to 45000 km before they needed adjusting so they could probably have been a little tighter.
But the change is only from 8/9 thou to 7/8 thou , just about the usual margin of error if you are using feeler gauges.
And most exhaust valves will have a little dishing on the top of the stem so with feeler gauges you will probably have at least 12 or 13 thou anyway!

 

[Overdrive]

I can’t think of any good engineering reason why they should do that. If the exhaust is set correctly it isn’t excessively noisy (I’m sure most of the rattley ones I’ve heard have been set incorrectly (due to indents in the valve end or rocker tip through no real fault of the person setting them, just the usual poor QC from RE.
Mine (with a tec cam) is set to 0.25mm and although I can hear it if I listen for it, I’ve heard far worse on other engines.

 

[dabs]

Well that's an interseting post as i recently watched a video where the chap replaced his valves with Hitchcocks and set his exhaust at around .20, he reckons the original exhaust seting is a little extreme. How i fixed my Royal Enfield Himalayan Valve Noise I think he has a follow up video also.

 

[Dool2]

Loose tappets accelerate wear, unfortunately there are many out there that call them Happy Tappets

Thanks for the update Noj. your lucky to have a friendly mechanic.

 

[tom_d]

Hi All
My 2022 Himalayan was in for service yesterday. When I picked it up, I had a chat with the mechanic who had done it. Known him and the dealership for years.
He knows I do most jobs myself, just had the service due to it still being under warranty in the UK.
What he told me was the next time I do the tappets, RE have advised that the inlet is the same, however to set the exhaust has been revised to 0.18 -0.20
It came out in an service update.
Interesting.
Cheers Noj

Any chance you can find out the service bulletin reference or issue number?

 

[Noj]

Unfortunately he did not say if this was all Himalayans or just the later ones. Just that's what they now set them to.
Next time I'm in I'll ask if they'll let me have the service bulletin reference number.
Probably be cheeky and ask for a copy as well.

 

[djsb]

Looks like I'll be adding the upgraded valves (with new seals and cylinder head gasket) and TEC cam and fuelx lite to my upgrade list over the summer.

 

[Roy Gavin]

Loose tappets accelerate wear, unfortunately there are many out there that call them Happy Tappets

Thanks for the update Noj. your lucky to have a friendly mechanic.

There is a difference between ticking and rattling, and any pro mechanic can put a stethoscope on a head and confidently say- yes they are ticking away happily, no need to touch them! Or not, of course.
From photos of some valve stems, actual measurements of dimpling taken with a dial gauge, and the speed that some close up it seems there are better quality valves around than OEM.
Usually all you need to know is Black Diamond but Eatmore has checked and they have nothing that fits and too large a minimum order for a group buy , so it appears the offering from Hitchcocks is the only alternative.
Perhaps the factory has upgraded the valve material for the higher reving 452 and carried the change over to the 410s too.
Hopefully with a new part number , so those who feel the need for an upgrade can do so.The tech bulletin might even have the details!
But the chance is only one thou, set them accuracy at the old figure with a dial gauge and it seems OEM will have tightened by that PDQ anyway!
FWIW first time I saw a pro mechanic setting valves he was doing it by feel, on a hot, running , motor - not everyone gets too exited over a thou!

 

[Bikeguy]

Had my bike serviced today and mentioned this to them. They are Not aware of this service bulletin and left my valve gaps as per standard. They did research it for me but could not get anything out of their RE contacts.

Would be interesting to get the bulletins number if possible.

 

[Noj]

Called into the dealer this weekend, all the mechanic would say is that's what he now use's and he's sure it was a service bulletin.
However he's not got it to hand, so it's up to you if you want to go down this route.
Myself, I did the tappets on Sunday, set the inlet to 0.08mm (as per RE), exhaust to 0.2mm (bottom of RE in manual, top of new settings).
Thought I'd play safe and see how it goes?

 

[tom_d]

These settings look the same as the Meteor and other J series settings, is that correct? It would be interesting if they changed them to match but seems like it might be more well known or easy to verify by dealers in the not distant future.

 

[tom_d]

See below reply from Alan

QUOTE

Hi Savvas,

Apologies, I have just checked with the workshop on this and you are correct. Apparently, the workshop manual from Royal Enfield for the later Euro 5 Himalayan contains this error (this is where the extract comes from). Looking at the illustrations I can now see the 350 J platform head being shown so well spotted.

From another thread, a possible source of the much smaller clearance spec cited.

I had wondered before if the service bulletin mentioned was an error or mixup since the intake and exhaust were the same as the new 350 bikes and far from the Himalayan’s traditional spec. In a thread discussing cam noise, there is a post where a customer received what could be a whole section cut and paste from a J series manual that the vendor said was from a Himalayan Euro5 manual. Seems like there have been errors before or sections lifted from other manuals which didn’t align.

Anyone have a full Himalayan Euro5 or maybe BSVI service manual to check? I have only seen the BSIV and its followup supplemental Euro5 addition which didn’t mention this change.

 

[dabs]

I have just set my exhaust clearance to .20, rode the bike 200 miles and rechecked, still .20, i will re-check in another few hundred miles and see if it closes up and/or then settles.