Fireblade camchain noises?

[Fast Eddie]

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.

Thanks for that makes me feel a bit better, they were really good the first 2 times the bike went in, they let me know what was going on each step and yea I did find them really good so the bike is heading back in on monday

just disappointed cause I spent heaps on it about 5 months ago and hoped it would be problem free for a good while yet. Will update the post when I find out what the issue was etc

[DrunkenMistake]

Yah I know the feeling, My bike was stolen a little over a month ago, I have finally got a new bike a later model bike expecting it to be hassle free, needed to lower it a tad and well fuck me silly, ONE bolt would not come out... Really upsetting stuff haha,
Rick at MCR is a really good dude to deal with, I almost have my own account there I go there so often for shit haha, They let you pay 50% then pay off the rest if your having trouble getting the $$ Tell them Hayden With the Hyoshit said MCR is a better shop than McKiever and Vetch, im sure he will give you a hard time because its me.

[Fast Eddie]

Yah I know the feeling, My bike was stolen a little over a month ago, I have finally got a new bike a later model bike expecting it to be hassle free, needed to lower it a tad and well fuck me silly, ONE bolt would not come out... Really upsetting stuff haha,
Rick at MCR is a really good dude to deal with, I almost have my own account there I go there so often for shit haha, They let you pay 50% then pay off the rest if your having trouble getting the $$ Tell them Hayden With the Hyoshit said MCR is a better shop than McKiever and Vetch, im sure he will give you a hard time because its me.

hahaha! mm the blade also has a bolt that doesnt come out, i want to change my foot peg height. worry bout it another day, might get MCR to do it while they got it haha.
And pretty good about the payment options, that'll help - I have only been dealing with Rebecca up until now, the workshop seems to be her domain.

Will throw ya name out there, do u have a hyosung? 250/600? how do you find it? my girlfriend needs a bike...

[DrunkenMistake]

hahaha! mm the blade also has a bolt that doesnt come out, i want to change my foot peg height. worry bout it another day, might get MCR to do it while they got it haha.
And pretty good about the payment options, that'll help - I have only been dealing with Rebecca up until now, the workshop seems to be her domain.

Will throw ya name out there, do u have a hyosung? 250/600? how do you find it? my girlfriend needs a bike...

Well I started off on a CBR 250R and thrashed its little balls out all over the bay road ( I live in Mac Bay ) then I got a VFR 400 NC30 and Rung its chubby little throat out, and it was stolen about a month and a bit ago, and really choked me up a little, I had sunk alot of money and time into it, bringing it up to a nice state and into the bike I had wanted for a long time, so when I got my pay out I wanted a 600 but didnt want anything high performance, price wise and maintenance wise I just couldnt afford it, Tim had suggested the Hyosung as an alternative and I settled with the GT650R , Iv had it for about 3 days but it seems fantastic for what I use it for, I usually commute to work and home most days and usually through town to visit mates, and it seems great in traffic, and when you ring its neck out it seems to love it, reminds me of misses, rougher the better.
Real comfy bike as well, im a short little fat bastard so the old gut gets in the way with the large tank, but she'll be right.
And Rebecca is pretty good to deal with, Dave is the parts guy and Jeremy is the gear guy, they do a end of month ride on the last Saturday of every month, could be something to look into if you have a life in the weekends unlike myself haha

[Fast Eddie]

stolen bike is no fun at all, I used to literally sleep with my bike when I lived in a not so savory neighbourhood haha.

I had a cbr250r as first bike as well, loved the gear driven cams and high rpm.

Yea I was looking at the gt250r for a learning bike(for her to buy for herself), also sweet cause i think its about the same size as the gt650r? so a potential step up, the mrs is pretty confident, she asked for a go on the 'blade haha - she can already ride a bike but needs to do her license to get on the road and get a 250 etc, she loves the dirt bikes

[FJRider]

Are you saying the factory honda auto tensioners are prone to failure?

Most AUTO tensioners ... on many bike brands ... I have found are "prone to failure" ...

[imdying]

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?

That's how I understand, but a quick google will probably reveal more. The UK sites are normally a good source of that sort of information, the US sites are generally better for the newer stuff.

[DrunkenMistake]

stolen bike is no fun at all, I used to literally sleep with my bike when I lived in a not so savory neighbourhood haha.

I had a cbr250r as first bike as well, loved the gear driven cams and high rpm.

Yea I was looking at the gt250r for a learning bike(for her to buy for herself), also sweet cause i think its about the same size as the gt650r? so a potential step up, the mrs is pretty confident, she asked for a go on the 'blade haha - she can already ride a bike but needs to do her license to get on the road and get a 250 etc, she loves the dirt bikes

Yup same sized bikes ae,
and yeah.. licenses and stuff

[Marmoot]

Fireblades are known to have clutch rattle noise, which is perfectly normal (it sounds like ball bearings being rolled in a can, and can be quite unnerving for those not familiar).
Make sure this is not what you're hearing (if you pull the clutch in, the noise should reduce significantly).

Cam chain tensioner for blades do need to be replaced occassionally, but normally about 20k+ or something like that.

[Fast Eddie]

Fireblades are known to have clutch rattle noise, which is perfectly normal (it sounds like ball bearings being rolled in a can, and can be quite unnerving for those not familiar).
Make sure this is not what you're hearing (if you pull the clutch in, the noise should reduce significantly).

