Member Contributer Skids 706 Posted January 3 Member Contributer Share Posted January 3 Trying to narrow down when the VFR800 went from a 16k mile valve inspection interval to 24k miles. My 2018 VFR800X shows it to be 24k miles, but the Owners Manual from a 2015 model shows it to be 16k miles - pics below. As the engine is the same as the VFR800F (8th Gen), I was wondering if anyone knew when they changed or we could get a few Owners Manuals from the various years 15-18 and see which year it changed. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer flya750 54 Posted January 3 Member Contributer Share Posted January 3 My 2015 VFR800FD manual says 16K. Clearly, Honda has updated the recommendation. 16K MILES seems way too low... Case Closed! 😉 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer VFR78 90 Posted January 3 Member Contributer Share Posted January 3 Even more confused. My local Honda dealer is still saying 24,000 km or 16k miles. Could be a printer cockup! Where is Mr Honda when you need him? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer Mohawk 670 Posted January 3 Member Contributer Share Posted January 3 If its not a printing error it could be down to the expected use regime for the X verses the sports versions. Less likely to be thrashed hard much of the time ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer fink 246 Posted January 3 Member Contributer Share Posted January 3 9 hours ago, Skids said: Trying to narrow down when the VFR800 went from a 16k mile valve inspection interval to 24k miles. My 2018 VFR800X shows it to be 24k miles, but the Owners Manual from a 2015 model shows it to be 16k miles - pics below. As the engine is the same as the VFR800F (8th Gen), I was wondering if anyone knew when they changed or we could get a few Owners Manuals from the various years 15-18 and see which year it changed. The manuals changed in 2016 apparently. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer flya750 54 Posted January 3 Member Contributer Share Posted January 3 3 hours ago, VFR78 said: Even more confused. My local Honda dealer is still saying 24,000 km or 16k miles. Could be a printer cockup! Where is Mr Honda when you need him? Highly unlikely there is a typo in the manual... Mr Honda IS the manual... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer VFR78 90 Posted January 4 Member Contributer Share Posted January 4 Seems pretty strange that Gen 6 was 24,000 kms all the way and Gen 8 was 24,000 for at least 4 years of it’s life. Why would it change. I have tried to get a handbook from the Japanese Honda site, ha ha. Not so easy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer VFR78 90 Posted January 4 Member Contributer Share Posted January 4 Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing any barrow. In fact the longer interval would suit this retirees bank balance much better. Unfortunately, I’m probably the only anal Viffer rider who’s interested. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer DannoXYZ 264 Posted January 4 Member Contributer Share Posted January 4 well there have been errors in manual before. I still suspect it's units conversion issue. I recently filled out paperwork to ship bike from Canada to California. Said it weighed 210-kg with empty tank on numerous forms. I got back invoice saying 210-lbs !!! Ok, if they just want to charge to ship 210-lbs, that's fine by me! Has anyone being using 36k-mile schedule? Has it working out OK between intervals? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RC79NC001 171 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Uh....I am on a 60k mile interval. Had 6 valves out of spec at the time . I posted about my experience in 2020. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer flya750 54 Posted February 25 Member Contributer Share Posted February 25 On 1/3/2021 at 8:33 PM, DannoXYZ said: well there have been errors in manual before. I still suspect it's units conversion issue. I recently filled out paperwork to ship bike from Canada to California. Said it weighed 210-kg with empty tank on numerous forms. I got back invoice saying 210-lbs !!! Ok, if they just want to charge to ship 210-lbs, that's fine by me! Has anyone being using 36k-mile schedule? Has it working out OK between intervals? Taken from VFRWORLD.. "Dear Mr. C, Thank you for contacting Honda UK. We would like to let you know that we have had a look and can confirm that when it comes to the 2014 VFR800 what we were able to locate on our system is that the valve inspection service has to be done at 24,000 miles. For any additional information we can recommend discussing things further with your Honda authorized dealership, you can locate your closest Honda dealership here: https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/dealer-search.html Thank you for contacting Honda. If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. Kind Regards, Alexander Ivanov Honda Customer Service " Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer VFR78 90 Posted February 25 Member Contributer Share Posted February 25 Mmmm. The mystery continues! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer Grum 1090 Posted February 25 Member Contributer Share Posted February 25 Well its a bit of a disgrace that Honda have not released a Technical Service Bulletin to advise all service agents that the valve inspection interval has changed, especially if this goes back to the 2014 model. There does appear to be plenty of good evidence for extending the interval. But why Honda hasn't made this common knowledge to there service agents is strange. Bit like VFR78, the mystery continues! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer Skids 706 Posted February 25 Author Member Contributer Share Posted February 25 My local Honda dealer claims it is still 16k miles. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer lazyeye 247 Posted February 26 Member Contributer Share Posted February 26 My local dealer more or less refused to check the valves at 16k miles. I had an independent shop check and adjust the valves at 38k miles and only two valves needed to be adjusted. YMMV. