Chch - Help me save my holiday, please.

[Mikkel]

Hey folks,

I was wondering if anyone in Chch would have a trailer I could borrow for moving my motorcycle around (ZXR250).


Also, if anyone knows a mechanic who isn't booked fullout all the way until Christmas that would be a nice thing!


The slight rattle that had developed following my adventures at Ruapuna is apparently not a "don't worry about it" but a shot camchain tightener. At least that's what Duane said when he heard it running earlier today.
He strongly recommended not riding the bike at all - and if absolutely necessary keep it below 6,000 RPM (not too much fun on a IL4 250ccm!). So I limped the bike back home and will not ride it until I've got the camchain issue sorted.


So if you live in Chch and have a trailer for moving motorcycles I could borrow that would be awesome.


And if you know a mechanic who would be able to sort it out before Christmas, that would be awesome as well!


I've ordered all the available parts down through Norjo Motorcycles and they should arrive wednesday. However, their mechanic was rather uncertain about whether he could do the job this week - and Duane won't touch anything until the 18th of January. I'm having a chat to Trevor Pierce tomorrow to see what their mechanics' schedule looks like.


All help appreciated! I'd like to go out riding over the holidays...

[cruza]

To be honest I'd leave it under a sheet till jan, think you'd be pushins sh#t up hill , and if thy're not busy....why not. Book it in with D , I work over your way and live just round the corner from dbs in hornby , so happy to drop it off for you. Your $ will be well spent and bike fixed, get a major service done at the same time while everythings apart. Your doing sailing at the mo anyway aren't ya?? . Probably good advice rerunning it, You don't want it to spit the cam chain and do engine damage.

[Mikkel]

To be honest I'd leave it under a sheet till jan, think you'd be pushins sh#t up hill , and if thy're not busy....why not. Book it in with D , I work over your way and live just round the corner from dbs in hornby , so happy to drop it off for you. Your $ will be well spent and bike fixed, get a major service done at the same time while everythings apart. Your doing sailing at the mo anyway aren't ya?? . Probably good advice rerunning it, You don't want it to spit the cam chain and do engine damage.

Yeah, thing is Duane is booked out until the 18th of January... I wouldn't like to be caged for so long!

I do hear what you're saying though, and I appreciate the offer of the drop-off! And I'm likely to take you up on it if I can't get the bike sorted before New Years. The bike had a major service 2,500 kms ago and I was going to treat it to some new oil and filters this time around as well. I reckon caning it on the track is a bit hard on her - but with proper care and service they should stand up to it I believe.

Sailing has only been on wednesday nights and now we've hit the x-max-new years break and it won't be on again until late january.

What do you mean by rerunning?

But no, I'm certainly not going to ride the bike until it has been fixed! Not unless there's no other way of getting it to the mechanic.

[cruza]

rerunning---- :laugh:-- good advice about still using bike before cam chain& tenisoner is replaced--ie DON'T. A tired cam chain on a high revving 250.....I wouldn't be too stressed, just normal wear/ maintence.Most fix it folks have a good break over xmas.

[JMemonic]

Mate I would give you a hand to fit the parts but I wont be here, surely there is someone with some spannering skills that could help you out.

[imdying]

Just cane the crap out of it, and if it blows up, buy a 600 :yes:

[Mikkel]

Mate I would give you a hand to fit the parts but I wont be here, surely there is someone with some spannering skills that could help you out.

Yeah, I hope that I'll be able to find someone who know their way around this stuff. Otherwise I'm afraid I might get tempted to try and sort it out myself - and the consequences are likely to be catastrophic I'm afraid...


Just cane the crap out of it, and if it blows up, buy a 600 :yes:

Wouldn't be too bad a plan except I still have another 6 months to go before I can ride one of those legally... :rolleyes:

Besides, I am actually quite fond of my wee high-revving 250! No matter how aenemic it might be...

[The Lone Rider]

Don't go to trevour pierce. For ages I had said it was a good place to go, but it was a slow dawning that the customer service could leave a lot to be desired. I've been left little short of bitter and offended by the service from there over the last 6 months.

