Manual cam chain adjuster

i have heard mixed reviews on the manual cam chain adjuster. I recently ordered one for my 74 Z1 900, because the old tensioner broke. If anybody has any feelings or thoughts on this let me know.

Who's given mixed reviews on the manual one? Magazines like Classic Mechanics usually talk about the old cam chain adjusters and how many revisions they have in a given model range. They also talk about how suspectible thay are to wear.

Besides, I'm planning to get one for the kz1000 while its apart getting its crank welded and other assorted hop ups.

Sam

oldkaws4ever wrote:

i have heard mixed reviews on the manual cam chain adjuster. I recently ordered one for my 74 Z1 900, because the old tensioner broke. If anybody has any feelings or thoughts on this let me know.

I just got one for my SR650 from www.z1enterprises.com and I haven't tried it out yet, the bike isn't running yet. But the oem one wasn't pushing it's job to much. Its good to go!

I put a manual tensioner on my 750 about a year ago and it generally worked just fine. The last time I went to adjust it I just could'nt get it right so I took it off, lubed up the old one which was still serviceable and put that back on. I expect that next season I'll probably try the manual APE one again.
If your old tensioner broke then the manual one from Z1 should be a good replacement. Search here and in the archives for the correct set up proceedure.

the majority of what i heard was good, but some people said it put to much pressure/tennsion on the cam chain but i dont think so

From 79 on, the tensioners were self adjusting on 650's and 1000's.

The earliest self adjusting types are very easily modified to prevent them from backing off which was the main problem with them.

Very early types had the plunger rod as one piece with a one way ball retainer and spring setup. That was slightly improved with the factory cutting a wedge shape off the plunger rod and adding the cut off section as a separate piece. It worked like a wedge to help keep the plunger rod from backing off when the one way ball retainer failed in it's duties.....a so-so fix at best..

Next came the side load dual plunger setup on the Hyvo chain models. They were better but still not a 100% reliable configuration. Chains were often over tensioned from removing the valve cover for service but failing to remove the side plunger cap on the tensioner before reinstalling the valve cover.

Simple fix for any of those tensioners is to buy the manual replacement units BUT any of them can be modified by a handy DIY mechanic to work properly.