92 ZX7R Valve clearances

Q. Just working on the bike and I seem to be without my manual. Can anyone tell me the valve clearance on the 92 7R?

A. I set all my intakes at .006 thousands, and all my exhaust at .008. However, the shop manual calls for .007-.009 for intake, .010-.012 for exhaust. or in metric, intake 0.18-0.23mm exhaust 0.25-0.30mm

Now, the Race Kit manual suggests setting the intake to the lose side of tolerance and the exhaust to the tight side of tolerance. THAT IS WRONG. The race kit manual also says to measure between the rocker arm and the cam lobe. This is also wrong! The race kit manual is “FULL” of mistakes.

Measure between the shim and rocker arm. Here’s why. I had a bike brought to me that had been rebuilt after dropping a valve. The seat had been reground so much to repair the damage that the valve sunk into the head so much that the only way to get clearance was to put undersize shims in from another model. The smallest for the 91-95 is 2.50. This valve had a 2.35. Guess what? If you measured between the rocker and the cam lobe you had clearance because the tip of the rocker was below the surface of the spring retainer. But if you measured between the rocker and the shim, NO CLEARANCE. This was a disaster waiting to happen.

SO, measure between the rocker and shim, and the best power is found with 6 thou on intake and 8 thou on exhaust.

These shims can be hard to get out sometimes so, set cylinders #1/4 AT tdc, AND REMOVE THE CAM CHAIN TENSIONER, then unbolt and remove the cams slightly. DO NOT DISENGAGE THEM FROM THE CHAIN! They will have to go back in right. RESET THE TENSIONER PROPERLY.

Ken H20s

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