Duane is considered the best hands down. You'd be better waiting.

And those full caged trailers you can get from a petrol station can be used, you just need good tie down clamps and rope as a back up (and probably help lifting it up). You've seen my bike, I've transported it in one of those before.

[Devil]

Are you just replacing the tensioner or the whole cam chain as well?
Pretty sure it's the same tensioner as my old ZR250 (pretty much same engine as ZXR250) it's piss easy and will take 10 minutes if that.

Post a pic of where the tensioner is on the bike and I should be able to give you instructions from there.

[Mikkel]

Don't go to trevour pierce. For ages I had said it was a good place to go, but it was a slow dawning that the customer service could leave a lot to be desired. I've been left little short of bitter and offended by the service from there over the last 6 months.

Duane is considered the best hands down. You'd be better waiting.

And those full caged trailers you can get from a petrol station can be used, you just need good tie down clamps and rope as a back up (and probably help lifting it up). You've seen my bike, I've transported it in one of those before.

Yeah, but still... If I have the parts and can get a mechanic to do it before christmas then I don't care too much if their customer service is crap. And the 18th of January is quite a way out into the future as far as I'm concerned.
Seems as if it'll be an easy fix though (with the parts).


Are you just replacing the tensioner or the whole cam chain as well?
Pretty sure it's the same tensioner as my old ZR250 (pretty much same engine as ZXR250) it's piss easy and will take 10 minutes if that.

Post a pic of where the tensioner is on the bike and I should be able to give you instructions from there.

Yeah, I'd like to get a professional on the job... mostly because I'm concerned that if I have the parts and it's sitting still in my garage I might just be stupid enough to give it a go myself. (And I have bad premonitions about where that's headed...)

If I start on the project myself I'll keep your offer in mind and post some pictures :) -My bike is hoping that's not going to happen though...

[Devil]

Seriously, even a monkey could do it. I was a mechanical noob when I had to do it on my 250. You cant break it.

Basically there's two bolts to undo. Because there's a spring inside, you need to keep pressure on top of the thing before you finish undoing the bolts, then you can release slowly.
Inside, you'll see the plunger (the rod that effectively pushes on the cam chain), around the plunger is a bearing. In between the plunger and the casing you just unbolted is a spring (which provides the force against the plunger and onto the cam chain).
What happened with mine is the plunger became pitted by the bearing, so the bearing would not let the plunger move freely inside it. Which would result in a loss of tension, and the rattling that comes with it.

You can take it apart and put it back together. It's not going to leak oil or anything. Get in there and have a go.

[Mikkel]

I hear what you're saying... But I am thinking that I'll take the clutch cover and all off and check if the chain needs replacing, if the chain guides are worn, etc. As I said, the rattle has become worse and worse - so I don't know what it'll look like in there.

So I guess I'd need to drain the oil out. Remove the fairing. Remove the clutch cover. Take the tensioner off. Inspect the camchain and guides. Replace as necessary. Put the bike back together. Put some oil back in.

[Devil]

*shrug*.
Yeah as the tensioner gets worse, the noise gets worse. Untill I could get the parts for mine, I just had to take the tensioner out every week and give it a clean, make sure the bearing was sliding smoothly and put it back in.

Didn't go near checking the chain myself. Left that to the mechanic.

[avgas]

So I guess I'd need to drain the oil out. Remove the fairing. Remove the clutch cover. Take the tensioner off. Inspect the camchain and guides. Replace as necessary. Put the bike back together. Put some oil back in.
That is actually easier than it sounds.
Surely someone on the internets has a pdf of the workshop manual - its all step by step stuff really

[SDU]

Ph Just motorcycles 2moro, they are fully booked this week but might be able to get you in early new year ??? not sure how far ahead they book up.

[Spuds1234]

Try KG Motorcycles on Wordworth Street.

Kevin is awesome. Sorted me right out when my bike needed fixing.

