What is the allowable tolerance range for your bikes valve train? If 0.178 is within that range you do not need to adjust. The bike can be ridden until the nevxt service interval and then the valve lash rechecked. If it is out of that range it is suggested you adjust ASAP.

As a side note a lot of people do not understand allowable range and think if the valves lash is not in the middle of the allowable range they are out of spec. and need to be adjusted to the middle range. The real answer is if the valve lash is anywhere within the allowable range it is "in spec" and will not need to be checked and/or adjusted until the next recommended service interval. IN short if the valve is in spec. it is not out of spec.

Keep in mid the above is the biking used under "normal" operating conditions. If you are using the bike for harcore offroad and or track days the service intervals should be reduced.

 

The tolerance range for my bike’s valve train is 0.10 – 0.17 mm, so 0.178 mm is technically just outside the upper limit. Since it’s right on the edge, I wasn’t sure if it’s acceptable to leave it until the next service interval or if I should adjust it sooner.

 

I would say it time to make an adjustment. 0.178 rounds up to 0.18 or just slightly out of spec.

 

If the valve clearance is too tight it can burn a valve but it it's too loose it just makes noise. I think your ok.

 

out of spec is out of spec, your 2 thousandths above the median of the operating range. No owner/mechanic would not correct this adjustment if it were a "simple" threaded tappet adjuster. Do the math or get the spreadsheet to see what shim you need.

 

Or buy a shim kit and have shims on hand and ready to go. I hate havg to stop a project waiting on parts to come in. 8.90mm shim kits at least in the US of A are around $60.

 

If doing the job yourself, it would be a reasonable approach to order/buy the necessary shims and schedule the work. Give yourself enough time (whole day) to do the job.

It is the ‘Inlet valves’, and they are slightly too wide.
This is Not an urgent situation. You have diagnosed the issue - well done. I would schedule a fix and keep riding (no red-lining).

R

 

You may want to review this thread: https://www.r1200gs.info/threads/va...o/threads/valve-clearance-adjusment-questions.56101/?post_id=340697#post-340697

 

Thank you all for your replies!

 

Buying a shim kit ahead of time is the way to go, or even better buy a few sets of shims that cover the spectrum you could possibly need for your bike, if you know what the sizes are. The individual shim sizes I’ve bought came in packs of five so you won’t have to compromise whereas some shim kits only have two or three of each size, when you have four valves each for intake and exhaust.
Alternatively buy OEM shims from your local dealer and make sure they are open the day you work on this job and they have plenty of shims n stock. This way you can buy exactly what you need.
You don’t want to have your engine open and parts all over the place and then have to wait for a mail order to come in. Which is what I did…

 

Title: BMW R1200GS LC 2015 – valve clearance advice

Message:
Hi everyone,
I have a BMW R1200GS LC from 2015. I recently checked the valve clearances and on the intake valves I measured 0.178 mm.

It being a 2015, what is the mileage on it?

And what did your cams look like?

 

It’s around 75000 km, here’s pictures of cams

 

It’s around 75000 km, here’s pictures of cams

So you have just over 4 times the mileage of my 2016 GSA. Good to know.

Looking at the cams, they generally look OK but I'd need to see close-ups to fully confirm. One of the lobes looks over-heated. Anyway, I am not going to worry about checking clearances on my GSA, certainly not the way I drive it.

Thanks!

 

Not to stir the pot here, but ZDDP was introduced to oil in the early 1940's from what I was able to get from a Google search. With all the improvement in oils and additives over the past 80+ years, there are additives that provide similar or better protection than ZDDP--at least from what I can read/find online. I admit, I am no oil expert, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but continuing consider ZDDP as the only source to provide proper protection ignores the improvements made over the past 80+ years. OK, I'm off my soap box.

 

Lots of engineering goes into the oil additive package. Changing said additive package won’t necessarily assure the best results unless you are an oil engineer I suppose.

 

The best way if you are worried about cam wear due to a lack of "additives" is to not rev the engine at ultra high RPMs. Now in the perfect world, none of this matters, but with cam issues on some GSes, I'll play it safe although I do not rev the pi$$ out of my engine

The wear on your cams is not related to the load you are putting on an engine. If anything the mass and inertia associated with lifting a valve faster (high revs) would put more wear on a lobe and if the surface hardening is not up to spec, well what can I say.

My GS in everday driving at a constant speed never sees more than 4000 RPM and if I shift, maybe 4500 RPM the odd time. Thats about half of red-line and the engine is not being lugged.

Strange, I never seem to have issues with any of my cars and motorcycles.