Closers I go 0.000" to 0.005"

Opener intake 0.006" plus 0.001 or minus 0.000

Opener Exaust 0.007 plus 0.002 or minus 0.000

That's on my aircooled 1100's
I'd rather hear a loose valve rattle/click than have tight ones causing hard starting / burning

You can't hear a loose valve over that open dry clutch & termi exaust anyway.

 

Closers I go 0.000" to 0.005"

Opener intake 0.006" plus 0.001 or minus 0.000

Opener Exaust 0.007 plus 0.002 or minus 0.000

That's on my aircooled 1100's
I'd rather hear a loose valve rattle/click than have tight ones causing hard starting / burning

You can't hear a loose valve over that open dry clutch & termi exaust anyway.

can't imagine why you'd even bother checking if you were just going to leave closers at 5 thou.

 

when adjusting closers on 4v i aim for 0.05mm. i would only adjust if i was going to make a change of 0.05mm or more. so if all closers were 0.10mm or less, i'd leave them. the time it takes to do that on the testa style engines, given the amount of cleaning time there is for reassembly, i don't see as value for the customer. i might do it if it was my own. maybe. 0.10mm is fine. if it's 0.20mm then adjusting to 0.05mm will make a difference to how it runs at low speed.

although, that was more a case on the older engines. bikes with idle control systems will idle no matter how bad the clearances are, and the crap low speed running closed loop fuel injection brings (although dual plug testa evo are pretty good) will also mask the improvements from tight closers.

you need to be a little wary that the specs ducati gives, if both are at the tight end, might lead to the cam binding at some point when the valve is open, which you can feel as you rotate the cam around fully. you can also measure the closing clearance at any point around the valve opening, as in the static situation of rotating the cam by hand and pausing at a given point the opener is defining where the valve is and the closer isn't doing anything. so sliding a feeler gauge in there will tell you if there is any clearance in the combined opener/closer system.

as an example, some of the st3 inlets need a combined clearance (opener plus closer) of 0.25mm. usually i'd go 0.10mm opener and 0.05mm closer, but sometimes i end up at 0.15 and 0.10 on them just to stop the binding. no idea why it's only some of them. i see the same thing very occasionally on testa evo, but only if you're tight on both really. i generally open the opener up and keep the closer tight in that instance.

 

My bad

It's 0.0005"...........left out a zero.

 

I did it in metric once and now always in imperial. So I aim for 2-4 thousands exhaust and 4-7 thousands for intake. Easier for me.

 

I'll go generic in numbers so it's easy to see. Say there are 3 settings, so there is book minimum, the blueprinted number, the maximum gap:
Max Gap: This is a longer valve interval setting you skip a few km give or take. This is the quieter valve lash setting. This leaves the exhaust closed longer for more of its diminishing returns and a touch more grunt.

Blueprint gap: This is the middle of both numbers. The best of both worlds setting.

Min Gap: This is the high performance gap. The higher maintenance setting. The random tick setting at the mechanical tope end. The top end kind of play setting for more mph. The faster event setting. No change as in more air, but the same air only entering sooner in degrees. The shorter event; lost is the grunt and poor performance setting, if going back to an ideal setting and ride like grandma in the street? Then no grunt, but more at the extreme opposite range.

The go-no go system. If it's max number .003" for example, then an .004"' should not fit in, an .002" should. The feel should have the leaf of the feeler tool float between the gap. Who gives a shit if it's .00399999", the 004" won't fit in, float that blade so the leaves fold into the case like it was brand new. DRAG is the squid's feel, and the feeler is now in a J hook and lay out the blades between a pro and you don't get it do you? Not without that decoder ring.

Signed,
Leaf Pullers J Blades Club

 

i'm not really sure what you're trying to achieve here, but some of us have a lot of experience with these bikes and what works. you clearly don't. please don't tell people things that are rubbish.

 

If you are saying the FSM says aim for this lash only, gives no breakout in the high or low, then I'll agree not to savvy on the duc engine. But if there is a hi/lo/blueprint, is why I said... 'do you get it?' Well buddy, you don't get it.

It's like saying this carb does not flow like a generic carb. And now say it does not idle well or at all. The part only works one way. It's designed to work only one way. Now you're saying you can't walk up to a bike/car/toaster and say it works this way.

Right, and you're going to change the parts and ohms law plotted out the build of how it is going to work without toasting the house down. And how many shims are available?

Not here to argue, send in misinformation, but more a generic move on the same old moving parts.

 

If you are saying the FSM says aim for this lash only, gives no breakout in the high or low, then I'll agree not to savvy on the duc engine...film flam florple jello pudding pops, my wife Camille…

I’m not sure why you post, I can’t imagine anyone understands wtf you are saying. You should consider reading your posts to yourself first, and asking yourself a few questions before hitting the “post reply” button. Questions such as:

1. Does this qualify as English diction?
2. Would this appear to some as “word diarrhea”?

If you genuinely have a learning disorder/dyslexia or English isn’t your first language, I feel for you. Honestly. However, arguing with someone like Belter on valve clearances and telling him that HE doesn’t get it, isn’t going to win anyone over.

