cam chain noise countermeasure
#1
07-04-2006, 12:31 PM
cam chain noise countermeasure
I was at a Kawasaki dealer here in Japan last week and was talking to the owner who is an older gentleman with many years experience working on Kawi's. I happened to mention to him that my bike sounds like a sewing machine in the mid-rpm's, and he told me a dirt-simple trick I've never heard before. I'm not sure if the guy is brilliant or crazy, so I thought I'd run this by you fellow KLXers out there to get your feedback...
He said that the KLX cam chains generate a lot of noise (of course) and that the noise is because the chain develops too much slack (I think that's true, you guys agree?). He said that the spring in the tensioner doesn't have enough force to click the ratching mechanism out far enough to take up the slack. He said that with the tensioner properly installed on the bike I should carefully loosen the two bolts on the tensioner body until I hear one "CLICK" come from the ratchet mechanism, then quickly tighten up the bolts again. He said this would fix the cam chain noise, and he acted like it was the oldest trick in the book.
What do you guys think? Is he right or will my bike explode?
He said that the KLX cam chains generate a lot of noise (of course) and that the noise is because the chain develops too much slack (I think that's true, you guys agree?). He said that the spring in the tensioner doesn't have enough force to click the ratching mechanism out far enough to take up the slack. He said that with the tensioner properly installed on the bike I should carefully loosen the two bolts on the tensioner body until I hear one "CLICK" come from the ratchet mechanism, then quickly tighten up the bolts again. He said this would fix the cam chain noise, and he acted like it was the oldest trick in the book.
What do you guys think? Is he right or will my bike explode?
#2
07-04-2006, 05:23 PM
RE: cam chain noise countermeasure
ORIGINAL: NavKLX
I was at a Kawasaki dealer here in Japan last week and was talking to the owner who is an older gentleman with many years experience working on Kawi's. I happened to mention to him that my bike sounds like a sewing machine in the mid-rpm's, and he told me a dirt-simple trick I've never heard before. I'm not sure if the guy is brilliant or crazy, so I thought I'd run this by you fellow KLXers out there to get your feedback...
He said that the KLX cam chains generate a lot of noise (of course) and that the noise is because the chain develops too much slack (I think that's true, you guys agree?). He said that the spring in the tensioner doesn't have enough force to click the ratching mechanism out far enough to take up the slack. He said that with the tensioner properly installed on the bike I should carefully loosen the two bolts on the tensioner body until I hear one "CLICK" come from the ratchet mechanism, then quickly tighten up the bolts again. He said this would fix the cam chain noise, and he acted like it was the oldest trick in the book.
What do you guys think? Is he right or will my bike explode?
I was at a Kawasaki dealer here in Japan last week and was talking to the owner who is an older gentleman with many years experience working on Kawi's. I happened to mention to him that my bike sounds like a sewing machine in the mid-rpm's, and he told me a dirt-simple trick I've never heard before. I'm not sure if the guy is brilliant or crazy, so I thought I'd run this by you fellow KLXers out there to get your feedback...
He said that the KLX cam chains generate a lot of noise (of course) and that the noise is because the chain develops too much slack (I think that's true, you guys agree?). He said that the spring in the tensioner doesn't have enough force to click the ratching mechanism out far enough to take up the slack. He said that with the tensioner properly installed on the bike I should carefully loosen the two bolts on the tensioner body until I hear one "CLICK" come from the ratchet mechanism, then quickly tighten up the bolts again. He said this would fix the cam chain noise, and he acted like it was the oldest trick in the book.
What do you guys think? Is he right or will my bike explode?
#3
07-04-2006, 05:45 PM
Join Date: May 2006
Location: White Rock, BC
Posts: 881
RE: cam chain noise countermeasure
That sounds totally conceivable to me. I bet he's right.
OK, so who's going to post the step-by-step pictorial guide on the procedure? Anyone?
We should startup a section of this forum for those types of pictorial how-to threads.
The one by nobrakes about the 300cc upgrade was just awesome!
I'd love to see one on valve clearance check and adjustment.
There's a big thread on ADVRider.com about our bike, and it had a good write up about checking valve clearance, but did not include adjusting the shims.
It would be great to have these on here as a permanent reference, but my biggest concern is the hosting of the images.
If you look at a thread months or years later, sometimes the original images for that thread have long since been removed from the host server.
Hmmm. (gears in head grinding)
OK, so who's going to post the step-by-step pictorial guide on the procedure? Anyone?
We should startup a section of this forum for those types of pictorial how-to threads.
The one by nobrakes about the 300cc upgrade was just awesome!
I'd love to see one on valve clearance check and adjustment.
There's a big thread on ADVRider.com about our bike, and it had a good write up about checking valve clearance, but did not include adjusting the shims.
It would be great to have these on here as a permanent reference, but my biggest concern is the hosting of the images.
If you look at a thread months or years later, sometimes the original images for that thread have long since been removed from the host server.
Hmmm. (gears in head grinding)
#5
07-04-2006, 07:46 PM
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Washington
Posts: 21,060
RE: cam chain noise countermeasure
A while back I mentioned that my bike was developing a lot of noise especially when I first started it up and it was idling. However in the last week or so the noise has stopped completely. My guess is it was the cam chain tensioner that took up another notch. Sort of like self adjusting rear drum brakes on an older truck. Here is a picture of the tensioner from Nobrakes.
#7
07-06-2006, 03:38 PM
RE: cam chain noise countermeasure
Hey guys, sorry I forgot to give a follow-up post with my results.
Yes, after thinking about it, I decided to go ahead and give this little operation a shot. And ... it seems to work! My sewing machine noise is almost gone.
We'll see if this affects the lifespan of my engine, but I'm guessing that it's no problem. Here's why: In addition to the main tensioner there is also a sub-tensioner directly below it. The sub-tensioner has only a spring, no push rod thingy. The presence of the the sub-tensioner means that adding a CLICK or two to the main tensioner ratchet shouldn't overload the cam chain. Maybe this is why the Kawi mechanic seemed so confident of his procedure.
Anybody else try this yet?
Yes, after thinking about it, I decided to go ahead and give this little operation a shot. And ... it seems to work! My sewing machine noise is almost gone.
We'll see if this affects the lifespan of my engine, but I'm guessing that it's no problem. Here's why: In addition to the main tensioner there is also a sub-tensioner directly below it. The sub-tensioner has only a spring, no push rod thingy. The presence of the the sub-tensioner means that adding a CLICK or two to the main tensioner ratchet shouldn't overload the cam chain. Maybe this is why the Kawi mechanic seemed so confident of his procedure.
Anybody else try this yet?
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