Kawasaki Forums - New to the KLX250 Questions..

Quote:

Originally Posted by durielk (Post 528841)

Generally, cam chains rarely wear out. I have never heard of one wearing out. Definitely would not happen in 20K, unless the motor was totally abused without oil, for a long time. Auto's with 200K have the same cam chain.

If it was wore out, inspect the cam gears, the teeth would be all pointy and show heavy wear inside where the cam chain runs.

Agreed, the biggest risk is excess play in the cam drive allowing the chain to skip or jam. As I said, I've heard of a couple KLX300s breaking the chain and destroying top ends. One did it twice because they left the failed OEM tensioner in it when they got the bike and rebuilt the trashed top end. This time they went with the manual unit. Some riders with Concours and Eliminators have damaged sliders due to chain whip.