 

White, I have a few thumbs up on both posts. How come they understood what I said?

Valve tick is caused by a loose clearance or tight clearance?

 

There you go, I knew you could do it! I don't know, they might have a better decoder ring than I do. Or maybe I just need to “loose”n up?

 

White, you wouldn't believe the shit I say and goes over everyone's head. You're not alone. I've got hundreds of posts that 'crack' me up.

 

In the 851 and an early 916 manual I have it gives tighter clearances than later Desmoquatros, It also gives clearances in imperial units which are even more exacting. I try to use the imperial unit clearances and tolerances. The engines feel a little sweeter and better behaved around town.

 

Wow! what did I miss? BTW Desmo service went well. Bikes back on the road and runs like new. Thanks everyone

 

The control values from Ducati for a 2011 Multi are opener .10 to .25 , the closer are .05 to .15 , which means if your running in these values you will not harm the engine , the specs are .13 to .18 and .05 to .10 . If you are at let say .09 on a closer and you increase closer shim by .05 mm you will be below spec by .01mm putting the closer at .04 clearance which is OK but wouldn't want to go tighter . . At .09 I would leave it , your still well within the closer control value of .15mm. multi shims for Multi 1200 only come in .05mm increments .

 

They are marked in 05 increments but if measured they are all over the map. Each shim should be measured individually, do not use the number stamped on it.

 

Recently had one closer marked at 3.35 it was the same size as another one marked 3.20 , the 3.20 was correct , My experience is that most are correct but each one needs measuring to check .

 

recently i did a streetfighter 1098 valve clearance only job. nothing else - strip, belts off, clearances, belts on, assembled. i asked the owner to let me know if he felt any difference. given it's a closed loop ecu bike with an idle control valve, i was curious to know if he'd feel anything.

inlet opening clearances were all 0.13mm - 5 thou. left as was.
exhaust opening clearances were 0.10, 0.13, 0.14, 0.14mm. opened to 0.15mm - 6 thou on all.
inlet closing clearances were all 0.15mm. tightened to 0.05-0.06mm - 2 thou.
exhaust closing clearances were 0.12, 0.17, 0.18, 0.20mm. tightened to 0.04-0.05mm - 2 thou.

he sent me a text saying "the bike does feel more responsive". that's the sort of thing i was hoping for.

note: all the clearances as was were in the ducati spec range. some would argue i wasted about $650 of his money taking the time to adjust. lots of people, including dealership staff being told to save time, would just put the covers back on. there's a reason i don't.

 

lots of people, including dealership staff being told to save time, would just put the covers back on. there's a reason i don't.

I believe SOME dealers do it to make more money.
Some owners do it to not have to actually make an adjustment.

I agree that it makes the bike simply run better if you run the tighter than ducati spec clearances as well as it tends to hold closer clearances longer when the half rings do not get all beat up. I just had a 749 in the shop and looking at the factory clearances I had to agree with the later Ducati specs and return to desmoquattro clearances. Customer says the bike has never run as well.

If owner tuned I would suggest setting the valves to the tighter spec which likely will take an amateur a long time to do, so do the valves only when you have a fair amount of time and wont be rushed. IMHO major services should NEVER be done during riding season, that gives you the time to do it with no pressure.

 

yeah, the old "all within spec" rubbish. you see lots of it on youtube videos.

i still see 749 or 999 for the first time that have had a few valve clearance services elsewhere and i do every shim.

 

I've had a nasty time trying to do valve clearances on my MTS1200.

My closers were all too loose at 0.15mm or more. Openers were all in spec apart from two. I changed all the closers to about 0.07mm and fixed the two openers. This took me a month, waiting for shim kit delivery. Loosing half rings in the motor. Struggling to remove stuck shims and half rings. Cut hands, bruised thumbs from pinging the rockers. Etc. Put it all back together and got a ticking sound at idle that was not there before.

Took it all apart again after 60km riding as I had an oil leak from not enough sealant on vertical cam bridge. Then found some clearances tighter than I originally measure and some looser. Now ranging from 0.05 to 0.11 on closers. Changed a loose shim to get it to 0.07mm then called it a day as the closers were in spec and some I could not tighten without going below 0.05mm. Have done another 200km riding without the bodywork and it still makes a tick.

I'm taking it apart for hopefully the last time and will double check if I have binding due to 0.05mm closers and tight openers. I'm thinking I may just increase openers to high end of the spec and see if that improves things. Had enough of cutting hands and brusing thumbs but at least after two attempts I know some of the tricks.

If I can get it working properly again I will treat it to a full Arrow exhaust with titanium muffler and stop browsing used Streetfighter V4 ads out of frustration.

The best trick I learned from Desmoaddict on the Ducati Reddit is to use high grit sandpaper to sand the valve stem half ring ridges. This lets the half rings slip in easily and stop them falling out as you try and seat them.