Well, let’s remove the head cover, shall we?
Pop!
Oh no!
Oh dear!
The inside is clean too, but the cam has scuffing all over it.
Though it’s mild. ★
I think you shouldn’t get too fussy about cam and rocker arm scuffing.
In the past, I’ve seen a GSX-R1100 with unbelievable wear…
Even brand new, the cam can scuff within 500 to 1,000 kilometers. ★
Back in the day, the legendary Asakawa kept telling Yoshimura about the cam scuffing on oil-cooled engines and had them test perforated cams.
They tested various versions with different hole positions, and I think that’s how the current production version came about. Probably?
(As a young punk, I had no idea what was going on. ～)
Back in the late 20th century, cams really did sell like hotcakes, and I remember replacing quite a few.
There was even a mini oil-cooled boom around the GSF era. Probably?
Anyway, back to the story—
Just adjusting the valve clearance doesn’t guarantee safety! Using premium engine oil doesn’t guarantee safety either!
Bikes that are ridden regularly (and don’t have oil sitting on the head)
and maintain stable oil pressure tend to be surprisingly trouble-free.
Long-distance touring bikes especially have very little scuffing.
I once saw a GSX1100G with 100,000 kilometers and no valve adjustment, and it was “sparkling clean—no scuffing.”
It was a bike that had been ridden in America and brought to Japan (a customer’s bike).
Well, the distance per trip is completely different, isn’t it? High-mileage bikes teach you a lot. ★
My GSF barely gets ridden—oil sits on the head and stays there—I just use it for local shopping and then park it.
Then a month later, another short trip for groceries.
Maybe that’s the pattern? Even after all this, I can’t pinpoint the exact cause.
So it’s a mystery.
Whoopee!