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer fink 246 Posted February 26 Member Contributer Share Posted February 26 Lifted from VFRworld. However I decided to go one better and emailed Honda USA, and Honda UK if indeed the service interval is now 24000 miles. Honda UK responded to me inside of 24 hours, and I copy and paste their response: Dear Mr. C, Thank you for contacting Honda UK. We would like to let you know that we have had a look and can confirm that when it comes to the 2014 VFR800 what we were able to locate on our system is that the valve inspection service has to be done at 24,000 miles. For any additional information we can recommend discussing things further with your Honda authorized dealership, you can locate your closest Honda dealership here: https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/dealer-search.html Thank you for contacting Honda. If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. Kind Regards, Alexander Ivanov Honda Customer Service 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer Cogswell 1582 Posted February 27 Member Contributer Share Posted February 27 Interesting feedback. So it makes one wonder what, if anything Honda did differently on the 8th gen VTEC motor to extend the valve check interval, or if on 6th gens it was spec'd at an overly conservative level. Given that so many owners have skipped over the valve checks with no consequence, I'm guessing it's the latter. Thanks for doing this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer Stray 167 Posted February 27 Member Contributer Share Posted February 27 4 hours ago, Cogswell said: Interesting feedback. So it makes one wonder what, if anything Honda did differently on the 8th gen VTEC motor to extend the valve check interval, or if on 6th gens it was spec'd at an overly conservative level. Given that so many owners have skipped over the valve checks with no consequence, I'm guessing it's the latter. Thanks for doing this. That would be an interesting point. Are valve measurements the same for all gens? Could advances in fuel and oil technology be the answer? After all, modern oils are so good compared to yesteryear, although reductions in Zinc (for emissions) and ethanol in fuel might suggest otherwise. Valves generally tighten up as valve face/seat wears. Are the valves/heads on the later models made of harder materials? Are part numbers different? Dirt coming through air filter can form an abrasive and cause valve wear. Could it be due to revised air box design on newer models (flapper deactivated and plugged)? I doubt it but... Valve clearances can increase with coke buildup. Could it be this buildup is counteracting valve wear so gaps remain stable? That would require later models to encourage more buildup than older ones. Again, I doubt it. Just spitballing... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Magneto 126 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 UThis is mostly a gimmick intended to satisfy liabilities and scenarios that may not exists. For motorcycles it depends on many factors, like where you live. Many live below 5000 rpm some live at redline. What is the average? Feedback is a normal way of adjusting arbitrary set preventive service intervals, looks like Honda is using it. Another point, large portion or valves deemed needing adjustment is due to measurement errors since method is crude and rely on expirience to evaluate. In car world, like Toyota for example, routine valve lash inspections are practically gone. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer TriumphTraitor 59 Posted February 27 Member Contributer Share Posted February 27 It would appear that between the 6th and 8th Gen, honda has updated their cam shaft part numbers. This could partially be a reason why Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Magneto 126 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Can’t see how? Isn’t lash taken at unloaded part of the cam? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer TriumphTraitor 59 Posted February 27 Member Contributer Share Posted February 27 Yes, however, just shows that they have made updates to the internals. What those updates exactly are I don't know and I'm sure it's more than just the cams. But, it is possible that those updates helped with the keeping the clearance within spec longer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Magneto 126 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 I would love to see Honda Engineering evals that lead to setting of the inspection periods. That would be fun... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer TriumphTraitor 59 Posted February 28 Member Contributer Share Posted February 28 12 hours ago, Magneto said: I would love to see Honda Engineering evals that lead to setting of the inspection periods. That would be fun... Taking part in those discussions on industrial consumer products was entertaining, followed by horribly boring statistical calculations padded with safety margins. So I can only imagine that the initial testing efforts for larger products like motorcycles would be awesome! Minus the math Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Member Contributer Cogswell 1582 Posted February 28 Member Contributer Share Posted February 28 15 hours ago, Magneto said: In car world, like Toyota for example, routine valve lash inspections are practically gone. At 240,000 miles I replaced the timing belt my Camry's 5S-FE. I bought the car with with ~100,000 miles on it and I doubt the valves had ever been checked by the P.O. I had to remove the cam cover to service a leaky spark plug tube so decided to check valve clearances while I was in there. All were within spec. Regardless of how long I keep this car, I'll never bother looking at them again. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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