Do you have the manual tensioner or the "semi automatic" OEM tensioner? If you have the OEM, i would put it back on and let it self adjust then tighten as necessary once the engine is back together and working. There are alot of good threads on here about how to properly tension the came chain.

As far as requiring tension when spinning it by hand, unless your chain is so worn that it has a potential to skip a tooth which would be really worn, i would say it doesn't matter whether the tensioner is installed or not, but personally I would do the bump test with the tensioner installed.

 

P.S. I love how the title of this thread is very misleading. It went from a "quick electrical question" to a troubleshooting thread in no time

Good luck

 

PSUdude,

My threads tend to do that.

And I did just find this in the manual to confirm what you had already posted.

"Do not turn over the crankshaft while the tensioner is removed. This could upset the cam chain timing, and damage the valves." So I guess it's better to be safe than sorry and just install when testing the timing.

 

Hold the phone! There's still that temp sender problem to deal with. Don't Ya'll get to excited when this thing's running and forget about that.

Hope this bike runs like a raped ape when it's done. He's paid his dues! I'll bet he goes to bed with pictures of timing chains in his head!

Been there, done that and it SUCKS!

 

Hey there,
Just an update, pulled the head and posted some pics of my valves. So my other thread. Thanks. Ideas?