[Marlburoman]

After riding 200 miles on my recent purchase of a 2003 classic, I noticed a lot of backfire. I did a shim check and the intake is within tolerance ( .1 ) but the exhaust is at 0. I checked the front cyl only as its running much colder than the rear. The bike has V&H exhaust without baffles. My concern is that since I don't know how long it has been running without baffles that the exhaust valves are burnt. Finding a good mechanic here (Dominican Republic) is like finding a needle in a haystack. On top of that you can't leave your bike in the shops here. Most work is done on the streets. This means if I want to see the valve seat I will have to pay to have it torn down then reassambled. From what I see I have 3 options. Reshim and pray the valves are good, buy new exhaust valves and pray the seats are good, or buy used Cyl head assy.

 

[Marlburoman]

Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

[doitmanny]

loco aqui la gente casi ni responde a nada, creeme ando en las misma manin.

 

[Beans]

How many KMs are on the engine? At the very least you should correct the valve shim tolerance before you ride it any more.

 

[Marlburoman]

There is 22,000 miles (35405 km) on the bike, I have parked it until I do some kind of fix.

 

[sfair]

ALL valves should be adjusted to Kawasaki specified clearances.
Once that is done, you can do a compression check to verify seats.

Are you having intake or exhaust backfire?

 

[Marlburoman]

I believe it was intake backfire. The air breather would "pop" against my leg. I have ordered a shim kit and it should be here in another week. Glad I know someone with a compression tester. Wish I had my tools from Canada, lol. Checked the rear valve clearances today and they are below tolerance as well, but not "0".

 

[sfair]

but not "0".

What do you mean by this?

 

[Marlburoman]

I didn't get the exact clearance on the rear cyl shims but there was an under tolerance clearance. There was no clearance on the front cyl exhaust valves. What I meant was that there was a clearance on the rear valves. It was not a "zero" clearance (like the front cyl) and the lifters were touching the shims. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Evilwestsidefan]

Just adjust your shims so you have the proper gap tolerance per the manual and I expect the bike will be fine since it is still running, but you need to do that otherwise you will fry your valves.

 

[Marlburoman]

I did reshim the valves but had the same problem with nothing on the front cyl. I managed to find a mechanic here and he did a valve job but unfortunatly I didn't get to see the valves before he shipped it. I did get to the shop as they were putting it back together and good thing I did. He said the shims were good now. He just pushed on the lifter and showed there was clearance. I asked if he had a feeler gauge. I got the most puzzled look. Ran home and got mine. He was very close but we did reshim 1 valve, lol. I'm back up and running but I think I will have to get a jet kit as there is still a lot of "popping".