Replacing the chain tensioner

[Skeeve]

What is strange though is that yesterday I couldn't see any marks at all on the flywheel. Today I saw a crisp and steady "D" for the right cylinder and "S" for the left one. I really looked for it yesterday but saw nothing. I'm not sure why

 

You were 180deg out of phase?

 

[To be honest: it's the simple things that usually rear up & bite me on the @ss... ]

[raz]

 

You were 180deg out of phase?

 

[To be honest: it's the simple things that usually rear up & bite me on the @ss... ]

Uh... how do I get the strobe light out of phase?

 

Maybe you mean I myself was 180 degrees out of phase... watching the Valeo starter instead of the flywheel inspection hole Well, that's plausible... but no.

[raz]

OK, now made a decent test ride. I can tell you this made a difference to the better. No ringing noise. In fact no noise at all, just the (to me) normal chain sound that I've never heard before on this engine. Idling is rock stable, it's like a Toyota V6 I used to own (I really miss that one). After getting the oil up to some 95°C, I stopped and let it idle for several minutes (until dipstick thermometer passed 100°C). It never missed, never varied at all. If I wanted to I could probably set the idle to 600 rpm but people have told me it's not a good idea. Low yet steady idle is cool though

 

Strobed it too, but there wasn't really much to look at, since it never missed or made any variation in speed.

[docc]

Raz,

 

Congratulations!

 

Ratchethack won't be far behind. Let's all hope he gets the same good result!

[raz]

Raz,

 

Congratulations!

 

Ratchethack won't be far behind. Let's all hope he gets the same good result!

 

Thanks. Feels great! And for once I over planned it instead of ending up bodging.

 

Yes, I will not urge everybody they should do this mod, but Ratch, you're next, no? A couple of times you have raised the question if the original tensioner can be modified. I guess it can, just change the spring to a harder one, but given the price of the Stucchi I'm not sure it's worth the trouble experimenting. It would be plenty of work between tries.

Also, the Stucchi/Valtech is a very proven design, isn't it? I think Pete said he has seen some broken springs, but I don't think a broken spring will do any harm unless it breaks in three parts. And that would be pretty wierd wouldn't it? The design assures good tension even with a broken spring.

[docc]

Raz, I looked back through the thread but couldn't find which new tensioner you installed. Valtec or Stucchi?

 

Also, again, how many miles on your Sport?

[raz]

Raz, I looked back through the thread but couldn't find which new tensioner you installed. Valtec or Stucchi?

 

Also, again, how many miles on your Sport?

It's a Stucchi. It cost me €15 (US$ 20) and that places it way way above everything I ever bought to my bike in terms of bang for the bucks. Where I live it equals the price of half a tank of gas.

Clock says 46,700 kms (some 30,000 miles) but I only owned it since 35,000 kms so who knows? Might be 146,700 for what I know. Or some PO might have used olive oil in the engine, or sewers water. I'm starting to trust it now I've been inside everything but the gearbox. I can tell someone has been there though, lots of grey liquid seal all over the covers.

[mark.gilmore]

OK, now made a decent test ride. I can tell you this made a difference to the better. No ringing noise. In fact no noise at all, just the (to me) normal chain sound that I've never heard before on this engine. Idling is rock stable, it's like a Toyota V6 I used to own (I really miss that one). After getting the oil up to some 95°C, I stopped and let it idle for several minutes (until dipstick thermometer passed 100°C). It never missed, never varied at all. If I wanted to I could probably set the idle to 600 rpm but people have told me it's not a good idea. Low yet steady idle is cool though

 

Strobed it too, but there wasn't really much to look at, since it never missed or made any variation in speed.

 

 

 

Good stuff Raz, I'll be keeping an eye on mine.

[pete roper]

FWIW I think that the 'Stucchi' and 'Valtech' tensioners are one and the same. I think its simply who and where you buy them from that determines their name .

 

Personally I like the blade type in prefference to the new Guzzi type but replacing it isn't something I'd do just on principle as I would with the early 'Rubber Foot' type which really were excrementally bad.

 

Incidentally Nick Barton had a set of straight cut steel gears made up in China. He gave 'em to Mark Etheridge who then flick passed them on to me and I in turn soft-coqued it and flick passed 'em to Doug Foskey up in Kempsey for him to try out in one of his numerous bizarro projects, (He does barmy stuff like fuel injecting T3's ). I didn't use 'em for several reasons. The main one was that I didn't actually have an engine lying about that I could build 'em in to. Secondly I reckoned that being straight cut they would be so deafeningly loud they'd be unpleasant to ride with and thirdly as I've said many times before for a road bike I think gears are un-neccessary. I'll try and get in contact with El Fosko and see if he's done anything with them. Strikes me though that if the previous poster who had some straight cut gears made also stated they were obnoxiously loud they would probably be insufferable for that reason alone. Sorry to whoever it was who posted up the pics and the info, I can't find the thread so I can't give you credit, my apologies.

