Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I made an effort today to do a valve adjustment on my bike which requires dismantling a whole bunch of things just to get a nice unobstructed position to remove the head cover. But I could not remove it and I recall that I should never try to pry it off and instead I should whack it with a plastic hammer. Would a rubber mallet do, like one of these?

What I was trying to do was dislodge the cover by putting the plastic end of a screwdriver handle against the cover and banging that with a hammer but it didn't work. I suppose a rubber mallet is what you all use? (Those that wrench anyhow). Any tips on how you get the sucker off there without breaking anything? I'm sure some of you all use some ingenious methods too or have some techniques that might help. Thanks.

Make sure you have all the nuts n bolts undone. Triple check.

Then use a rubber mallet.

No offense intended, but, I don't know if you should be doing a valve adjust if you can't get the cover off??

LOL... in his defense...it ain't always easy. I once pulled a valve cover where it seemed like someone had RTVed both sides of the gasket.

As said before, first make sure all fasteners have been removed. The rubber faced mallet is just the ticket. Lay something down like old carpet or whatever in case it gets away on you when it does pop loose, will prevent scratches. Good luck with the valve adjust, good on ya for doing your own work.

and when you do go to hit the valve cover with the rubber mallet, don't hit the top of it - hit the edge where the valve cover meets the head.

and don't whack it, just tap lightly around as much of the edge as you can get at, then grab the valve cover with both hands and try to gently rock it loose.

Thanks for most of the replies in the thread. I'll be buying a rubber mallet today and will ensure all bolts are off. I know all were off because I followed the service manual to the tee, but I was afraid to put too much force in pulling the cover off since there was a big warning to not pull hard on it in the manual.

TheImp wrote:Thanks for most of the replies in the thread.

I assume you weren't thrilled with my response. That's OK. I'm a Jerk. However. A valve check is not a difficult thing, but it requires you to have a certain 'feel' both with the valves and the gauges. It also requires a bit of confidence to know you've got the right clearance (And to know what the right clearance feels like.) Takin the cover off is the easiest part of the job. Perhaps you can see why I asked what I did.

It's okay, I'm learning how to do these maintenance tasks on my own with no help from anyone except when I ask for help on the forum. So I'm liable to ask some apparently crazy questions sometimes. Once I can master this job and carb synching I'll have all the experience I need for periodic maintenance since I've been able to do the other things already. I did purchase a go-no-go gauge for the valve clearances to simplify the process and it should help me out.