noises.....

Don't know what you adjusted, but if that uses the same tensioner as the GPz750 (and from your description, it does), there is no way to adjust it, it's entirely automatic.

There is a common problem with those tensioners, but it's easily fixed, take the tensioner off and disassemble it, the pushrod has a tapered flat that commonly develops ridges in the surface due to vibration making the locking wedge vibrate against it. Use a sharpening stone and grind that tapered flat straight and flat again, then reassemble. That will allow the tensioner to work properly again.

Or you can spend the $$ for the APE tensioner, one of my 750 motors has one on it.

I personally would look at this issue a bit differently. A "sound" is a hard thing to diagnose. I would buy a mechanics stethascope (sp?) and see if I could pinpoint the issue a bit more precisely before buying new parts. The 750 has a chain driven primary drive rather than gears like the larger 900/1000. The chain typically stretches and becomes noisy. The primary chain is down between the crank and transmission in the very area you suspected the noise coming from. Try a stethascope and see if you can pinpoint the noise before buying an aftermarket tensioner.

If you have cam chain issues, I think that putting a new tensioner on would be something I would do only after investigating the source of the problem. If you have a stretched chain, bad rollers, etc, you will only be masking the problem.

If the problem is down in the transmission area, have you adjusted (tensioned) your drive chain and made sure that the lockwasher and nut on your countershaft sprocket are firmly tightened? These can also cause noises as noted if not maintained properly.

Kudos to steell for noting the 1984 KZ700 camchain tensioner is fully automatic without any adjustments or re-setting being required (therefore different from some earlier model tensioners), and for suggesting a method to repair the existing tensioner.

Accordingly, on this model, "finding TDC" would not be a concern with regard to addressing camchain tension.

Well, I finally got the manual (just in time for winter maintenance) and am going to begin tearing the bike down and rebuilding for the spring! I'm sure I'll be on here with questions as the process of overhauling a 25 year old bike gets underway. Thanks in advance for any help!!

that sound i hear in your video definitly sounds like its cam chain related. if you listen close it sounds about half crank speed . i would be looking for a bad chain guide or idler.

Ever find out what it was???

Im looking at one of these right now...need something to wrench on in the good old midwest winter.

also there are aftermarket rebuild kits available for that tensioner assembly i have put them in before but it was quite awhile ago. so ikind of forgot about them until now and if i remember correctly they were quite resonable. and easy to install. still i prefer manual tensioners over anything else.

KZ700A1:

The problem most likely is related to the cam chain, or something discussed in prior posts.

The sound however, is exactly like my bike made when the baffels inside the exhaust megaphones were rusting out. Mine rattled loudly between 4,300 and 4,900 RPM and vibrated so much that I thought something was wrong inside the engine or clutch, throwing things out-of-balance.

With the engine stopped, I knew I had a problem by tapping on the megaphones with a rubber mallet. Rattled loudly. Finally rusted so that the pipe coming through the rear plate fell inside the megaphone.

Then I custom built some baffels, keeping the megaphones. No more rattles. No more vibrations.

Thought I would mention this, so you can eliminate it from the possibilities.

Thanks for all the help. It ended up that the piece that holds the header on the number 1 cylinder was loose and a grommet behind the bolt had fallen off. A valve job, new rear tire, oil change, and a thorough cleaning....now if the weather will just cooperate!