Fireblade camchain noises?

[Fast Eddie]

Hey All,

hoping for some advice or thoughts -

I have a 1997 Honda Fireblade 919cc, for the last few years I have had a niggling problem with a cam chain noise/rattle.

I have replaced the cam chain tensioner twice now in about 3/4 years with brand new items at the recommendation of Casbolts Honda in chch a few years ago and now a second time about 5,000km later from the first replacement at the insistance of MCR in Dunedin, now about 4,000km riding later since the newest tensioner replacement I have the same cam chain noise coming back.

bike has done 56,000km and gets good regular oil changes, the same time I when i recently replaced the tensioner about 6 months ago I had the valves checked, new filters/tuning etc. a bunch of other stuff and servicing done.

The first time I took it into MCR I spend well over 1,000 bucks on them diagnosing the bike including doing a couple other small things like bleeding brakes and then 200+ on the cam chain tensioner and fitting and labour. they were supposed to have checked the cam chain for stretch wear while they had the engine open last time and claim that at least then it was fine and told me it was the tensioner which was broken. Now the same noise is back after about 4,000km riding. Very expensive for me, I don't really have more money to throw at it but kind of hesitant to DIY anything to do with the cam chain as I don't have any special tools

Do cam chains stretch? is it likely my blade chain has stretched after 50,000kms and if it is stretched then why did the rattle go away when I fit the new tensioners but come back after only a few thousand kms? both times I replaced the tensioner the noise did go away but only to come back a few months later and only afew thousand kms later. only genuine honda parts have been used (or thats what I have been paying for anyway)

I have had conflicting advice saying that chains should last the life of the bike, others says the chains need to be replaced. Honda themselves say the chain shouldn't stretch that much to need replacing and should last the life of the engine

I'm not sure what I want to hear, but maybe someone has experience with these bikes/with cam chain or tensioner issues. I'm open for any thoughts/opinions/ideas

For a while I just modified the tensioner to become a fixed/manual adjusting type and that kind of worked but was not ideal and would require constant adjusting almost weekly/daily to keep the cam chain rattle away.

Mmm anyway any thoughts/ideas/advice will be taken on board.. I guess I'm trying to find some sort of concrete theory before I let the bike shop charge me another 1,000 bucks to fix the same problem i have already paid to fix a few thousand kms of riding time earlier.

Is there anything I can DIY with the basic mechanics tools and limited knowledge I have?

[Sable]

Camchains stretch which is why you need the tensioners. Camchains can need replacing, sounds like that's what needs doing if you're really that distressed. All motors will have audible camchain noise, it's normal.

[White trash]

All motors will have audible camchain noise, it's normal.

I'm willing to bet $500 that you can't hear any camchain noise whatsoever on my MVX.

[Sable]

Haha well. All motors with those stupid valve things then

[Fast Eddie]

yea.. the fireblade engine is very very very quiet, I'v had this same bike for many years now and many thousand kms and always been very quiet. Except for this problem, when it makes a noise its an obvious slack chain that is hitting things inside the engine it sounds like i'v filled the gas tank up with a bag of bolts and running it on those.. when it is working like it should there is no cam chain noise at all..

anyway, will keep researching, im not excited on the thought of buying another tensioner thats all.. or worse, buying a new cam chain and then the noise still being there

[DrunkenMistake]

yea.. the fireblade engine is very very very quiet, I'v had this same bike for many years now and many thousand kms and always been very quiet. Except for this problem, when it makes a noise its an obvious slack chain that is hitting things inside the engine it sounds like i'v filled the gas tank up with a bag of bolts and running it on those.. when it is working like it should there is no cam chain noise at all..

anyway, will keep researching, im not excited on the thought of buying another tensioner thats all.. or worse, buying a new cam chain and then the noise still being there

PM Tigertim20 on here or on SR he might have some ideas, he's pretty fluent in bike mechanics

[Fast Eddie]

PM Tigertim20 on here or on SR he might have some ideas, he's pretty fluent in bike mechanics

Cheers for that, will do as soon as I can I think I have to make a few more posts so I can use the PM feature haha, do replys on others posts count? i've done a few by now

[DrunkenMistake]

Cheers for that, will do as soon as I can I think I have to make a few more posts so I can use the PM feature haha, do replys on others posts count? i've done a few by now

You should be able to PM him on Southernrider.co.nz ,

[blackdog]

All motors will have audible camchain noise, it's normal.

Haha well. All motors with those stupid valve things then

Many Ducati owners will also disagree with that statement.

[DrunkenMistake]

Many Ducati owners will also disagree with that statement.

lmao

[White trash]

Many Ducati owners will also disagree with that statement.

My Fatboy doesn't seem to have a whole lotta camchain noise either actually....

[imdying]

IIRC the crux of the problem is that they were shitty and APE make a better replacement? Or something like that.

http://cbrzone.com/sprockets.html

It's not auto but it won't die either.

[DrunkenMistake]

My Fatboy doesn't seem to have a whole lotta camchain noise either actually....

No way to talk about your kids.

IIRC the crux of the problem is that they were shitty and APE make a better replacement? Or something like that.

http://cbrzone.com/sprockets.html

It's not auto but it won't die either.

[Fast Eddie]

IIRC the crux of the problem is that they were shitty and APE make a better replacement? Or something like that.

http://cbrzone.com/sprockets.html

It's not auto but it won't die either.

Are you saying the factory honda auto tensioners are prone to failure? the bike has gone thru 3 so far haha.. mm if it is the auto tensioner it should get replaced under faulty parts or something for free?

thanks for a link to the ape tensioners, already looked at them and yea that was my next plan sort of, but I made a manual tensioner myself a while ago to see if that would solve my problems and it was very hard to get the tension right to eliminate the noise and I always worried it was too tight.. I'd have it running nice for a day or two and then noise would be back would have to readjust it.. mm it is my daily bike I commute it and joy ride it everyday rain sun or snow so i just want a no fuss reliable engine, thought thats what hondas were good for! haha

I got the bike booked into MCR on Monday see what they say - I'm of the opinion that most places just sort of replace bits at your expense until the problem is solved, so expecting they will just replace the cam chain and if the noise still persists tell me to do the tensioner again etc.. I rather try and save some money if I can!

[DrunkenMistake]

MCR and SPV are the two better places to go to in Dunedin, Iv never dealt with SPV personally, but I find the guys at MCR are more about their bikes than making money unlike the Suzuki/Harley dealer across the street, who dont want to know you for a bar of soap if your not spending below 10k. Going to MCR to begin with is a money saver haha.