If you have not replaced CCT- DO IT NOW!
 

Yea, I read all the topics. Looked at all the replies. Even replaced them. Knew all about the APE tensioners. But, did I do anything about it? No. Thought it would never happen to me.
Well tonight I joined the club. Had the front CCT go out on me.
Stopped at a light. It turned green so I went. I saw the next light half a block ahead turned red. Backed off throttle to slow. BAM! Paint can rattle. Two seconds max. Hit the kill switch and pull clutch in at the same time. Pull off into parking lot and made a call to come get me. No panic. I knew what happened. CCT failure. Got bike home and tore into it. Check timing. Install old CCT that I had replaced earlier. Installed it for a test. Fired it up. Runs now. I'm done for tonight. Will check compression and valves tomorrow.

So to all out there in SuperHawk Forum Land, if you have not replaced the shitty stock CCTs.............


WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WAITING FOR????????



So I will be ordering some APE tensioners first thing Monday morning. I highly recommend you do the same.

How many miles on your SHawk?

i dont kno what a CCT is, i never found on here where it actually says specifically

Yes, what year is your bike and how many miles?

CCT = Cam Chain Tensioner

You've got one for each cylinder. When they fail, the valves quit moving, and stuff breaks unless you're lucky.

Hey motojoe, thanks for the word on the cct's, just bought mine. Sorry to hear about your breakdown; maybe God saw your annoying/sacreligious avitar.

98' with 38K miles.

No compression. Tore it down. Bent valves(of course). Will order new valves(etc) and APEs tomorrow. I have a friend that can cut new valve seats so he will be paid a visit.
I get a good discount at the shop so this will not be too bad on the wallet, just my labor.
But my advice still stands: CHANGE YOUR CAM CHAIN TENSIONERS NOW!!!!!!!
You'll spend less time and money than I will on this project.

Replacing the CCTs was one of the first things I did when I bought the Hawk, but, at least according to Honda and some here on the forum, the problem doesn't really exist.
It makes me want to buy something other than Honda next time.

You've changed my priority list for this winter season. I will at least get my front CCT changed before spring. My '00 w/ 11,000 will not fall victim to this oversight by Honda Motor Company:confused:. Will the newer oem tensioner suffice, or should I really go APE shit and get the expensive ones?:cool:

APE's and stockers are basically the same price...

J.

That was my pathetic attempt at humor. Sorry, I crashed and burned:boom:

I would get the APE (or manual) tensioners over the stockers.

and it's always the front one...

When I tore mine down the front, failed, CCT was bone dry. The rear one oil came out when I undid the end bolt. Probably some corelation there. Anyway now I have to get my APEs ordered before all of you get them all.

When I bought my 98 it had 12k on the clock. I drove it to 16k but got to the point where the thought of failure was waking me up at night. I had poured over the posts in the archives and I got to the point I was afraid I would damage my best friend. The parts were on the shelf from APE. I had Calitoz rebuild instructions fully printed with pictures but was buried at work. I took the parts and the instructions to the mechanic that had originally ordered the parts for me and asked him if he could do the install. He did an excellent job and we solved some PO issues at the same time. For what he charged me the peace of mind was worth it. Well worth it.

It would be interesting to know if the failure of the front CCT is related to wheelies, since the front one is usually the failure and usually dry of lubricant.

It wasn't on mine. I think it's more of a case of oil routing than anything. Not the the CCT should require much oil, but I know what mine looked like when I took it apart. Plenty of oil on the rear and basically none on the front.

Kendrick, since you were the latest/previous victim - how long did it take you to get to the CCT's? Should a ham fisted mechanic with no stand like myself go for it? Biggest garage job I've done is replacing the valve cover gasket in my BMW 325i.

I recently recieved my APE cct but have not yet installed.
Had them on order and was awaiting arrival. Thought it would be safe to have one last ride before doing them. Sure enough , 5 minutes from home the front one let go. I knew what had happened and hit the kill switch pretty quick. Haven't checked to see the damage yet. Hoping for no damage. Can do the cct myself but any other work will mean an expensive trip to the bike shop.
Have to give credit to APE for their service. Ordered on Thursday and received by me on Monday. That includes shipping from USA to New Zealand. Also worked out $70.00 (NZ dollars) cheaper than the Honda item.

Everyone who posts CCT failure PLEASE post year and MILES!
 

this should be mandatory! we need to have some idea of MTBF!

Hey nuhawk, what/where is the calitoz mounting instructions? I am ready to do this job & could use any info

It's not too bad to get to the CCT's. Mine's worse because right now I've got the heads off too. For just the CCT's most of the time is spent pulling off the fairing and gas tank.

for those asking about skill level to perform this job yourself. IIMHO if you searched you'd find that there are as many disaster stories associated with the install and resultant bent valves, as failure with the stock CCT. Not saying not to do it, but do NOT take shortcuts; read the saved file on how to do it; ask for help before you hit the starter after doing the job. It is not that challenging but as the saying goes, it does not suffer fools gladly.

2nd sticky in knowledge base
 

Oh and I'd say it's worth the extra time to open up the covers and make sure that you are at TDC if this is an entirely new thing to you... It's not that much more work, but the chance of disaster goes down exponentially...

+1
 

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...310#post163310

perfect. Linearray took the time to put this together - its a huge time saver and should eliminate the trial and error disasters - please follow it.

darjm from the UK did, but it was the best that i'd found...

Ordered new valves, seals and gaskets from the Honda shop. Then got my CCTs and gaskets ordered from APE. Having the valve seats cleaned up now, so Friday I can start to put everything back together once the parts arrive. Should give me something to do this weekend.

If you have not ordered your APE tensioners yet, here is the link to APE:

www.aperaceparts.com

You will need to order the gaskets too.

Seek and ye shall find:

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...ad.php?t=11275

This is the sticky white paper that I was talking about. Good luck!