This isn't the first time I've posted this procedure in an effort to help my fellow riders save some money and aggravation. Read what a couple of riders who did it had to say....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rundog 
Before you spend any money, try this -
ENGINE COLD!
1) Bump your starter a couple of times without starting the motor, just a short bump.
2 Loosen the two bolts at the top and the bottom of the cam chain tensioner from a quarter of a turn to a third of a turn. Do not go further or else you will have to remove and reset the tensioner.
3) Lightly tap on the bolt in the center a wrench or hammer
4) Retighten the two end bolts.
Start your motor. The noise should be completely and immediately gone.
I've done this on a '85 Ninja, a '90 ZX11, and two ZX12s. Simple and effective........
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I've done the same thing on a couple of ZRX1200R. The adjuster gets right at the end of the next notch, the little tap is all it takes to seat it. Dang cam chain sounded like is was coming out of the case.
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Man....after further reading on these things....why does everyone make it sound like everything on these bikes is under engineered? Do a little research on the part, and everyone says they break all the time, or fall short on adjusting, or OEM are junk and go bad....then others say manual are a PITA and are easily done wrong.....
If all these parts on these bikes are so under engineered, why did Kawasaki use them in a production bike? I would think these breaking could pose a safety issue to the rider when the motor locks up from it popping...
It cracks me up to read stuff like this. Tires, I'm sure preference is one thing, but they made the 200 series for the 12R, for a good reason, and even advise against using a different tire, but folks like to use smaller tires....cool, but I see stuff all over the web saying the 200 is junk and this and that....too funny.
Or the whole swing arm debate. These bikes were made to go like a bat outta hell in a straight line, and still kinda handle some twisties, yet folks like to change them out with other swing arms....very odd...another preference, but I see the same...about how junky they are...
I just find it so odd how internet experts always proclaim that all these things that were engineered by brains much bigger than most of ours and many more of them, are sub-standard. I find this bike handles quite well considering it's size, with the stock forks, swing arm, ride height and everything.
From what I read, it's most likely the tensioner is like rundog said, just in between clicks, but when you read up on these things, all you get is how junky OEM parts are....Yeah, if you race the bike on the reg, I can see modifying the bike, but for street use, I would think this missile is well designed to dispatch most things with ease.
Kawasaki didn't just slap these things together. They put time and engineering into them, otherwise they'd be like $500 a pop. I use all OEM parts, and leave the bike stock length, height, and all that jazz, cause they made it awesome just the way it is. It's all fine and good to bolt on stuff for increases, but to boldly state that OEM parts are no good, well, is just silly.
Rant over.
I don't think I'll be getting a manual tensioner for it. I happen to think the stock parts are more than enough to handle the job they do. I'm sure, like in anything else, there are a few exceptions to the rule, like Monday and Friday bikes....where you get parts that fail. But out of however many are made, to find them 10 or so "experts" with their failures proclaiming that they are all junk...man...that's just makes the jelly belly jiggle a wee bit.
I think I will do the "rundog" and test it out. If the noise goes away, I'll be good, no wasted money, and off to the road once again. In all the bikes I've ridden, I've only had 1 bad tensioner, and in reality, I bought the bike with it that way. And in reality, it was seized up from oxidization...from sitting out in the elements for 6 years.
For those who modify, keep on keeping on...I like my baby just the way she is....
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Just wanted to say...good call rundog...that lil fixaroo took care of the problem toot sweet.
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