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Tensioner decided to start rattling 1150

Carter Turk

Carter Turk

Forum Sage
Charter Member
Probably should have listened to Ray to buy a manual cam chain tensioner.

The bike sounded extra noisy on start up on the 24th. Tried rotating the knob clockwise on the tensioner and the sound would go away. So what to do about it? I just had it apart recently to change the seals, ridden it about 350 miles and now it starts to rattle. Tried tightening the 10mm nut on the the knob, that didn't work.

Used the search function and reread Bwringers tutorial. Didn't find anything on how to cure the rattle. With the bike off, I turned the knob counter clockwise all the way and the return felt weak, so I thought maybe I didn't wind the spring enough, even though it worked for all those miles. I tried the outermost windings closest to the knob. I could not wind any more without binding so I tried the inner winding. Got another revolution there, but the tricky part was getting the end through the hole with carbs still on and not losing tension on the windings. It seemed to solve the rattling. I also loosened the lock pin 1/8 of a turn and retighten the lock nut, just in case the pin was binding on the plunger. All seems well now.
 
Sometimes if the threads on the adjuster rod has a lot of crud in them, the jam nut will turn the rod back in as you tighten it too. I always lay a rag down and rinse it well with carb spray when doing any adjustments.

The adjuster pin doesnt add any tension..it just keeps side to side slop to a very minimum as the tensioner road moves in and out and does its thing..
 
Sounds like you didn't wind the spring tight enough. Common mistake. I'd set the engine at 1-4 T and pull the tensioner back off, then make sure you add another turn of tension to the spring preload. Buying a new tensioner is a waste of money, and a manual tensioner is not necessary unless you are running the engine really hard (in which case, I'd definitely go manual).

Edit: reread the original post and it seems you solved the problem by winding the spring more. Not sure how you could do that properly with the tensioner on the engine though. At any rate, the cam chain shouldn't rattle under normal usage if the spring is properly tensioned.
 
Last edited:
Nessism said:
Sounds like you didn't wind the spring tight enough. Common mistake. I'd set the engine at 1-4 T and pull the tensioner back off, then make sure you add another turn of tension to the spring preload. Buying a new tensioner is a waste of money, and a manual tensioner is not necessary unless you are running the engine really hard (in which case, I'd definitely go manual).
Click to expand...

I figure Carter revs it a bit when he goes to the track
 
posplayr said:
I figure Carter revs it a bit when he goes to the track
Click to expand...

Looking forward to doing more track days, (10 so far on the kat) but now you have me worried. I used my wife's stock 1150 engine hard at the track with no issues. Mine too with no issues.

How does one go about setting tension on a manual one? Do you have to take the cam cover off and observe the slack?
 
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