I have heard more than a few tales of bent valves due to chain tensioner malfunction, so I'm not sure it's overblown. It may have something to do with how the engine is treated (e.g., some are more hamfisted downshifting than others), but I don't think it's imaginary; the tensioners DO break, with expensive consequences. The manual tensioner fix is a no brainer, in my opinion, because they won't fail.

Well yes there have been a few that have gone out. On the other hand I would also bet that more people have caused damage by trying to replace non-defective CCTs and messing the job up than have had actual CCT failure. Hell any noise the bike makes its......oooh I have to change my CCTs......
As for Hamfist the Destoryer, yep he can break anything.....
As I said eariler this is just my opinion so YMMV.

I'm certain you're correct about more people causing damage by botching the job than by the CCT's breaking. I also bet there's more than a few high rpm, non rev matching clutch dumpers around. I'm sure that stresses the shit out of the chains and tensioners.

i think the cct thing is really hit or miss,i have one friend that on a 600f3 had 2 tensioners fail in 30k miles.another friend with his very hard ridden 900rr has the original cct with 48k miles.but i figure why chance it.its a peice of mind thing for me.

Well it might be a piece of mind thing but how offten do you check them to make sure they are still set correctly? That is the problem with manual adjusters, you have to check them, which is a pain in the arse.
Then again if you don't ride a lot, I guess you could just let them go.
All I'm saying is the manual adjusters can have problems also and require a lot more matainence than the stockers.....

I haven't had to adjust mine in the two years that I have had them. I think Greg (Hawkrider) said the same thing. Truthfully, there's just not much maintenance to be done.

Well if you haven't adjusted them, how do you know if they are still where you set them? How loose do they have to get before you jump a tooth or two and there goes your motor? This really is one of those un-winable things and you will believe whatever you want to. Hell I haven't adjusted my CCTs in 10 yrs .....lol 'cuz they are stockers. My whole point is IMHO the CCT thing is just overblown, if you take the bike to the track then I could see it but for normal use it's just overkill but YMMV

'Cause I've checked them. They haven't changed.

Isn't that the same as adjusting them as you would have to go through the same steps to either check or adjust them??

Pretty much, but I have been in there for other things, so it makes sense to check them. It's really not a big deal to me either way, but it's nice to know that they don't really change or come out of adjustment.

Well my point ( along with being bored and post whoring....lol) is more to the guys who put the manuals in and then think they never have to do anything again. You really do need to check the manual adjusters on a regular basis.

APE Manual CCT Check/Adjust AFTER Install
 

Warm up bike, loosen locknut, turn adjuster out until chain rattles very audibly, turn in until rattle just smooths out & ALMOST fades away, hold & tighten lock nut. Done. Super easy on the rear, a fair bit more difficult due to limited access on the front but still overall a 5 minute job with no disassembly required. :popcorn:

Checked afterward with valve cover off and above method was right on.

Used to do similar thing adjusting valve lash on the old Honda 350 twins (circa 1968~1973 CB/CL/SL); whenever later unscrewed access caps & used feeler gauge they were perfect.

I know how to adjust them, I asked the question because 5280s responce was he never had to readjust them, just check them......
I strill like my adjustment method better, start bike, ride......

Overblown? I don't know. Potentially catastrophic failure from a part that should last well beyond the life of a bike is pretty shitty, if you ask me.

Is there paranoia? Yes
Have some people done more harm than good with trying to replace them when they didn't have any warning signs? Yes
Have bikes failed because of these parts? Yes

For me it seems like a pretty simple process. Listen for the intermittent sound from the top end, research the problem ad nauseum, replace with APEs or stockers depending on whether you want to have to check/adjust them or replace them again.

As far as adjustment on the APEs, I think if they ever get close to loose enough to jump teeth on the sprocket, there will be plenty of warning noise beforehand.

Overblown as in someoen hears their carb slides rattle and decide they have to change their CCTs. I'm only talking about what I've seen. Like I stated before I have 65k mile on a set with no issues. How many miles have you put on a SH? Yes, some have blown up and yes to some CCTs are like the holy grail but I personally don't think the problem is as out of control as it's made out to be. YMMV

Wouldn't yoube able to say the same thimg about automatic tensioners? At least any that I have lost (yes I have blown one up on a different bike) have also made quite a bit of noise before it went.

Yes, from my experience, definitely.

Maybe I wasn't clear, but I'm not advocating fixing something that ain't broke, I'm saying change them if and when they show signs of failing, and understand what you are doing.

22K now, installed APEs at 21K.

Wait, so you had plenty of warning noise on a different bike and it blew up? Sounds like you could have used a little paranoia ;)

What thread was this again?

Well as it was a bit over 20yrs ago I think I have come a little ways from those days.

Let me quizz you on warning signs.
What are the tell tail signs that the CCT's are about to fail?

I do have a bit of noise comeing from the engine, but I'm not completely sure it's CCT's.
I don't really ride my bike hard. It hardly ever sees redline.
Most of the time I rev it around 5 or 6 before I switch gears.

Occasionally I'm pulling wheelies over crests of hills around 7 or 8 thousand RPM.

I honestly think it sounds more like an exhaust leak.

The bike has only 35,000km on it.
Oil changed regular.

the tlr's had a problem breaking the steering heads more so when being wheelied a lot i love all v-twin sport bikes some are just more comfortable than others so you buy to your needs

Fuzzuki, you are probably just hearing the carb slides tapping away. Completely normal.

I doesn't sound too serious. You could be right.

I'll pull the air box lit and take a listen.

Thanks.

rob

Sorry I missed your post..... It hard to explain nosies over the net.....
but a CCT going is a loud rattle. I agree with Gerg that you a hearing the carb slides. Those bloody things are huge and hollow so they make a lot of nosie. :D