noisy cam chain

This might be something a harley rider never deals with
but then we don"t ride harleys. How much chain chatter
is acceptable. My manual says a worn chain will have a distinctive rattle, but hello after 30 years I may
have a distinctive rattle or too, well short of getting into the gest of things , how much is too much when you see a speedometer off a kz 1000 that had 129,000 + miles on it, do i worry to much? Nah i ride a kawasaki
do the ape adjusters really quiet things down?

lemo32 wrote:

How much chain chatter
is acceptable. My manual says a worn chain will have a distinctive rattle, how much is too much

In 1975 down in the Fla Keys I was sitting at a light on a CB450 Honda with 35,000mi. A very large woman was crossing the street right in front of me. She turned to me smiled and said "How about a ride?"
At that very moment at idle the cam chain snapped and rammed a piston up into a decended valve. I guess the bike knew it's limits.
Being 1975 and in the Keys there was 1 motorcycle shop and it was 2 months getting parts to fix her back up.
How much is too much? I would guess that if it happened at speed the event would qualify for the term detonation and the bike would still be comfortably resting in some coral dump. I might be next to it.
I'd take care of the noisy cam chain.

I guess I'm assuming that you've done the adjustment per the manual, and it's still noisey?

yep noisy.

did you say honda? you know what they say.

It's not that difficult to replace a cam chain. I did it last year with no prior experience. I also swaped out the cam chain idler assembly while I was at it, the tower/sprocket between the cams. Mine had all the rubber worn off and I got a very good used part from DanOZ7Five0. His part still had the rubber coating and the whole rig has been/is quiet.

I would think just replacing the cam chain wouldnt
be worth while, idller sprockets, tension wheels
all play a part in noise. A improperly adjusted
chain is probably more to fault than the chain itself.
Let me rephrase the question has anybody got the whole
cam chain assembly to quiet down with a manual slack adjuster from ape?

If your engine has that many miles on it, it is time to change the chain.... You may be able to take out the slack with a after market tensioner but that won't take the wear out of the chain. It is probally stretched way past its safe limits and will break at anytime, then you will be looking at valve job, and depending on how fast the engine is turning maybe guides and pistons....
alot more then just a chain.

my 2 cents

1045

Is changing the Hi-Vo cam chain as simple as the "bicycle" cam chain type? The one I sent to you, Gas was for the bicycle type correct?. I dont think you can break the Hi-Vo chain and Im assuming that changing that one would require a rebuild.

Somebody correct me if Im wrong though, Im thinking Im ready for a new cam chain or a manual adjuster myself.

Yup, bicycle type chain. I have no experience with the HI-VO's.

So now Lemo, what type is yours? And why isnt your bike in your signature line? :evil:

my bike is a kz 900 76 model, dont know how to put it in my signiture it only has 16,000 miles showing on the speedometer. the bike i was refering to was a speedometer
i saw on e bay that had 129,000.
nobody out there has any cam chain noise huh?