ahnh666 - did your bike make the tick or slap with the stock tensioner ?

 

ahnh666 - did your bike make the tick/slap with your stock tensioner ?

Sorry if this posts twice - I thought I posted it but I dn't see it.

 

They don't all fail. I'm guessing something like 5 to 10% based on watching forums on the bike and problem over the past three+ years. So, its no surprise that ahnh666 and many others can report no problems.

Look on Krieger's site for failure pics and explanations. I don't recall hearing of any catastrophic failures. DO NOT force an adjustment. I rode mine for a good thousand clattering miles before getting the manual adjuster.

 

never had any issues with any "tick or slap"..it ran like a champ...

 

you can simply do a visual inspection of the oem automatic cam chain tensioner...just remove and look at the teeth...make sure it's not dull...you can pull the latch and use your hands to make sure each teeth is held firmly by the latch...before reinstalling it, make sure you reset it by pushing it all the way in...start the engine and it'll adjust automatically...

 

Okay, first off, think about it, would you tighten your drive chain up banjo string tight? Mechanically it is a recipe for future damage doing any of the stop-gap methods. You are jamming the tensioner in to tighten the chain, which in turn will pull down on the cams, which ride in a plain bearing machined surface in the head. You break that oil film long enough due to an overtightened chain and you start seizing up the cams. Heads are not cheap, a manual tensioner is. The short cuts may or may not quiet the engine down, but they do NOT take care of the true problem - the tensioner is slipping back and forth allowing about 1/4-1/2" of play in the cam chain, causing the rattle and causing the cam timing to vary along with whipping around and beating up the sliders.

So, you make your choice - slam a chunk of metal into the OEM body to snap it up - who knows how tight. Or you do a manual tensioner that allows you to adjust within a few thousandths of an inch of perfect and hold position until you do a valve adjustment (you have to loosen it to remove the cams).

The Kawasaki failure is not catastrophic - it won't damage things instantly - so you can still ride some. I would recommend you do the tensioner soon though, because you don't want to wear stuff out prematurely.

The kit is not too difficult to install and adjust. No engine disassembly required. Took me a half hour on my 09.

If you decide you're interested you can email me and let me know where you live to get a total cost including shipping.

 

A lot more common than you think.

My KLX650 had two go bad in less than 15,000 miles, the second one I ran too long and ruined the cam chains.

It is all a mechanical thing involving stacking of tolerances and how the chain seats in. If the pawl doesn't seat into the rack completely the chain ****** under decel can cause it to snap back. By the time you realize that there is a problem the pawl and teeth are damaged beyond repair.

Riders with Concours (same design) may put tens of thousands on before the problem occurs.

You and any others who have not had the notorious mid-range rattle should count yourselves as fortunate. If everything works right your chain will seat in where the tensioner locks in just right.

I never expected to have near as many people with any kind of bike to have the problem, but to date I've sold a couple thousand tensioners for a variety of Kawasakis for this exact problem. It happens and the best absolute cure is to go with a manual tensioner.

Oh and also if the problem is left too long it is possible to break the cam chain or have it jump, a few KLX300 riders have contacted me about this. One bought a 300 with a broken cam chain, then after doing all the fix, his kid eventually had it happen again. With the manual unit it won't happen again.

 

I just installed my manual tensioner this weekend. The included stickers are top-notch stuff.

 

Guys (and gals perhaps) - ahnh666 gave me some tips for the stock adjuster fix. I did it and it works !! But, I think it is too tight. I know it is just suppose to take up play and not tension, I think there is tension. The bike stalled twice on a test run and was hard to start warm.

Also, I think the guy who had the bike before me inserted the unit incorrectly - can someone confirm for me which side the adjuster pedal (for lack of a better term) is suppose to point to the right or left - it can fit either way but one way is upside down

 

if you were giving a good twist of the throttle before the stall or after, your carb might be flooded making it harder to start even when engine is warm...drain your carb and see if it starts right up...

you should only be pushing the start button and not twisting the throttle for normal start....if the carb is flooded, a little twist while pushing the start button can help fire it back to life sometimes, but something you shouldn't be doing on a regular basis...