I've just completed the dreaded 12000 miles service. The following may be useful for anyone else contemplating doing their own service: Greased the rear wheel needle roller bearing. It was not dry but ready for some new grease. Once the wheel, stake nut & brake caliper are removed the axle normally pulls out quite easily with maybe a light tap, but not this time. It took a lot of effort to knock it out & it seems that the axle had bonded to the ball bearing race in the hub. There were signs of something like bearing fit having been used which I cleaned off before reassembly and the axle went back in easily and there is no play at all in the bearings so all good. Greased the rear suspension linkage bearings. Not dry but ready for some new grease. Greased the steering head bearings without issue. Again not dry & would probably have been ok until the next service. Checked the valve clearances. The service manual states to remove the cam cover by moving it to the right then rotating it anti-clockwise before pulling it out to the rear between the frame rails (after first having removed the frame infill panels & throttle bodies). I found it easier to remove it sideways to the right which is possible if the secondary air injection reed valve covers are removed first. Valve clearances were all found to be within tolerance although close to or at their upper limit. Balanced the throttle bodies. They were still in balance (used Dealertool) so did not need adjustment. Everything else was straighforward.
Yes, I also wasted half an hour trying to extract the cam cover via the factory instructions without success and ended up removing the same way you have. I also found clearances mostly close to maximum which is good as the most common wear of valve recession will close the gap, I recorded gaps for each valve so I can compare next time around (more than you'll get from a dealer service).
I had mine done by a dealer back in July.....£781, a good incentive to DIY if you have the tools and skills.....Although Bulldogs were very thorough Like your shims, mine were still tolerance...The tech did give me the measurements too T
Tony, I'd be interested to know whether that was a pre-arranged fixed price or not. Obviously there's quite a few hours in getting to check valve clearances and then reassembling the bike, but if shims need changing then that adds cam shaft removal to the job, which means further hours of labour. If that adds to your bill then it's even more frightening!! (conversely the dealer makes a killing on in-tolerance bikes if a fixed price)
Cost me around £150 for parts etc. My labour was free Be interested to compare valve clearances (see mine attached).
It's reassuring to see that we have both got very similar measurements and all opening up which is better than gaps closing. I suspect the next check at 24000 miles will show the gaps starting to close, but still within tolerance, as the initial wear on the cams and buckets settles down and the valves start to recess into the valve seats?
On the exhaust side all six valves -25 On the inlet side Cy1 -12/-13, Cy2 -15/-15 Cy 3 -17/-17 Mileage was 10,161 Triple X - with measurements that close to tolerance, I might have been inclined to adjust them closer to mid tolerance
If any had been outside of tolerance I would have removed the camshafts and measured all of the shims so that they could be swapped around or replaced as necessary so that they were close to mid tolerance as you suggest. However it seemed unnecessary to remove the cams in this instance as the gaps were all on the wider side but within tolerance which causes no damage to the engine and has negligible effect on performance. Had the gaps been on the lower limit (i.e. closing up) I would have made some adjustment for peace of mind to avoid possible issues should they close completely. What usually happens is that the gaps initially increase before decreasing and eventually close completely on high mileage engines if the valve check is ignored. Out of interest is there any reason why yours were done at 10161 miles rather than 12000?
The service was due by date, plus I was planning to ride it to the South of France in September. Ended up taking the wife's 900 Tiger with us sharing the riding T
Thanks for posting this. My S3RS only has 2000 miles as it's one of three fair weather bikes I own and so only sees summer use but that said . . . . . I have seen a number of videos suggesting the rear wheel adjuster can seize and the axle stub, much as you've suggested. It had occurred to me that at some point there might be some mileage in stripping the thing early and making sure that I use plenty of assembly grease to ensure the whole thing won't seize but also, when I need to take it apart in anger, it will disassemble easily. Question . . . how did you deal with the stake nut?? Did you simply turn the divet out by unscrewing the thing or attempt to get a centre punch under it and force the indent out with a few light taps. Did you replace with new?? Part of me is tempted to replace it with a new nut but not peen it but simply mark it with a spot of paint and keep an eye on it as part of my pre-ride checks
Thanks for posting this. My S3RS only has 2000 miles as it's one of three fair weather bikes I own and so only sees summer use but that said . . . . . I have seen a number of videos suggesting the rear wheel adjuster can seize and the axle stub, much as you've suggested. It had occurred to me that at some point there might be some mileage in stripping the thing early and making sure that I use plenty of assembly grease to ensure the whole thing won't seize but also, when I need to take it apart in anger, it will disassemble easily. Question . . . how did you deal with the stake nut?? Did you simply turn the divet out by unscrewing the thing or attempt to get a centre punch under it and force the indent out with a few light taps. Did you replace with new?? Part of me is tempted to replace it with a new nut but not peen it but simply mark it with a spot of paint and keep an eye on it as part of my pre-ride checks
I used a sharp nail hammered into the non existent gap to de-stake the nut. I was going to re-use the nut but decided to replace it as per the manual but only lightly staked it to make it easier to remove next time (there is no way the nut will work loose if properly torqued to 146Nm against the belleville washer). This is the fifth Speed Triple I've owned and all have had the rear wheel bearing re-greased by me but this is the first time removing the axle has been an issue. It normally can be removed with a light tap from a mallet but this time it was stuck fast and took some force to shift it. When it finally came free the axle was clean with no corrosion but the ball bearing on the sprocket side of the eccentric hub had a black film on the contact surface with the axle which had bonded the axle to the bearing? It was easily cleaned up with WD40 and on reassembly the axle slid in nicely with no apparent play so all is good now. The eccentric hub was not seized and moved easily to adjust the chain. Hope you find this info useful.
Thanks . . . forewarned is forearmed - If mine is tight, I might try a drop of penetrating oil if the point where the shaft goes through the bearing is visible. If it's not, then I guess it's down to bashing it as per. I believe these axle stubs can seize if left for significant time and/or used in adverse conditions.
