Modern Buddy

I've yet to adjust the valves on my Buddy 150, but I thought I'd pass this tip on after reading the "how to" articles in the Technical section.

I've performed valve adjustments for years on a variety of motorcycles, but not yet on the Buddy. So I'm not sure if this tip would be of much help. I saw that a couple of people wrote that finding TDC using the kickstarter method might be troublesome. On large displacement motorcycles, I always removed the spark plugs prior to adjusting valves. That way, when I wanted to rotate the crank, I didn't have as much of that compression "kickover" as I was approaching the TDC mark. So... I'm not sure if simply removing the spark plug might make finding TDC a bit quicker or not on the Buddy. But I'll give it a try when it comes time for adjustment. Also, it might be a good time for a new plug anyway. And BTW, the tech article with photos is extremely helpful! Thanks![/list]

I always check my valves every 4,000 miles. At 4,000 miles I'm due for a plug change anyway. If you pull the plug, there will be less recoil when you are using the kickstarter to get to TDC. Makes it slightly smoooter, but i wouldn't pull the plug unless you were going to service it anyway. If you search the forum, there are a couple of outstanding threads with pictures taking you step by step through an adjustment.