My Race Bike Build Part 2

Part 2:
Now that the bike is stripped down to almost nothing it’s time to do some basic checks on it then start putting it together. The first thing I want to do is a valve check. Many brands suggest checking the valves right after break in (500-650 miles) then again at every 15000 miles. For some reason Yamaha thinks the first valve check should be at 24000 miles. Since this is a race bike I’d like to make sure it is in tolerances at least once a year.

First I have to get this heat shield out of the way:

From here we can see what needs to be removed next, the coils, the cylinder identification sensor, and the smog system:

With the plugs, coils, and sensor removed I can now pull the valve cover. I left the smog system on because it looked like it would be easier to remove once the valve cover was away from the motor.:

Next we remove the pickup rotor cover:

Now it’s time to pull the valve cover:

It’s hard to see in the pic but the next step is to align the cylinder to top dead center. There is a mark on the pickup rotor and another one on the case.

Now you check the valves starting at cylinder number one. You need to make sure the cam lobes are facing away from each other then push different size feeler gauges in until you find the correct size. The feeler gauge should be a tight fit. After you check once cylinder you turn the pickup rotor 180 degrees and check the next one. You check the cylinders in the order 1,2,4,3

Here is me checking cylinder number 1:

Since I am removing the entire smog system it is time to prep the valve cover. The smog valves get removed and replaced with block off plates:

Valve cover ready to go on:

Valve cover being installed:

Valve cover back on with plugs, coils, and sensor reinstalled:

The last part of the smog system is to make sure to block off or tie together the air hoses on the throttle bodies:

Next it’s time to do the next Yamaha specific thing: the clutch mod. R6’s come with a slipper clutch but they aren’t great at “slipping” it takes a lot of backforce to cause them to slip. The solution to this is to modify one of the retention springs to make them “slip” a little bit better.

You start by removing the clutch cover, clutch springs, and pressure plate:

Now we can see the slipper springs which are being held by the clutch boss nut:

All three springs:

The modification is to cut the three prongs off of one of the springs. I’ve been told by some people that you can just remove one completely but I’ve also been told that you need the washer in there. I do know that graves makes a smooth washer to install in place of the spring so I opted to cut the legs off and reinstall the modified “washer”. Here it is ready to go back in: