Took a test ride today...

**Tink** · 31st May 2010, 19:33

Originally Posted by trailblazer

when i am test riding bikes when i upgrade i will only be buying the bike that puts the biggest grtin on my face and leaves me wanting more and it doesn't matter what brand it is. (It better be a suzuki though). awesome on getting a new bike have fun and enjoy.

I await that grin... (but why a suz).. mind you don't blame ya.. thous are pretty sweet.. being a wee 5ft 2 I would love a sports bike.. but prob stuck with a cruizer!

**banditrider** · 31st May 2010, 19:44

Originally Posted by vifferman

Here's a link for them.
When I bought mine, the only NZ agent was doubling the price for the huge amount of work involved in placing an order. You may find someone in the US or elsewhere you can get them from instead. I got mine plus a Throttle Position Sensor I... um... err... broke....

from some bloke in the UK on the VTR forum there. Got them in a week, and it cost me less than the CCTs or TPS would've cost on their own.
Here's the US forum (I was a member there too): www.superhawkforum.com/
The UK one seems to have disappeared, but here's another one.

Thanks for the links. My VTR has about 27k on it now (previous owners must never have rode it), any idea on when I might need to start worrying about stuff like this? Also, how hard are they to fit and how often do they need adjustment?

**Jacko2** · 31st May 2010, 21:36

ONYA Mate!

**vifferman** · 31st May 2010, 21:42

Originally Posted by banditrider

Thanks for the links. My VTR has about 27k on it now (previous owners must never have rode it), any idea on when I might need to start worrying about stuff like this? Also, how hard are they to fit and how often do they need adjustment?

From what I know, how quickly the camchain tensioners wear out depends on how much hard acceleration/engine braking you do, and how much time the bike spends idling on the sidestand. Too much of either/both of these can reputedly give the spring in the tensioners a hard time, especially the front one (usually the first to go). The rear tensioner slopes down from the barrel, so gets plenty of oil, whereas the front slopes up away from the barrel. The springs get pounded, snap, and the stupid tensioner pin backs out, allowing the chain to hop some teeth on the cam.

Despite the myths that abound about the coloured dots on various OEM CCTs, they're all the same (apart from the pretty coloured dots).

There are basically three cures: replace the tensioner(s) with OEM ones as soon as the engine gets rattly; modify the OEM tensioners by replacing the innards with a bolt and locknut (before they get rattly); replace them with APE ones, which are merely an alloy body with a bolt and locknut.

Replacing them isn't hard, and you can do it two ways: either take the engine apart so you can see where the cams, chain, etc are at, or do it by making sure the timing marks are in the right spot for the right cylinder (don't ask me the details, as I did this over 6 years ago). With replacement OEM CCTs, there's a peg you pull out that lets the spring loose to find its own tension. With modified or manual CCTs, you have to either measure the amount of slack in the longest run, with the engine in the right position (which means you have to take it apart), or do it by sound/feel. I'm lazy, so I used the latter method, but my engine was so rattly I couldn't do it by sound. I figured (rightly or wrongly) that the springs in the OEM tensioners wouldn't have any more 'oomph' than the amount of tension I could apply by screwing the tensioner bolt in with my fingers. In any case, whether it was too loose/tight, I figured there was no way the camchain could misbehave, so it didn't matter much.
How often do manual ones need adjusting? The camchains stretch most (well... the pins get looser) early on in the piece, and then not a huge amount. The wear on the sliders probably contributes more to the need for adjustment. It's reasonably safe to just wait until they get a wee bit noisier, because unlike the auto OEM ones they can't back out. so it's pretty much impossible for the camchain to flap around enough to jump off the sprockets.

**banditrider** · 1st June 2010, 17:31

Originally Posted by vifferman

From what I know, how quickly the camchain tensioners wear out depends on how much hard acceleration/engine braking you do, and how much time the bike spends idling on the sidestand. Too much of either/both of these can reputedly give the spring in the tensioners a hard time, especially the front one (usually the first to go). The rear tensioner slopes down from the barrel, so gets plenty of oil, whereas the front slopes up away from the barrel. The springs get pounded, snap, and the stupid tensioner pin backs out, allowing the chain to hop some teeth on the cam.

Despite the myths that abound about the coloured dots on various OEM CCTs, they're all the same (apart from the pretty coloured dots).

There are basically three cures: replace the tensioner(s) with OEM ones as soon as the engine gets rattly; modify the OEM tensioners by replacing the innards with a bolt and locknut (before they get rattly); replace them with APE ones, which are merely an alloy body with a bolt and locknut.

Replacing them isn't hard, and you can do it two ways: either take the engine apart so you can see where the cams, chain, etc are at, or do it by making sure the timing marks are in the right spot for the right cylinder (don't ask me the details, as I did this over 6 years ago). With replacement OEM CCTs, there's a peg you pull out that lets the spring loose to find its own tension. With modified or manual CCTs, you have to either measure the amount of slack in the longest run, with the engine in the right position (which means you have to take it apart), or do it by sound/feel. I'm lazy, so I used the latter method, but my engine was so rattly I couldn't do it by sound. I figured (rightly or wrongly) that the springs in the OEM tensioners wouldn't have any more 'oomph' than the amount of tension I could apply by screwing the tensioner bolt in with my fingers. In any case, whether it was too loose/tight, I figured there was no way the camchain could misbehave, so it didn't matter much.
How often do manual ones need adjusting? The camchains stretch most (well... the pins get looser) early on in the piece, and then not a huge amount. The wear on the sliders probably contributes more to the need for adjustment. It's reasonably safe to just wait until they get a wee bit noisier, because unlike the auto OEM ones they can't back out. so it's pretty much impossible for the camchain to flap around enough to jump off the sprockets.

Thanks for the info, I'll certainly be keeping an ear on things...

**cheesemethod** · 2nd June 2010, 17:19

Has anybody got a picture of what the stock cam chain tensioner is supposed to look like? My one has a hex head on it... perhaps somebody has already put manual ones on it?

**PeteJ** · 2nd June 2010, 17:33

There's an Australian VTR1000 forum: ozfirestorm.proboards.com. One of its major advantages is that it consistently has the funniest funnies board of any forum (and I belong to....oooohhhh...about 15 bike-related ones, as well as fishing and work forums).

Now: cleaning.

I bought my VTR1000 new in 2006. I clean it with water only on the plastics, tank, and instruments etc, no cleaning product at all; tar and grease remover is used only on metalwork below axle height, and the wheels and the engine. I use a car brush only on wheels and exposed metalwork; everything else gets done with a cotton rag.

It gets polished with Pledge only, nothing else. No detergent, no wax, no polish. It's been through mud and flood and gravel roads and farm tracks, but right now in the shed looks as it did the day I bought it, apart from a couple of very minor stone chips. The paint and plastics are like brand new. The Pledge sheds dirt - waxes etc collect it, and make it scratch paint and plastics (not just a theory this - lotsa people have proved it for themselves, as I have).

CCTs: as mine is used instructing at ART days, I replace the CCTs with stock ones at 18,000km intervals.

**cheesemethod** · 2nd June 2010, 23:29

I took delivery of the bike today, and put some Ks on it despite the weather. I'm over the moon with it, it rides great, it sounds great and it looks great. PeteJ how much do the stock CCTs cost? And which dealer do you use? Experience with car parts tells me that some dealers have a lot higher margins than others so I don't want to get taken for a ride. My CCTs are fine at the moment, just planning ahead.

**PeteJ** · 3rd June 2010, 09:40

Can't remember offhand. I have an idea the APEs may be cheaper than OEM, especially if you buy from an online US discounter. See discussions on the Superhawk site. I'd never entirely subscribed to the VTR tensioner problem view until one of the other ART instructors had a failure on his one at 40,000km.

I use Honda dealers at The Mount - GP Honda - and Kerikeri - Waipapa Honda.