MontanaXX

Long [tall] valve guides makes sense to me. My KTM must have soft seats and/or short guides because many owners who subject their bikes to race conditions have to replace valves every other season.

I have owned my XX only a few months so I am still familiarizing myself with the bike, and its maintanence schedule. First I see in the service manual that I need to change my oil after 8,000 miles [wtf], then after reading old and new posts here, I find that my valves probably won't need to be adjusted until at least 40k. I will be changing my oil much sooner than the book says but I am glad to learn that the valves stay in spec for so long. This maintanence schedule is so very different from my other bikes. My old FJ requires a few shim changes each spring [3-4,000 miles], and my KTM 450 needs a valve adjustment every 20 hours or so. The dirt bike is obviously a completely different animal, but how is it the Honda can go so long without requiring valve adjustments?

I have a friend who joined the Amsoil club or whatever they call it. He got me 20w50 "motorcycle" oil about a month ago for $78 a case of 12. I got the impression anyone can join and order direct. I paid the same price a year ago too.