blainerides

No, that's not the one, but that's pretty awesome, a VFR with knobbies!

Jeff come come down early and we can go look at that Vfr in Lynwood

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/mcy/4572498903.html '> http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/mcy/4572498903.html

If, by chance, anyone knows someone selling an Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 (2001-2007, including 2003 Rally Raid edition), I'm very interested...

Tightening up the tensioner springs is all about trying to get more life out of the existing tensioner before spending the bucks on new ones.

A manual one has the inconvenience of not having BMW spring or hydraulic damping, so it won't absorb any chain lashing if this were to occur. The greatest risk I can see in a manual one is if you overdo it when dialing in the amount of turns as you may be forcing the guide too hard up against the chain causing premature wear and stretching it to The point you are back not at square 1 but -1 as you would then need to swap out the entire timing chain and gear assembly. Expensive remedy.

You may be able to er on the side of caution until you manage to get silent operation but you will always have an unforgiving threaded rod up against the chain guide. Some people swear by them. I guess the forward one will be a bit of a pain to adjust due to the tight access but... your decision.

Thank you for the perspective, Auspanol - seems like the OEM ones are worth the money and the manual ones have too much risk.

I have the answer to VFRQQQs question (and mine)... as to how much preload the spring gets out of the factory...

The official Honda answer is "NONE"... this means that the 4 turns required to retract the pusher piston all the way in ONCE is how the CCT comes OEM, either on the bike or out of the box...

Once placed in the motor and the key removes it extends all it can up against the guide...

So you guessed rather well there... giving it one full turn more is not going too far... I gave it 2 full turns more... I don't think that's overdoing it either... it's a very flimsy spring, so I doubt 50% more will cause premature wear anywhere...

It was Honda Montesa the Official Honda Distributor in Spain who answered my quiery.

This time thanks are in order... but they should get their act together with the recalls...

That post is most helpful, Auspanol - thanks for getting us an answer! :)

Forgive the perhaps already answered / obvious / dumb question (my eyes are exhausted of reading pages and pages of threads on this topic...and searching and searching), but will someone please "dumb this down" for me, and/or re-state the PURPOSE for "fixing" the cam chain tensioner's "lack of tension"; i.e. tightening it up or replacing it?

I've had a 4th and 5th gen before (gear-driven cams, so no problem), and one previous 6th gen (but only put 5,000 miles on it, and it was a young bike...) and my current 6th gen has 52k miles on it, but only the last 10k miles are mine - so this is my first time "dealing" with this CCT "issue". If / when it gets "too loose", especially (or primarily) the front CCT, will something CATASTROPHIC happen, or just make more and more and more noise?

I saw Switchblade's cut-away engine image, and from a cursory glance and general understanding of engines, suspect there's a possibility that if/when the tensioner gets too loose, the chain could slap around enough in there to actually SNAP / break, but is this a REAL fear, or will an out-of-spec cam chain just make more noise? I mean, I'm not saying mechanical clunking sounds anywhere on a bike, let alone inside the engine, should be ignored, ever, but how bad can it really get? Switchblade's cut-away image:

Sooo, why do so few people mention the MANUAL CCT (Cam Chain Tensioner) option? Is this a bad idea? Is it a GENIUS idea, but has just only been an option as of late? What am I missing? I could just do the "adjustment fix" of the original CCT(s) in my bike now, in lieu of buying new OEM ones, but is this manual CCT a viable third option? http://www.ebay.com/itm/360837192431

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I have the answer to VFRQQQs question (and mine)... as to how much preload the spring gets out of the factory...

The official Honda answer is "NONE"... this means that the 4 turns required to retract the pusher piston all the way in ONCE is how the CCT comes OEM, either on the bike or out of the box...

Once placed in the motor and the key removes it extends all it can up against the guide...

So you guessed rather well there... giving it one full turn more is not going too far... I gave it 2 full turns more... I don't think that's overdoing it either... it's a very flimsy spring, so I doubt 50% more will cause premature wear anywhere...

It was Honda Montesa the Official Honda Distributor in Spain who answered my quiery.

This time thanks are in order... but they should get their act together with the recalls...

That post is most helpful, Auspanol - thanks for getting us an answer! :)

Forgive the perhaps already answered / obvious / dumb question (my eyes are exhausted of reading pages and pages of threads on this topic...and searching and searching), but will someone please "dumb this down" for me, and/or re-state the PURPOSE for "fixing" the cam chain tensioner's "lack of tension"; i.e. tightening it up or replacing it?

I've had a 4th and 5th gen before (gear-driven cams, so no problem), and one previous 6th gen (but only put 5,000 miles on it, and it was a young bike...) and my current 6th gen has 52k miles on it, but only the last 10k miles are mine - so this is my first time "dealing" with this CCT "issue". If / when it gets "too loose", especially (or primarily) the front CCT, will something CATASTROPHIC happen, or just make more and more and more noise?

I saw Switchblade's cut-away engine image, and from a cursory glance and general understanding of engines, suspect there's a possibility that if/when the tensioner gets too loose, the chain could slap around enough in there to actually SNAP / break, but is this a REAL fear, or will an out-of-spec cam chain just make more noise? I mean, I'm not saying mechanical clunking sounds anywhere on a bike, let alone inside the engine, should be ignored, ever, but how bad can it really get? Switchblade's cut-away image:

Sooo, why do so few people mention the MANUAL CCT (Cam Chain Tensioner) option? Is this a bad idea? Is it a GENIUS idea, but has just only been an option as of late? What am I missing? I could just do the "adjustment fix" of the original CCT(s) in my bike now, in lieu of buying new OEM ones, but is this manual CCT a viable third option? http://www.ebay.com/itm/360837192431