CCT redo
 

I am new to the Superhawk Forum and new to Superhawks. Finding this Forum has helped to answer some questions and find sources for parts and accessories. So thanks to all the members it is a great information resource. I am an automotive tech now, it pays the bills, in the past I worked in a Kawasaki shop and built lot of performance engines. Have just gotten the motorcycle bug again and started with a VX 800 first, then found the 89 Superhawk for a good price. The first season with my SH has been a learning experience. Mostly good fun, but there were a few glitches, one with getting a clear title, patients and persistence solved that one and one with the CCT’s. Went to leave work and started the bike, it started and ran for maybe a minute and the top end sounded like a cam shaft broke. Shut it down, started it one more time just to be sure, same noise was there. Called my daughter and she brought the truck, once home took the front cam cover off and found the cam chain with excessive slack. The cams were in good shape, but were the timing was anybody’s guess. I took out the CCT and found why the cams and chain was loose. Took apart the tensioner and the torsional spring had failed. See first pic.

[IMG]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/torsional%20spring%201failure.jpg[/IMG]
The bike only has 22K miles and it seemed odd that a Honda would have a failure at such a low millage. The day before a friend had hit redline just sitting on the bike in neutral. The undampened high frequency vibration may have caused the torsional spring to weaken and ultimately fail. The failure looked like my garage door spring after it failed, so there was a fatigue failure of some sort. The tensoiner was the latest one with the red or pink dot on it. Pic two.



When installing the new tensioners found the back one had a white dot.
Does anyone know if the white dot is the original tensioner? Another question is how many have had a rear CCT fail, I’ll bet not near as many as the front.
Anyway after installing the two new tensioners, the bike is running great. I did take the front cams out to turn the engine over and did a leak down on it to be sure there weren’t any bent valves on the front cylinder.
A possible solution to this CCT problem could be a sleeve to prevent total release of chain tension upon torsional spring failure to prevent total release of the CCT. Pic three.



In order to install a sleeve on the CCT a measurement needs to be taken of the amount the CCT is extended in operation. To do this the CCT is retracted one quarter turn and the lock is inserted into the top of the CCT.
The CCT is then removed and the extension is measured, my engine ended up requiring a 7 tenths of an inch long sleeve. A 15/32 drill was used to get clearance for the 12mm shaft. Next the sleeve was cross drilled to align with the split pin holding the rubber foot. The shaft was then extended to the 7 tenths length, the pin removed, sleeve installed and CCT reassembled.



This is the completed assembly.

Welcome to the forum! Supposedly there was a redesign of the CCTs but I don't know if that was ever proven. I will probably change mine to the manuals once the ext warranty runs out next year.

Most people just put in the APE manual CCT's and then the problem is solved.

This is a cheap and interesting option. There have been other mods like replacing the cap screw with a longer ones that have a screwdriver blade filed into them to prevent the tensioner from turning. (basically making the auto CCT into a manual one) But this method still gives it some amount of auto adjustment.

However, those with the APE manual cct's have found that even a long time after installing them they don't require adjusting, so I am not sure this is needed, but it should be cheaper and a good option for those with the skills - tools to do it.

Thanks for the Welcome,
Even though both the CCT's are new I couldn't not put the sleeve in, saw the posts about the longer screws in the top but couldn't see how they would do anything given the design of the CCT.
The red dot appears to be the latest version and it was the one that failed, but there is no oil bath in the front CCT and the spring is exposed to the undampened vibration of the engine. Guess time will tell.
Set the TPS to 480 ohms tonight and took it for a ride, made a surprising difference in the engine. It pulls strong from the bottom on up without a feeling of lugging in the higher gears.
This bike just keeps getting better.