Preparation:
Believe it or not, no special Honda tools are required if you don't need to adjust the clearance.
Purchase the Valve Cover Gaskets ahead of time. You might end up tearing one as you remove the covers. You might as well put in new ones anyway.
Have gasket sealant on hand, you need it.
Set aside plenty of time, like 4 hours. The job may only take you 1 hour but this is not a job to be rushed.
Let the engine cool over night before starting work.
Read the job as described in the service manual a couple of times, but stop sweating. The job is much easier than as described in the service manual.
The actual work:
As the service manual states, remove the lower valve cylinder cover on both sides first. This is a dry area with no oil. If you do find oil in this area your upper valve cover gasket is leaking (good thing you have a new one, eh?) or you have a crack in the engine (highly unlikely). Wipe out the dust and any bits of sand or gravel you might find in this area. Make it spotless.
Remove the upper valve cover on both sides. Don't be alarmed, there are 6 bolts on the left side and only 5 on the right. Be careful you don't misplace the rubber washers that go on each bolt. Also don't forget to remove the little guide for the sparkplug wires (on bolt on each cover).
Remove the Time Chain Cover center bolt.
Now everything is ready to go! Nope, you don't need to remove all kinds of tupperware to get at the cam chain tensioners. Sure, the Service Manual tells you loosen the cam chain tensioners when you do your valve clearance checks. But the service manual also tells you to remove the lower cowl when changing your oil. They are wrong in both cases. I have checked and double checked the valves with the cam chain tensioner loosened and with it tight. There is no difference. This is not a Harley Davidson, the cam shafts do not rely on the cam chain to keep them in place and tight. I have double checked with others that have done their valve clearance checks as well and they have all found that the readings with the cam chain tensioner tight versus loose are always exactly the same. Save yourself two hours and don't bother taking off all the lower front tupperware just so you can get at the timing chain tensioners. I cannot stress enough, THE CAM CHAIN TENSIONERS DO NOT NEED TO BE LOOSE TO DO A VALVE CLEARANCE CHECK!! They only need to be loosened if you find that you need to swap out shims to adjust the clearance. I have only heard of one person out of thousands that actually needed to adjust his clearance at 32K miles.
Actually check the valve clearance is simple. If you have never done this on a dual overhead cam engine than it might seem a bit confusing. Look at the far aft end of the cam shaft. You can see one complete lobe not covered by a guard or holder. You will be measuring the gap between that lobe and the valve rod end it touches. Remember, when you check the clearance make sure that the elongated end of the lobe is not against the valve shaft. If it is, the engine is 180 degrees out and needs to be rotated all the way around so that you can measure against the round part of the lobe
Follow the manual through the rotation of the of the cams to see where the indexing marks line up. The easiest way to rotate the main shaft is to lay on the ground, but the gear shift into third gear, and use your foot to push the rear tire around as you watch the indexing. You have to bump the tire rotation in increments, you won't be strong enough to smoothly push it around.
If all our your clearances are within tolerance then its time to put the valve cover back on. I moved the spark plug wires off the plugs and completely out of the way. The new seal should fit easily into the groove around the top valve cover. Notice the half moon part of the seal on the forward end. You need to apply a bit of sealant around that protrusion and then carefully guide it into the pocked on the valve casing when placing the cover. When putting in the bolts be careful that you didn't accidentally put two of the rubber washers on the same bolt. I have heard of guys stripping bolts because of this over sight.
Completing the job:
If you are doing this check as part of your scheduled maintenance go ahead and change the oil. Note that it will take a little more oil during the oil change since the valve covers aren't holding any of the oil.
After all tools are accounted for and put away, start the engine and let it run for a while watching for leaks. This would be a good time to go ahead and reset your ECM by starting the engine WITHOUT any throttle input and not touching the throttle at all while it runs. Once you hear the radiator fans kick in, turn off the engine and wait for a couple of seconds, then start it back up. Done - ECM is reset.
Now take the bike for a 50 mile or so ride. After returning check for leaks and check the oil level. All should be good to go!