i have heard a few people skipping the valve clearences at 16k. and to be honest the hornets valves where within tolerance as well.with modern bikes is it a waste of money to check valves so soon?
peace of mind?..if you have them checked and they’re within tolerances then all is good,if not and they need shimming then you’ve got a bike which runs better and less likely to go wrong in the future, think it’d be called preventative maintenance 
They rarely go out by 16k, and then usually by an insignificant amount, I think this one is down to your conscience…
You could skip and do them at 20K instead. I had a massive service due on my old CB500 as lots of stuff had worn out so we did the valve clearances at the following service. It made a huge difference. Apparently according to Matt that was because of how I rode it. Pinging off the rev limiter every tunnel you go under is not good for valves apparently. On that bike it was of little consequence as it couldn’t depreciate any more. I’m a bit more careful with the new bike.
It all depends on the what you’ve got :w00t:
My old 94 Ninja (ZX6R) was the last bike I had with
old tappets which needed doing every 4000 miles
on a revvy bike like that. And it really did run rough
if the valves and carbs weren’t done regularly.
More modern engines with buckets over shims or
shims over buckets, I can’t remember which is the
current flavour, often only need adjustment every
20k miles.
Hydraulic valve lifters are even lower maintenance
but don’t work so well on high revving engines, an
advantage of owning a Hardley?
its a real ‘what if’ question. it can vary from bike to bike and rider to rider how bad valve clearances can end up.
for example, any pretty much any kawasaki i have worked on has needed valves doing. but then, i have NEVER had a valve clearance out on an aprilia RSV (or tuono). valves these days are more likely to end up tighter than looser. high revving engines with bigger and bigger valves mean that the valve seats (and the material above them) get a serious hammering. the material can get compacted with the repeated blows, causing the clearances to get tighter. to a lesser extent, valve heads can deform, flaring out the valve head, effectively making the valve longer.
tight valves are a bigger problem than loose ones, as the clearance is designed to make sure that when everything expands due to heat, there is still sufficient space for the valve to close (and seal) properly. if your clearances are tight, and the valve cant expand up, it will expand down. meaning your valves dont seat properly. this can cause poor starting when hot, poor running and in the long run can burn out the valve seats.
so young man, the choice is yours. you can check them or not, they may be fine or not. but there is only one way to be sure 
Funny you should say that about the aprilias . I put that to the test as I had heard they rarely need adjusted … and did 45,000 miles on a Falco without even bothering to look … When I did … . They were fine 
16k on the Bonne’ and not yet checked the valve clearances. The engine doesn’t sound tappy so I’m leaving it to 18k or 24k now here’s the big question …
I’ve never checked or adjusted or shimmed the valves on any car engines since I sold the old 2.0 DOHC Ford. Engine for engine valves & seats and cams & followers are not to different so how is it motorcycle manufacturers recommend so much fettling while car manufacturers simple ignore them?
Tappy is okay … It when its to quiet is when to worry .
Most cars have hydrualic lifters … they auto adjust .
If you are a rev counter against the stop at every opportunity sort of guy, the clearances just might need checking/adjusting.
If you are not, they will almost certainly be good for another 4,000 or so.
On my gsx650f I had them checked at the recomended times (14k) at both times they were absolutely fine but then I rarely take my bike above 10k revs as the power comes in at a nice easy 7k
Do you still have warranty on the bike? If so, it’s probably wise to stick to the schedule just in case something goes bang later on and you need to claim warranty.
no, no warranty
Thanks for the info NumNum, self adjusting hydraulic cam followers why don’t motorcycle engines have those?
The Bonne’ has that classic New Bonneville sewing machine sound about it, a slight rattle but not tappy, its certainly not a quite engine.
Warranty ain’t all its cracked up to be …
The Bonne’ came with two years unlimited mileage warranty, during that time I expect to cover 24,000 miles. That equates to £2,000+ worth of servicing at Triumph Dealer prices. I DIY the service schedule and estimate I’ll be in pocket by at least £1,500 at the end of the warranty.
So the question I asked was “should I pay 25% of the original purchase price for the sake of the warranty”?
30,000+ miles on my GSXR 1000 and the valves are still within spec. Some exhaust port valves only just reaching the last point before they will be out and need shims.
I think you’ll be fine. Honda no longer are no.1 when it comes to quality (hello Yamaha ), but they can’t have slipped that far
thats cos you ride like a woofta!
car engines dont need such regular inspection (even with shim and bucket which is quite rare now anyways) because they only make about 60-70 bhp per litre rather than 140-190bhp per litre. and they dont rev to 14000 rpm either
Fook off
I had my Gixxer Thou checked at 16k and needed 6 shims !!! They were only just outside tollerance, but even so, I’m glad I had it checked out. Whereas my previous 600cc bikes never needed shimming at all.
All depends on how uptight you are on stuff like that.