Valve adjustment (kz400)

Trying to adjust my valves. But not sure what I'm looking for.

Is the gap below the little arm that holds that holds the valve what I'm looking at? If so, I'm WAY of. It's suppose to be around .20mm but its closer to 1/4".

Feeler gauge goes between the top of the valve and the little stud that the nut is on.
Use .004 - .005
I'm lazy, I just back the stud with a screw driver off by 1/4 turn and call it good.
It's not exact, but close to factory specs.
Fighting to get even the bent feeler gauges in positition can be aggravating.


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That's encouraging. I was a little worried. Lol.

So you're measuring from the top of the nut to the top of the threaded piece where the flathead goes?

No,underneath the rocker arm.
The stud goes all the way thru to touch the top of the valve.

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Super confused. The gap below the rocker arm is about 1/4".

Should it be seated/tight? Or should the rocker arm move up and down freely?

Lash is measured between the valve and the stud.
The rocker will move up and down .004-.005.

I hope you have a service manual for your bike, the Factory one is best. There are copies available foe download on the net. Do a Google search and you will find one.
The motor needs to be set onto the compression stroke, with the Top Dead Center "T" mark aligned. Then both the intake and exhaust valves can be adjusted. As already posted the measurement with the feeler gauge is done under the rocker arm stud, at the contact of the valve stem. If you actually have 1/4" of clearance instead of .004" there is a problem. You probably have a worn cam lobe or rocker arm. You would have been hearing a bunch of noise coming from the cylinder head area. Adjusting the clearance will set the valve lash, but do nothing for a worn part. You may need to pull the valve cover and have a look to see whats worn. That is IF you really have such large clearance.

I do have the manual.

After doing a bit more research it appears I am not measuring correctly. I guess the top of the valve, underneath the rocker arm is harder to see than I thought it would be. And I can't even get my feeler gauge in there to measure it. I may just have a professional check it.

See these sites for more good info:
kz400.com/
www.armbell.com/forum/index.php?mforum=kz400

Good Fortune!