I just put a new top end on my ’02 Rancher 350 ES. The valve adjustment procedure on this Honda drives me crazy, it only has one timing mark to line up. I prefer the Yamaha way with a crank mark and a cam mark so you know that you are at top dead center on the compression stroke.

Anyway, the engine runs great, starts quickly and idles perfectly all as it should, it’s just that this is the most ticky sounding valvetrain I have ever heard. It’s driving me crazy, I think it shouldn’t be this loud and ticky sounding in the valvetrain.

is there a better way to set the valves? A better way align the timing mark? Is there another timing mark that the book isn’t telling me about?

I’m ready to install an HMF in hopes that the exhaust noise keeps my mind off of the noisy valvetrain.