My 06 250s has what I am sure is the common cam chain clatter. I am a new owner to this bike with 5k on it when I bought it this week, and have put about 200 miles on it since then. When I noticed the noise, what sounds like valve ticking starting at about 5k rpms, I did some research and learned that this is very common. However, I feel that if I don't do something about it, that the little engine is going to kato on me just while I'm in a nice fast turn, locking the rear and sending me down the road makin' friends with the dirt!

I have read about both schools of thought; to let the chain tensioner do its job when it feels like it, or manualy adjust the tensioner. I am kindof leaning twards adjusting the tensioner myself at this point due to the sevarity of the sound. I just hope that the issue can be solved by the tensioner taking up the slack, or maybe the problem is worse with the chain guides being loose or even bent.

I am asking for any final thoughts on the issue befor I do the work. Is adjusting the tensioner going to effect the chain's life, or will it be ok?

Thanks everyone again for your experiences!

 

dude youll be fine for the next 6000 miles because mine started making that noise at 5000 miles and now that im at 12,000 it really makes alot of noise. i just need to fix it soon haha

 

Do you ever feel the clatter in the bars? It seems like I can feel the chain noise in the bars above 6000 rpm. Maybe it's just regular vibes though. IDK.

Why isn't the tensioner doing it's job? Another good question I think; why exactly is the chain causing the noise? Anybody know?

 

Deleted due to duality, yo!

 

hmm.. i dont, mine makes alot of noise no matter what rpm's. at idle u can really hear it but once your above 7000 rpm's the two brother exhaust eliminates the clatter haha

 

This may be a different noise, but I have had some noise at idle when cold. I would call it more of a knocking or a loud ticking, not a constant buzz. It seems to be in time with the engine. I had the bike apart yesterday to re-check my valve clearance, and eliminate one noise source. Tol's were ok , one exhaust gap was towards the low limit ,but well within. I pulled the cams to check for any weird wear. Everything looked fine. While I had them out I got looking at the KACR compression release thing. That is one loosely put together part, and I think it may be the rattle I am hearing. It all looked good, spring , rivets weights, but there is a lot of slop the way they build it. It also looked like it could be bumping the valve bucket even when the weights are out. I took my dremel and removed a little material on the side that is supposed to clear when it's disengaged. I haven't started the bike yet, repacked the Q4 and still waiting for the silicone to cure. Quite a bit on the KACR on Google, mostly KLR owners. Some catastrophic failures , and info that the whole works can be removed, eliminating the noise but making it hard to turn over.
Just thought I'd mention another possible source of your noise.
Dan

 

Usaully its the cam timing chain making the clanking noise. Mine started making the noise at around 2800miles. I finally had a enough of it around 5000miles. So I just went ahead and replaced the cam chain and guides. Right now, the KLX has 7800miles on it and it doesn't clank any more. A more cheaper or free method is to adjust the tensioner manually. Which is to loosen one of the smaller bolts that hold the tensioner on and then to very slowly loosen the other smaller bolt. Make sure to listen carefully for a click from the tensioner. Once it has clicked once, tighten the bolts back in.
Another method is to remove the center bolt of the tensioner and useing a skinny philips or nail to some. Force the tensioner tighter by pushing the screwdriver or nail forward until you hear a click.

Here is my write up from some time ago on what I had to go through to replace the cam chain.
https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...ighlight=chain

 

Learjet- When you replaced your cam chain, did you use OEM, or did you put an aftermarket chain in there?

It sounds to me like it is the cam chain that is making the noise. I think what I will do at this point is manually adjust the tensioner on click and see what effect that has on the noise, then go from there.

Given cam chain noise, does anyone know what is happening with the chain to cause it to make this noise?

 

"if" it's a chain problem it's because they don't wear evenly across all the roller. You end up with a long short long short oscillation that may be noticeable at a certain rpm.

Even a perfect new chain runs with a loose tight loose tight occilation as the cam overcomes the valave spring tensions and chain gets hit with each power pulse of the engine. This in and of itself can set up some noise.

Drive chains do the same thing, why you check the tension at a couple different spots and adjust at the loose spot.

The bottom of the chain gets dipped in oil every revolution and eventually after cold start up slobber enough oil onto the sliders that it usually quiets up, and why the chain and sliders can last so long.

If you suspect the tensioner pull it out, push the plunger hard with the palm of your hand while wiggling up and down side to side. If it slips a tooth replace it. Sometimes the teeth of the tensioner fill up with old oil dirt residue on a high mile bike and you can clean them.

 

I'm pretty much with Learjet on his assessment of the tensioner and chain, but in my case I didn't see any wear on the chainguide rubbing blocks and gears, but did change my chain with a new OEM unit at about 11000 miles. The noise of an out-of-spec cam chain sounds closer to a mild engine knock or piston slap to me. Replacing only the chain which was stretched eliminated all noise in my engine.

I have been working with Mark Kreiger of Kreiger tensioners to develop a manual tensioner for the KLX. This is normally a relatively simple process, but the KLX has a couple of small details, none of which is insurmountable. The 2-bolt pattern of the KLX tensioner and the bore are not exactly symetrical. It requires a bit more precision to place the exact location of the plunger that makes contact with the rubbing guide block. Additionally the guide rubbing block is not centered in the bore of the head where the tensioner pushes on the guide block. The other issue is access to the threaded manual adjuster due to the proximity of the exhaust pipe. He is addressing both of these issues to make a workable manual tensioner that's easy to use.

I'm going to go with this manual tensioner, as I'm not satisfied with the consistency of the stock automatic tensioner.