Elephant's foot valve lash adjusters

[Xtempore]

Been digging into some tweaks for my guzzi's valvetrain and came across these so called elephant's foot valve lash adjusters, apparently they're a popular mod on older air cooled engines, especially in vintage racing circles, because they reduce side loading and wear on the valve stems and guides. I know guzzis have a bit of their own flavor when it comes to valve geometry, so I'm wondering if anyone here has actually run these on a guzzi, tonti frame bikes, smallblocks, anything really and did you notice any improvement in valvetrain noise or longevity, what about downsides

 

[AirCooledSoul]

Those elephant foot adjusters are a clever upgrade for cutting down on side load and valve wear, esp for those older air-cooled bikes. I haven't spotted many on Guzzis, though, their valvetrain setup is a bit unique. You might need to fiddle with the pushrods or do some oiling checks to get everything dialed in just right. Did you manage to find a set that works for your ride, or are you still doing some digging? I'm really curious to hear how it turns out if you give it a shot

 

[GuzziNotGucci]

Yeah, the elephant's foot adjusters are definitely a thing and they're common on a lot of classic bikes where side loading is a bigger issue but Guzzis are a bit different.
The factory setup with the ball end adjuster and the cupped pushrod end already does a pretty good job of keeping things in line.
You're not seeing the same kind of scrubbing action you'd find on, say, a bevel-drive Ducati.
I've read some people still swear by them, claiming a quieter valvetrain and less wear over the long haul.
I think the main downside is that getting the geometry just right can be tricky, and if you mess it up, you can actually introduce new problems.
If you're running a stock cam and relatively low spring pressures, the factory setup is probably just fine.
If you've got a hot cam with aggressive ramps and heavy springs, then it might be worth a look, but it's not a simple bolt-on fix.

 

[Pandoralady]

I think a very big downside is the setup sensitivity, cos you see the clearances have to be perfect in a good sense so, you can actually get more noise or accelerated wear. Overall, I'd say its chill if you're running a high rev or vintage racing engine,