Its the cam chain!

[Scott221]

Yep, my bike has been running like crap lately, and i now know its the cam chain. It has the classic whurring type sound whilst accelerating, and is now ratlling nicely.

So, how much of a ball ache is this going to be? Do i have to get the engine out? Is it my 'tensioner' or something else?


I havn't got a bloody clue about this, are there any manuals/tutorials, has anyone done it?

Cheers,
Scott.

[~JB~]

Dan has done it recently... see more here

[masterofinsanity]

all manuals are available to download off here.

[carsounds_dan]

yeh i've done it recently, im only 17, but i have worked on engines before so i guess that was a help.
I took off all the bodywork, you could get away with just the sidepanels, rear and tank though. Warm the engine up then drain the oil. Then it's all the plastic infills off, then the airbox, then the carbs (disconnect throttle cables and follow the manuals for "how to" as it were), then i disconnected all the electrics and fed the loom back through the frame, removing the coils also. Drain the coolant (you could leave it in i suppose). I also took off rad and oil cooler but you can do it with them left on, same as the exhaust. Then i took the rocker cover off (four 10mm bolts) then took the pickup coil cover off (8mm bolts) align the engine as in the manual, then took the tensioner out (hex headed). Then took off the pickup coil thingy [big round thing on end of crank] its got a 19mm bolt head punched into it so you can locate a spanner on it, then use the spanner as leverage when you undo the centre hex headed bolt. Then undid the cam cap bolts (10mm, four for each cap, 16 in total) and the top chain guide (two hex headed bolts) and removed the cam caps and cams (caps needed a bit of a wriggle to get off) then the chain is loose, remove the front chain guide (pulls out the top of the engine, i just pulled mine half out rather than all the way, a right angled pick is you friend here) then wriggle the chain off, mine had the dreaded lug of metal but i took the generator cover off (other side of engine) and wiggled the crank from that side as i pulled the chain off. Then reversed to put the chain on. REMEMBER undo covers/caps/anything with more than three bolts in a criss-cross fashion so not to warp them, i kept all the bolts in little envelopes with a short discription on them [i.e. exhaust headed studs and nuts] and replaced all bolts with any sign of corrosion. Buy yourself some locktight, i got a pritstick type thing for £4 in halfords which is great and has done a fantastic job.
Overall I started the camchain replacement with the fairings off, the carbs off, the radiator off, the oil cooler off, the exhaust off and all the loom out of the way and it took me two hours to change the camchain and tensioner and get back to the same point in the "build". If you get stuck or want any help let me know, if your local I don't mind lending a hand.
Cheers
Dan

[Scott221]

Where abouts you from Dan? Im think i could do it, but would like to have a helping hand when it comes to the timing bit, as if i mess up there, the cam chain is gona be the last thing on my mind. As for working on engines, oil changes are about as far as ive got.

Wish they did a bloody haynes manual!

[carsounds_dan]

I've been told to watch out for hairline cracks in the cam caps btw aswell to add insult to injury, luckily mine havent got any "phew" but worth a note.
I'm in Sussex, near Gatwick or Haywards Heath whichever is easier... where bouts are you?
cheers
dan

[Scott221]

No good mate, Birmingham here. Im having a mechanic have a look and look only next week to just confim my thoughts, then gona get it off and have a look at whats going on. Its stop whurring now which is wierd and is running abit better.