Odd noise on 900 cbr

[el_scor_cho]

cool looks like the tensioner after a bit of reading. cheers lads!

[Marmoot]

Hondas have extremely quiet engines which make small noises sound bad.

Honda cars, maybe.

For Fireblades, cam chain rattle and clutch rattle are common.
Nothing to be worried about with clutch rattle if it is still sensible (best compare with other Fireblades).
But with cam chain rattle, it may be a sign your cam chain tensioner is on the way out. Common problem, and luckily not too expensive.

[CHAPLIN]

Last rattle fixed on my cbr900 was the oil pump drive chain

[Spanner Man]

A qiuck tip to test tensioner. Undo the bolt on the back of the tensioner, remove the spring careful not to loose the metal pin inside the spring and put a screwdriver in through the hole, apply some light pressure and see if you hear a click. This would be the ratchet mechanism on the tensioner moving out to the next position.

Tensioners usually fail because they dont have the spring tension to push the ratchet mechanism all the way out or the ratchet get stuck orthe ratchet wont hold its position. If this works go for a ride and see if the noise is gone. if it cures it you know that the noise is coming from the cam chain and replade the tensioner (and chian if nessesary). If the noise is still there there's a good chance that the noise is coming from somewhere else.

This is not a permanent fix as its qiute easy to over tension the cam chain using this method if you are not carefull. However it shouldn't be a problem if you just use it for diagnosis purposes.

If the noise doesn't go away it could still be the tensioner if the ratchet mechanism is not holding in its extended position. The only way to check this is to remove the tensioner completley and inspect the teeth on the ratchet mechanism. Although you will have to be sure the cam timing doesn't jump when removeing the tensioner Thats when the above test comes in handy. Quick to do and doesnt require to much in depth work to confirm a suspicion.

Hope this proves helpfull.

[CHAPLIN]

They dont have a ratchet, they have oneway taperd slides.You could try getting a m6 x30mm bolt and screw it into the back of the tensioner untill it touches the pushrod with very light pressure.Be carefull not to over tension it though, then lock it in position with a nut.I used this quick fix on my tensioner.

[Spanner Man]

Yea chaplain you are probably right there it's been a whilse since i have done one and i might have it confused. Good tip about the bolt! Should work similar to the old manual tensioners that are popular amoung the racing communitys because there is less likleyhood of them failing. But as you say be careful not to over tension. Good Advise!