Oh god, what did I do?

Getting towards the final step of getting ready to try and fire up the '81 KZ1000 and I'm looking into how you're supposed to adjust the came chain tensioner. And suddenly I start running across all these warnings that I've never seen before. "Do not put the tensioner on until AFTER the head cover has been tightened down!" Oh shit, what?

I've been thinking about it all day. I can't recall any effort to set the top down flat before tightening the bolts. And yet when I pull the cap off the tensioner, it is quite obviously ALL the way in (requiring needle-nose to fish it out).

So now I'm sweating. I'm planning on trying to start this thing up on Saturday (or maybe even tomorrow after work). I'm guessing that if I did indeed stretch the chain, the timing will be off and it won't run smoothly, but is there any chance of damage from starting it up? Since there was no apparent pressure when tightening the top cover, I have to wonder if a PO hadn't already done exactly the same thing I did and already stretched it, except there was no damage to that plastic curved piece inside the cover. At the very least, I've pulled out the tensioner wedge to reset it, and I'll spin up the engine with the starter motor before giving it any gas. But really, what are my chances here and what will be some quick obvious signs that the chain is stretched (keeping in mind that everything has been disassembled and at the very least I will need to re-balance the carbs)?

I'd think the guides would break before the chain stretched.
Steve

The important thing is that you didn't run it. That's where most of the damage occurs, as wear. Broken parts are less likely. Since you caught it before running, you will probably be totally fine. Even if you ran it, it would just be accelerated guide wear until there was enough room for the chain to return to normal tension.

I'm assuming you have the type with the crosswedge. There is also a chance the crosswedge may have also backed out. Other than opening it up, and inspecting everything there is not much more you can do than what you already did (remove the cap and release the crosswedge). You can try to turn the motor by hand using the large nut on the ignition rotor, or the alternator rotor nut if you are really worried about something being broken. It should be turned the same direction as the wheels. The first half turn or so the tensioner will probably make some noise as it pops out to take up the slack. After a full turn, it shouldn't make any further obvious noises. Turning it by hand will have a better chance of letting you know if something is broken. I'm sure many people have done this unknowingly in the past. Most seem to survive ok, with maybe a little bit of extra guide wear.

When you set the cover on the head, it will seem to want to float by about 1/4", and will feel bouncy. But putting the bolts in, you won't feel any resistance and the cover will go down easily, so you might not have noticed if you put it together quickly.

Oh yeah, the other thing was that the tensioner was in place when I put the cams back in place. I had to apply a little pressure by hand to push down a valve or two as the cams slid back in, so the chain was still snug without being impossibly tight. And I turned the engine over several times by hand after the cams were in to double-check their alignments. There's definitely nothing going crunch. Yesterday I was able to turn it over with the starter motor for the first time, and it cranked away nice and smooth, so that gives me hope.

As I mentioned, I did pull out the wedge completely, and when I pushed it back in the hole it stopped quite a ways out. I've put the spring and cap back on again. Should I turn it over by hand at this point, or is it OK to let it turn over a few times under the starter motor to self-adjust the tension? I would assume it's best to spin the engine a few times before trying to actually start it so the chain isn't loose enough to jump a tooth?

I was only saying to turn it by hand so you could hear it better. The starter should probably be fine too. But don't turn it over with the plug wires disconnected unless the coils are totally disconnected.

I updated my post above, in case you might have read the earlier version (when I initially read my own post, I felt it was too alarming.)

I did actually read your original message, just re-read the update. OK I think I'll go ahead and crank it by hand first just to settle things in place. Regarding the plugs and coils, when I turned it over initially to set the cams there was no electrical system in place at all. By the time I cranked the system with the starter motor yesterday the whole electrical system including coils and plugs were all connected, so should be no issues there. All I'm missing now is gas!

It's funny that you are replying here, because your sig warning is one of the things that caught my eye as I was reading through articles earlier today.

Yeah, sorry about how alarming it looks. That was actually part of a joke, from another forum. Nobody seemed to really read the warning when it was all small print, and just going to the other parts of that page about 550 cam timing etc, so I had to go absurd with it.

Hey, I've forgotten to re-set the tensioner before on my 81 1000's and 83 GPz1100 because It was late when I got the valves set, so just put the cover down and said "I'll do the tensioner before I start it tomorrow". Then completely forgot about it. Probably because my Honda's never needed this step. The CSR went for a 400 mile highway trip after I forgot to re-set the tensioner. I am happy to report that, while I'm sure it doesn't help the chain, I had no catastrophic failure caused by my lack of diligence.

On a similar issue - my buddy decided it wasn't worth the risk of doing the same thing, and also wanted to accurately time his cams without having to factor in the chain deflection between the cams, so his solution was / is to remove the rubber upper chain guide from under his GPz1100's cam cover completely and run without it! His engine also did not suffer any failure nor visible damage, although I am very reluctant to try it myself...

-Scott