2001 GL 1800 Valve Adjustment

[gliskey]

Can anyone give me any info on a valve adjustment on my 2001 GL 1800. Yesterday I was told by Honda the valve adjustment takes 5-6 hrs at $95. shop rate, plus shims. Does $500 - $600 sound right for this service. My bike just turned 32k miles, runs perfect. Honda says the 3200 mile full service is $900. Holly sh-- !!!!!!

Anyone know a qualified mechanic in the Salinas, Calif area?????????

Thanks !

[Viking]

Firstly, stop worrying about it. Nobody has their valves adjusted prior to at least a 100K miles, from all I have read. These GL1800s at 32K are just getting broken in. They are like the Everready bunny, they just keep going and going and going. That said, it is likely as your Honda dealer told you if you really want to get it done. It is a big job. What really needs doing on these bikes is oil change, coolant change, brake fluid change, and a checkup to make sure everything is tight. At 32K, you are probably just about due for an Air Filter also, but if your fuel mileage is good, don't worry about that either.

Yeah, I know. I am minimizing maintenance on the GL1800s, but I think the called for maintenance schedule is way way overboard for the way Honda built these bikes. I have owned mine for three years now, and have 25K miles (40K kms) on it, and it runs almost like new. I have a tiny bit more hesitation in the throttle when cold, but just warming the bike up gets rid of that. I am not going to worry about all those things like valve adjustment or timing chain replacement for a long time yet.

[thrasherg]

Its probably a 2 hour job to get the valve covers off and check all the valve clearances (without changing any shims), if shims need changing (Rare but does happen) then you can add a couple of hours to that.. I would expect about 4 hours to remove the covers, check/change the shims, and put it back together. Hourly rates vary, (your shop's rate is a bit higher than ones around here) but their numbers are not unusual (just a bit high in my opinion). Why not do it yourself, getting the spare shims in stock prior to the job, is the most expensive part, then its just your time and you don't pay for your time!! There is probably someone near you that can come and help if you are not sure about it..

Gary

[gliskey]

Thanks for the feedback, Gang. Again, the bike runs perfect. I just got the distinct feeling the dealer wanted me to contribute to the owner's vacation fund. Maybe put one of his kids thru college?

Thanks again,

Greg

[jinx]

The dealer had checked the valves on my bike at the 64,000 mile check up with no adjustment needed. At 150,000 miles I checked them and found only one valve that was boarder line so I shimmed it back to center .

Hopefully that will help easy your worry's.

[gliskey]

Thanks so much for sharing. I agree that I won't worry about it and just ride it.

Thanks again, so much !

Greg