My cct on the front cylinder decided to call it quits .. and I took the valve covers off here is what i found- the chain came off the exhaust cam stayed on the intake cam .. the exhaust valve was not in the open position and i was wondering about the posibilities of having a bent valve?

Also ... Is it easier to pull the whole motor to check and R/R the CTTs and pull the valve and piston top to check make sure they are not pooched

Can I order the APE CCTs online somewhere.. or should i go to my honda dealer and special order them

Thanks in advance

 

Check the valve clearances, if they're well out of whack, it's bent.

Depending on how quickly you shut off the motor, and how many miles it's done, you're better off replacing the cam chain. Get one for a Varadero, as they're usually half price.

No need to pull the whole motor, you have to drop the oil cooler down (no need to disconnect flexi pipes) and it's easier if you remove the rads, though it's possible to do it with them in situ (I didn't, I removed them, as you have to drain the coolant to get the head off anyway)

You won't be able to get APE's from a Honda dealer I don't think. There's a few online sources been posted, and one lister who fabricates them himself ..

Cheers,

Paul.

 

Update.... Valves are not bent... pulled the head off . checked chain ,valves, piston top ,guides all is good... the only thing that is broken is the damn spring in the cct .....lucky I think!! Now just to put it all back together and order new ccts

Thanks for the advise paul

 

Go buy a lottery ticket. You are very fortunate!

 

Wow, nice one, every time i've heard that a CCT let go, it's done the valves. 2 if you're lucky, 4 if not. The valve clearance check trick is good, it would have meant you didn't need to pull the head, but better to be safe and tear the whole thing down to check it out.

Putting it back together is interesting. Check and double check the timing, as it's tricky getting your head around the revolutions betwen firing stokes between the front and back pot. I've posted a lot on this in the past, so check my past posts.

Cheers,

Paul.

 

What's the deal with failed cam chain tensioners?? I've heard about this problem but 10 years and 54,000 miles later still no problem.

Should I expect these to fail any time soon?

 

You cannot really know when it will fail. All you know is that it WILL fail at some point, and it will be very damn expensive to fix. My suggestion is to either two new factory ones, or buy some APE manual ones ASAP.

 

I'll take your advice. With as many miles as I have on this bike it's a good idea. A catastrophic failure is something I wouldn't want to happen of course (although it would provide the excuse to upgrade the top end with h.c. pistons).

I love this bike!

My '98 FireStorm: Yoshimura full system exhaust, Yoshimura Stage 1 cams,
Stage 1 Dyno-Jet kit, K&N air filter, EBC Street Racer clutch, Corbin seat.