Check your valves in about 15 minutes

[Crash_Bandicoot]

I have seen posts from CRF450X owners that have stated they have owned the bike for quite a while and have never checked the valve clearance. I put together this slide show/video to show how easy it is and how little time it takes.

[FORMA MOTO]

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[IvanCRF]

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Gas for you!

[afcforme]

This is great. Only suggestion would be, coming from someone who is pretty new at working on motorcycles, dont put the text in the middle of the screen/blocking what your doing in the pictures sometimes. Putting the text at the bottom would still serve its purpose and i could see whats going on. But overall, A+ thank you.

[Crash_Bandicoot]

That's a good suggestion. I had also considered removing the text after each slide is up for while and leaving the slides up a little longer so you can get a better look.

[dezracerE]

Thanks Crash.

[afcforme]

That's a good suggestion. I had also considered removing the text after each slide is up for while and leaving the slides up a little longer so you can get a better look.

That would be great too.

[450X-Man]

Great post

[Sheldon747]

Thank you, I'll be doing this today and this will help.

[Jim Dettman]

Really appreciate the vid.

Like the tip about leaving the side panels attached to the tank.

Always feel like I'm going to mess up those bolts to the tank when I tighten them down (do use a torque wrench, but even so, still do).

Didn't quite get down to 15 minutes, but I was close<g>

Jim.

[Jim Dettman]

Hey I noticed too that it looks like you stripped out your tranny oil check hole; what did you use besides a larger screw to seal it up with?

I just stripped out the hole on my 250x last week and still trying to decide how to repair. In the future, I plan to not mess with it at all, which is why I'm thinking of some type of simple repair (ie. larger screw) rather then taking the cover off and heli-coiling it back to original size.

I don't have a shop manual yet and am not sure how much of a job it is to get off the right cover. Plus, call me a cheap skate I guess, but paying $15 for a gasket irks me a bit.

Jim.

[Crash_Bandicoot]

Hey I noticed too that it looks like you stripped out your tranny oil check hole

No, tranny check hole and bolt are just like they came from the factory (not stripped). I never use that bolt anyway. If you run a full quart in the transmission, the oil level is above that hole so it doesn't tell you if you are low.

To check the tranny oil level, I put the bike on the side stand and remove the crankshaft hole cap. As I start to tip the bike up straight, if oil starts to run out of the crankshaft hole, it has a full quart in the transmission.

A side note, as long as my countershaft seal is in good shape, I have never lost any tranny oil.

Taking off the right side cover isn't a big deal. The biggest hassle is that you have to drain the coolant and scraping the old gasket off is no fun.

[Jim Dettman]

No, tranny check hole and bolt are just like they came from the factory (not stripped). I never use that bolt anyway. If you run a full quart in the transmission, the oil level is above that hole so it doesn't tell you if you are low.

To check the tranny oil level, I put the bike on the side stand and remove the crankshaft hole cap. As I start to tip the bike up straight, if oil starts to run out of the crankshaft hole, it has a full quart in the transmission.

A side note, as long as my countershaft seal is in good shape, I have never lost any tranny oil.

Taking off the right side cover isn't a big deal. The biggest hassle is that you have to drain the coolant and scraping the old gasket off is no fun.

Thought you had because of the phillips screw and whatever is behind it doesn't look like a normal crush/sealing washer, which is why I asked.

Jim.

[Crash_Bandicoot]

That screw and washer are original and I bought the bike new.