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Valve Adjustment Step-By-Step

Yes, I think "which cylinder is ACTUALLY #1?!" is almost as big a question for the NC as "what oil to use?". I ended up printing out this guide (from the 1st post in this thread) and following that - worked great no confusion or issues.

I printed it out before the forum software got updated, so the inline pictures are bigger and it is easier to read. Unfortunately didn't think to save a PDF of it at the time, but I stapled it together and leave it with my service manual for future reference.
 
Bumping this legendary topic because there is too much confusion on That Other Forum about which cylinder is #1

Bless this thread
I didn’t realize there was any confusion about which cylinder is #1. The Honda service manual says to check the valve clearance for the No. 1 cylinder, then illustrates that by showing a photo of a feeler gauge at a valve stem of cylinder #1. I don’t see how this wasn’t clear already. Is the Honda manual not correct, or did Honda publish a conflicting procedure in some other document?

Elsewhere the manual illustates the #1 spark plug and the #1 coil, and they are shown as being on the side of the engine that has the water pump, so it seems like a consistent message.

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I didn’t realize there was any confusion about which cylinder is #1. The Honda service manual says to check the valve clearance for the No. 1 cylinder, then illustrates that by showing a photo of a feeler gauge at a valve stem of cylinder #1. I don’t see how this wasn’t clear already. Is the Honda manual not correct, or did Honda publish a conflicting procedure in some other document?

Elsewhere the manual illustates the #1 spark plug and the #1 coil, and they are shown as being on the side of the engine that has the water pump, so it seems like a consistent message.

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I didn't see anything which clearly defined which cylinder or which valves were intake or exhaust. I wanted to be sure that I was checking the correct cylinder and figured double checking would be quick and easy. The British forum came up first on Google and was full of uncertainty and bickering.

My manual didn't say which plug or spark coil was which, at least not in the Maintenance chapter.

I've only worked on the Honda and my single thumper DRZ, and I have only been riding for five years this year. I don't come with a wealth of information and knowledge of how engine layouts are normally described
 
I didn't see anything which clearly defined which cylinder or which valves were intake or exhaust. I wanted to be sure that I was checking the correct cylinder and figured double checking would be quick and easy. The British forum came up first on Google and was full of uncertainty and bickering.

My manual didn't say which plug or spark coil was which, at least not in the Maintenance chapter.

I've only worked on the Honda and my single thumper DRZ, and I have only been riding for five years this year. I don't come with a wealth of information and knowledge of how engine layouts are normally described
I understand your point of view. What I read in Honda's valve check procedure seems clear enough. I don't visit That Other Forum, so I wasn't aware of any confusion on cylinder identification, but I'm puzzled as to why it would even be questioned.

In the General Information section of the Honda manual, the motorcycle's components are illustrated and identified. There, it is defined which is spark plug wire#1 and coil #1.

If anyone adjusts their bike's valves on the wrong cylinder or wrong TDC, they'll know they did it wrong when it needs a lot of adjustment, and consequently the engine runs poorly.

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For valve adjustment, the pro way, you don't even need to know the cylinder numbers or even open the timing inspection caps.
Here's my method of inspecting/adjusting valves on any engine without giving a care about cylinder numbers, timing marks, or anything else.
Seasoned mechanics never remove the timing caps and squint through the hole trying to align the marks.
All you need to do is remove the cover of the crankshaft bolt to allow you to easily turn the crank with a ratchet and socket:

As you rotate the crank (counterclockwise only), watch the valve train operation.
Your 4 stroke cycle order is Intake-Compression-Power-Exhaust.
All valves are closed from slightly after the beginning of the compression stroke to almost the end of the power stroke.
Start with any cylinder.
Slowly rotate the crank.
You are looking for the exhausts (bottom 2 valves) to open and close.
Immediately after the exhausts close, the intakes will open.
As soon as the intakes close, another half turn will bring the piston up to close to TDC (top dead centre).
That's close enough. The piston does not need to be exactly at TDC.
Stop the crank at that point and with your fingers, try to wiggle the intake and exhaust rocker arms up and down.
You should feel free play in all the rocker arms for that cylinder and hear light tapping.
That means it is safe to measure the clearances and adjust as necessary.

On to the next cylinder.
Start by rotating the crank again and watching the valve action of the next cylinder.

This saves a huge amount of time and is foolproof as long as you remember the order of the 4 stroke cycle and thus the order that the valves open and close.
 
Is the Honda manual not correct, or did Honda publish a conflicting procedure in some other document?
@670cc - yeah, unfortunately Honda NC750X Stuff on YouTube did a tutorial video where he got the cylinders backwards, and many people seem to follow that as a guide. Esp. on the NC700/750 FB groups, where many do not bother to look at the shop manual, in spite of the fact that links to the PDFs are posted right there on their page.

Note that NC750 Stuff is a great channel with many accurate and well done maintenance videos. He also replies to comments promptly. Just an unfortunate mistake!
 
I understand your point of view. What I read in Honda's valve check procedure seems clear enough. I don't visit That Other Forum, so I wasn't aware of any confusion on cylinder identification, but I'm puzzled as to why it would even be questioned.

In the General Information section of the Honda manual, the motorcycle's components are illustrated and identified. There, it is defined which is spark plug wire#1 and coil #1.

If anyone adjusts their bike's valves on the wrong cylinder or wrong TDC, they'll know they did it wrong when it needs a lot of adjustment, and consequently the engine runs poorly.

View attachment 43963View attachment 43964
It's been a very long time since I have read the General Information chapter.... Coming up on four years now....

Great find though, very useful! I will remember it in 16,000 miles :cool:
 
@670cc - yeah, unfortunately Honda NC750X Stuff on YouTube did a tutorial video where he got the cylinders backwards, and many people seem to follow that as a guide. Esp. on the NC700/750 FB groups, where many do not bother to look at the shop manual, in spite of the fact that links to the PDFs are posted right there on their page.

Note that NC750 Stuff is a great channel with many accurate and well done maintenance videos. He also replies to comments promptly. Just an unfortunate mistake!
Yes, that is unfortunate. People that rely on youtube videos in lieu of a product manufacturer's provided service manual run the risk that the information may be, well, incorrect. Now to be fair, Honda did screw up one thing in the valve adjustment procedure in the very first version of the NC700X manual but I understand it has since been corrected.
 
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Yes, that is unfortunate. People that rely on youtube videos in lieu of a product manufacturer's provided service manual run the risk that the information may be, well, incorrect. Now to be fair, Honda did screw up one thing in the valve adjustment procedure in the very first version of the NC700X manual but I understand it has since been corrected.
I read the manual and typically watch youtube for stuff I haven't done before. If I did read the first chapter closely (which I didn't), and took the video as the correct methodology, I would have done it wrong.

This forum has been an invaluable resource for me, and I'm sure many others
 
With apologies, if I may be very blunt, the rule is RTFM.

If the manual is wrong, I'll try to reach out to the manufacturer to get it corrected.
 
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