Valve clearances

[fuzz]

I'm going to be checking the valve clearances on the SV myself, and even though it's quite a few thousand miles away, I was just wondering what to do if it needs no adjustment.

The manual states to check it every 15k, but if it does not need adjusting at this interval, do you leave it another 15k before checking again, or do you do it every 4000/7500 or when?

The reason I ask is because I consider the possibility that they might not need adjusting until, say, the 20k mile mark. If left until 30k, the next 15k, would it cause a problem?
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Bikes: '99 NSR125R, '00 SV650S, K1 GSX-R600, '97 CB500, K3 SV1000S, '16 VFR800

[Guest]

It's a judgement call really. The gaps on shimmed engines tend to close up over time so you don't get a noisey warning like you would with screw and locknut tappets, you just gradually lose power as the valves start to be held open.

As they're shim-under-bucket then they take ages to wear, hence the long service intervals. I'd check them at 15k and as long as they're at the middle or top end of the service limit I'd leave them. If they're closer to the narrow limit maybe leave them for another 5 - 10 k and then re-shim back up to maximum