Cam chain tensioner for blades do need to be replaced occassionally, but normally about 20k+ or something like that.

Hehe thanks I'm not too bad with a spanner or engine - and yea blades do have that light rumble in neutral with the clutch engaged. But this is a cam chain/tensioner issue for sure - Thanks for the info on the replacing every 20k tho. It does seem a common theme online that these auto tensioners aree shite but Honda parts are usually pretty good and its first tensioner lasted about 42,000km from new, and since then chewed thru 2 more, each with about 5,000km on them (this last one actually only managed I think 3,500km) for a while I had a manual tensioner for about 6,000km of riding but i was finding that I had to adjust it daily it was just fustrating I just wanted it to run like normal with an auto tensioner and no hassles.

Seems a shame they have such a short life span but still what I have is a bike that seems to chew through Auto tensioners every 5,000kms and it doesn't seem right and for some reason I'm not getting free auto tensioners when they fail I'm having to buy new ones at 250 a piece I want it to stop haha

I'm guessing MCR are going to check my cam chain again for stretch (they said there are markings on the cam chain which would allow them to see if its stretched) if its stretched than theres my problem.

If its not the chain, which I'm worried about cause they checked it before and said it wasn't stretched about 5 months ago, Then I'm back to square one which is why is the bike chewing thru auto tensioners..

[ducatilover]

You're having to adjust that manual one far too often. I'd say it's wearing the little foot on the chain side of the tensioner and that your chain is stretched.
Yes; chains stretch, especially in high stress and high engine speed applications, to add to it, the chains aren't exactly man sized.

I'm surprised you have needed to go through that many tensioners, perhaps they aren't being installed or set up correctly, or somehow stopping itself from sliding? Ask to see the old one back. The teeth on it may get worn prematurely, probably due to a stretched chain slapping it.

Bloody nice bike!

[Fast Eddie]

You're having to adjust that manual one far too often. I'd say it's wearing the little foot on the chain side of the tensioner and that your chain is stretched.
Yes; chains stretch, especially in high stress and high engine speed applications, to add to it, the chains aren't exactly man sized.

I'm surprised you have needed to go through that many tensioners, perhaps they aren't being installed or set up correctly, or somehow stopping itself from sliding? Ask to see the old one back. The teeth on it may get worn prematurely, probably due to a stretched chain slapping it.

Bloody nice bike!

Good stuff loving the Kiwi Biker help/thoughts its great, shoulda signed up long time ago!

Yea I do give my blade a fair bit of red line action, and one of my humble theories was that the chain was stretched enough to make the tensioners work very hard and fail so quickly - why the bike shop didn't just replace the cam chain when I asked them to check it/replace it is beyond me but I guess I should be happy they tried to save me money by just replacing the tensioner

I have the old tensioners here, can't see any visible damage at first glance, one of them i converted into a manual tensioner anyway and that was the one I was having to adjust almost daily which didn't seem right and was annoying..

and thanks for the nice bike comment if that comment was toward my blade haha Alotta love goes into a mans toys and I love this one a lot.. Hoping to keep it running and in good nick for many years to come if I can!

[imdying]

They're basically the perfect classic motorcycle. A defining bike of the generation, a good looker, still able to foot it with more modern companions, etc etc. I'd be happy to own one (96 tiger striped one thanks if you're buying )

[Fast Eddie]

I'm surprised you have needed to go through that many tensioners, perhaps they aren't being installed or set up correctly, or somehow stopping itself from sliding?
Bloody nice bike!

mm I hope they are being installed properly as I pay good money to the bike shops eh, you expect them to do it right! the latest one was installed by MCR because I sorta thought it might fail again and this time it would be easier to just give it back to the shop and say "you'v done all the work on it and it still broken, fix it!" and as far as setup goes I believe that these auto tensioners are non adjustable/self adjusting - I have played around with them, u basically bolt it in and release the locking pin and it supposed to set itself up.. workshop manual also doesn't mention anything other than bolting it in and releasing the pin and ur good to go.

I'll see how they go on Monday, im leaving it with them (MCR) to just check the cam chain if it is stretched or not and see what they say and will go from there. I'm now hoping its just the cam chain is stretched and that will solve all my problems! although this tensioner is probably damaged now as well from trying to keep the stretched chain in check? grumble grumble.. haha Sigh its a learning curve I guess, after this I'll have just a little bit more knowledge in the memory banks about cam chains and tensioners.

[Fast Eddie]

They're basically the perfect classic motorcycle. A defining bike of the generation, a good looker, still able to foot it with more modern companions, etc etc. I'd be happy to own one (96 tiger striped one thanks if you're buying )

MM loving the Fireblade love on here! keep it coming haha yip my '97 is one of those bikes I just know I won't sell, ill just buy another bike instead of selling it.

I love the tiger blades too, I'll remember to buy everyone a blade when I win lotto

I saw a tiger blade floating round christchurch recently at the race track, he was just a spectator that rocked up on it. very cool. But other than that I havent really seen any blades on the street - i see a 98 one down here in dunners but I don't like that shape so much they went a bit too far away from the original.

Surely some ppl on KiwiBiker must have a few of the old Blades? surreeelly.. I was even thinking of buying a second one, I see them dropping in price, one popped up on TM for 3,500 but it was snapped up quick!