[Mikkel]

That is actually easier than it sounds.
Surely someone on the internets has a pdf of the workshop manual - its all step by step stuff really

I guess so. Still, there is an possibility of fucking it up good though!
I've downloaded a ZXR-250C workshop manual - however, I'd like to get the one for ZXR-250A.


Ph Just motorcycles 2moro, they are fully booked this week but might be able to get you in early new year ??? not sure how far ahead they book up.

Yeah, I talked to them on the phone and they were booked out as well... Until the 14th of January.


Try KG Motorcycles on Wordworth Street.

Kevin is awesome. Sorted me right out when my bike needed fixing.

I gave him a call and he certainly sounded like a nice fellow! However, he goes on holiday tomorrow and didn't have the time either. He did however have time to give some advice.

[The Lone Rider]

I guess so. Still, there is an possibility of fucking it up good though!
I've downloaded a ZXR-250C workshop manual - however, I'd like to get the one for ZXR-250A.



Yeah, I talked to them on the phone and they were booked out as well... Until the 14th of January.



I gave him a call and he certainly sounded like a nice fellow! However, he goes on holiday tomorrow and didn't have the time either. He did however have time to give some advice.

You could also get my boss at work to give it a go, but he's not a professional. He's done a few things for me on my bike and car. Not sure of the quality of work but nothings fallen apart yet. He at least helped me sort out the electrical problems with the v4 bad boy.

[sefer]

Taking the tensioner out and replacing or cleaning it up is piss easy, and is the first thing to be doing, it may solve the problem and will only cost you 30min of your time to clean it. The chain itself however is a right pain in the arse, particularly if you want to put in the correct endless chain without breaking it (as in breaking and rejoining), and unless you can be bothered is probably just as easy, though a lot more expensive, to get someone to do it (and they'll probably break it, as it's faster).

There's a manual online somewhere, so I'd suggest at least giving it a look for the whole chain, the tensioner is easy though, two bolts, clean it up, push the spring up, tighten a screw, do the bolts up again, loosen the screw again, done.

[Mikkel]

I guess I'll take the chain tensioner off tonight, give an inspection and clean... Then I'll put it back on and see what happens.
I'll get the parts tomorrow and will probably hand her over to Duane on the 18th then to get it all sorted out.

[Devil]

There's a manual online somewhere, so I'd suggest at least giving it a look for the whole chain, the tensioner is easy though, two bolts, clean it up, push the spring up, tighten a screw, do the bolts up again, loosen the screw again, done.

Oh yeah, the screw thing! It's been a couple of years since I had to do it.

[cruza]

I guess I'll take the chain tensioner off tonight, give an inspection and clean... Then I'll put it back on and see what happens.
I'll get the parts tomorrow and will probably hand her over to Duane on the 18th then to get it all sorted out.

Could be a temp fix, if tensioner is stuck near the end of its travel, due to cam chain stretch. Shortcuts never work out in the long run, pain in the arse for you it happened so close to xmas .

[Squiggles]

didnt the zxr250's just have shit tensioners in general?

[Mikkel]

Yup the ZXR250 tensioners are notorious for carking over...

I've borrowed a nice trailer of a nice man and hope I'll be able to get a nice mechanic to fit the nice new parts tomorrow!

I took the tensioner out tonight and wiped it down with a paper towel. The parts seemed ok to me - but hey I've got no reference point. Followed the workshop manual... After I replaced it I couldn't get the bike to start. However with a bit of persistence it came around in the end. The noise sounded slightly better - but the problem is certainly not solved yet.

Oh well, let's see what happens tomorrow!

[homer]

hey mate

hows it
I had a bike with a cam chain rattle and i rode for about i dont know how long may have been about 6000 km before i did anything about it
if just a skight rattle itll be fine
Just my opinion

[Mikkel]

hey mate

hows it
I had a bike with a cam chain rattle and i rode for about i dont know how long may have been about 6000 km before i did anything about it
if just a skight rattle itll be fine
Just my opinion

Hehe, yeah I did that too until I found out what it was.

I took it out and positively raped it at Ruapuna a couple of days after the rattle first appeared. But it has become progressively worse and worse since then - so I am definately not riding it until I've got it sorted.