I realize this topic may already have been discussed to death but here goes.

My trusty (and stored for the pseudo-winter) VTR now has 75,000 km on it (that's about 45,000 miles for the metrically challenged) and is used for spirited sport-touring (no track days or real aggressive riding; too many "blue meanies" on the road for the latter). To date I have not had any problems with the original CCT's. However, I hope to keep my streak alive and believe in being proactive to ward off any potential disaster. So, this brings me to the possibility of replacing the CCT's shortly as I am due for a valve adjustment anyhow. I am, therefore, looking at the possibility of either going either with new OEM ones again (as I already have a spare that I keep on the bike) or the APE mechanical units. I realize that the APE's will dispense once and for all with the threat of failure that is ever-present with Honda's finest and so am leaning in that direction. My question then should I choose the APE's:

How do you know when and by how much to adjust them?

I am a bit concerned of either overtightening it (excessive chain wear, hard on bearings) or keeping it too loose (chain slap, possibility of it skipping). The only similar application I can think of and that I am familiar with would be the chain used to transfer power in the chaincase of a snowmobile (tighten finger tight, then back off ever so slightly and lock in place).

Any help/insight you (APE users especially) could provide would be greatly appreciated.

cheers
Mikstr

 

so...no one here runs APE tensioners (which I know to be false) or no one here ever adjusts them?

Interesting....

 

There have been a bunch of posts related to this, have you searched the archives?

 

There's a whole write up in the "Knowledge Base" on this.

 

thanks for the replies. BTW, I just checked the KB and there was nothing to do with these (unless it is buried deep within another subject). Anyhow, I will search the archives for more info

cheers
Mikstr

 

I have APEs on my bike and I only adjusted them once since I put them on (6k miles). The thing is, I put them on myself and didn't adjust them well enough, until I had my buddy inspect them 6 k miles later and he said that only the rear one needed adjustment as it was a little loose. Adjustment is as follows. You need to leave the bike running and you go ahead and tighten the tensioner up until you notice a drop in the rpms, that's when you are putting excessive tension on the cam chain. At that point you go ahead and back it up 1 full turn out and that's it. Mine needed like a half of turn of adjustment and he did it in 2 minutes. I haven't had any problem with them. I recommend them to everyone. The guys at APE have great on the phone support and you can pretty much call them and ask how you can tighten them and they will walk you thru the procedure. I have my original CCTs that I took out and they are still in good condition, never had a problem with them. They have 16k miles on them and if you want them they are 10$ each plus shipping. I replaced them because I couldn't pass up the APE deal that I got.

 

https://www.superhawkforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2038