 

While I don't think that it has been comprehensively established that making sure the chain can't lash about to the degree it can with the factory tensioner will neccessarily cure stumbling and hiccups on its own it certainly can't do any harm. As Raz found, if the bike has previously been worked on by dimwittus moronicus who can't even recognise an abnormal thread pitch it's going to be well worth going in there just to put ones mind at rest. I mean??????? How could ANYBODY do something like that???? It beggars belief!

 

Pete

[mike wilson]

When I got my 850T, it was running a little oddly. Investigating, I found that, on each carb, one of the cap screws had been sheared in the head and was held in place with gorilla snot.

 

Thus began my disenchantment with dealers........

[motoguzznix]

OK, now made a decent test ride. I can tell you this made a difference to the better. No ringing noise. In fact no noise at all, just the (to me) normal chain sound that I've never heard before on this engine. Idling is rock stable, it's like a Toyota V6 I used to own (I really miss that one). After getting the oil up to some 95°C, I stopped and let it idle for several minutes (until dipstick thermometer passed 100°C). It never missed, never varied at all. If I wanted to I could probably set the idle to 600 rpm but people have told me it's not a good idea. Low yet steady idle is cool though

 

Strobed it too, but there wasn't really much to look at, since it never missed or made any variation in speed.

Raz

 

You did the same swap like I did two years ago and had the same resuts. I did not strobe mine but the idle is perfect since then.

 

The "chain sound" you noticed is typical for the stucchi tensioner and will decrease with increasing mileage, maybe disappear.

 

I would also have changed the chain at that mileage as it it not too expansive. I recommend this to Ratchet.

[Guest ratchethack]

Ernst, thanks for the reminder. The only reason I haven't ordered one yet is that I can't seem to find a hole in the calendar big enough to get it installed in one go. In the interest of max up-time, I try to do things in one shot. Should just order it anyway. Greg, hope you're there in the next 2 minutes. . .

 

I've begun to get the idea that my tensioner is having some kind of rapid failure lately. It seems to be getting progressively worse of late, or maybe it's just wot happens when the tensioner goes bad at the same time the Summer temp's go up?!?! It's 100F here today.

 

Still runs beautifully above 3K and/or under load. . . as always. . .

 

Will provide results on the strobe soon's I get the proverbial ROUND TUIT.

 

EDIT: Thanks to Greg, Dave, Tony, and the rest o' the crew at Moto International for stocking ALL of the stuff on my list (short list, but a couple fairly obscure items!)

[callison]

Uh... how do I get the strobe light out of phase?

 

 

Well, duhh, you look at it backwards. Everyone knows that...

 

Seriously though, since this worked for you and I have a Valtek tensioner hiding in a box in my shed, I'll have to get my act in gear and do the same thing to my Sporti. It's been sitting since it hit 58,000 miles nearly 5 years ago. My V11 Sport is going to my son next week which will open up some garage space (finally) and I'll be able to work on the Sporti.

 

There is one other possibility to keep in mind although I've only heard of one instance where a repair was done for it and that is air leakage past worn seals on the Throttle Body shafts. There is a direct replacement seal available through Yamaha dealers but I don't have the number at hand right at the moment. I do have several sets of the seals though. Just in case you know...

[raz]

I've begun to get the idea that my tensioner is having some kind of rapid failure lately. It seems to be getting progressively worse of late, or maybe it's just wot happens when the tensioner goes bad at the same time the Summer temp's go up?!?!

FWIW, last week I had a closer look at the original tensioner and the spring seemed deformed or even broken. Yet it did what it should (only too little of it). When I played with it a bit, the spring got completely deformed. I did stress it "the wrong way" but it was too easy. I'm not sure what all this means but maybe it's not the best quality spring.

 

My Stucchi has now been in service for some 2300 kms and everything is still great. I don't think of it much.

[Slavomir Musilek (R.I.P.)]

Simply great topic!

 

I on the same place Raz had been two yrs ago. Raz, any news about the stucchi tensioner? On Stein Dinse, the set of new chain, stucchi tensioner and gaskets stays for some 42E...

 

Slavek!