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Question:

Is a valve adjustment necessary on my vulcan 500 motorcycle?

My bike has now 6200 miles on the odometer. The manual says that a valve adjustment should be performed every 6000 miles. But the bike runs fine. Can I just have the valve checked or should I have them adjusted even though the bike is fine? What will happen if I just keep riding it?

Answer:

if the valves are not chattering (WOrse then normal) and you havent lost power or gas milage, then no...dont get it adjusted and no ... your not hurting the bike.
First off you are suppose to take your bike back to have your valves adjusted after 500 miles. Anything later can cause problems. The motor is already broken in. why did you wait so long to have them adjusted ? Your vibration is the tire is not balanced right , take it else where. good luck
In reality, lots of bikes go their entire lives without a valve adjustment. In my opinion that is a great way to ruin a bike though. They have a maintence schedule for a reason. If a valve isn't seating, it can hurt performance and the valve will not be able to transfer heat to the head. That can burn a valve and cause detonation. You have to check valves to adjust them, and the labor for just checking will be nearly the same or identical to doing the adjustments. I do all my own wrenching, so money isn't really an issue, but if I were you, I would just bite the bullet and take it in.

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