CC adjust trick,, what the

[yamtom]

Hi,

My son in law knows a mechanic with 22 yrs bike experience who, says,

Can adjust the cam chain by putting the xs on center stand, have your partner pull up on the rear wheel while its in gear, then adjust the adjuster for the cam chain. Supposedly is a trick to allow adjustment at any point in the power cycle, its not necessary to put the timing on C from what he says.

Any ideas on this one guys?????

[xswilly]

22 years experience working on a 30 year old bike
you do the math
pull the cover and align the marks
4 bolts to pull cover 5 minutes

30 minutes to pull the plugs and do a compression check to find out you just bent a bunch of valves

[Rickrod3]

I couldn't tell you if it would work But;

Hi,

My son in law knows a mechanic with 22 yrs bike experience who, says,

Can adjust the cam chain by putting the xs on center stand, have your partner pull up on the rear wheel while its in gear, then adjust the adjuster for the cam chain. Supposedly is a trick to allow adjustment at any point in the power cycle, its not necessary to put the timing on C from what he says.

Any ideas on this one guys?????

there does not seem to be an advantage to your son in laws method.
To me needing two people is negative.
Not to mention if you mess it up the damage it can cause; if not done properly

[DGXSER]

I'm not saying the method proposed is bad, just unknown. Adn in the time I have been on XS11, there have been some top notch long time Yamaha mechanics here that never mentioned that method. In fact, there is a tech tip to modify the method described in the manual to help owners make sure they do not mess things up like bending valves. So, I am skepticle your method is an improvement.

This I do know, it is truly four 5mm head size allen bolts to remove the cover and one 6mm head size allen bolt to use to turn the engine to the C mark. Including time to get the tools out, about ten minutes to set this up. I also know that over the two years almost I have been around XS11.com, I have seen more than a few folks come on with valves that got bent adjusting their cam chain. I'm not a huge risk taker.

[gareth]

I have floorboards/ heel-toe shifter on my SF, and it all has to come off to do a camchain adjustment. It's a pain to do the adjustment and set up the controls again. Last time I adjusted it, I noted how far down the cylinder #1 piston was on the compression stroke when the timing mark is at the "C".
Now I just put a measuring stick down the spark plug hole and adjust the position of the piston with the rear wheel, bike on centerstand. From memory its about 1 5/8" fromm the spark plug gasket, but if you are interested do a check yourself. I have a little stick that I keep in the same place as the factory dip-stick for the middle and rear drive oil level for just this task. Or you could just add another mark to the dipstick...

[dbeardslee]

If it's a problem, put an automatic cam chain adjuster on it and you won't have to mess with it again until it's time for a new cam chain. My $.02

[BigRed]

This sounds like exactly why I do my own work

It might work, but I certainly wouldn't spend 10 minutes waiting for friend to come over and risk my engine to save 3 minutes of removing my timing cover.

[yamtom]

re trix

Hi,

He claims it works, but I am doing mine by the service manual, its just not worth taking any chance.

[motoman]

Well put xswilly!........or install any XVZ model self adjuster. Have had one in for a couple weeks now and amazing how much smoother engine runs at any rpm range! Makes for a quicker carb sync too when the cams stay indexed closer to their correct timing! Added bonus, no more "wet spot"....

[Crazcnuk]

Basically all you are doing by aligning the marks is turning the engine backwards to put the slack at the front of the engine. The marks have nothing to do with anything by themsleves.

Now to pulling UP on the back wheel, while in gear, will rotate the engine FORWARD, thus pulling the slack AWAY from the CC.

While I have no doubt this will work on any of the bikes with the cc at the BACK of the cylinder head, in order for it to work on the XS, you would have to push DOWN on the back of the rear wheel.

You have to remind your mechanic that the XS engine rotates BACKWARDS to most inline 4s.

[jmnjrpa]

+1 on this

If it's a problem, put an automatic cam chain adjuster on it and you won't have to mess with it again until it's time for a new cam chain. My $.02

And while you swap out check your valve clearance. 2 for 1.

[jmnjrpa]

Hmmm

While I have no doubt this will work on any of the bikes with the cc at the BACK of the cylinder head, in order for it to work on the XS, you would have to push DOWN on the back of the rear wheel.

You have to remind your mechanic that the XS engine rotates BACKWARDS to most inline 4s.

Would that make any difference? Regardless I can't see using 2 men for a 1 man job.

[DGXSER]

With the engine in gear, which direction you rotate the wheel changes the direction you rotate the engine.

But I do not think it really is correct per the directions in the manual. It tells you to rotate the engine clockwise (from the left side view), same as it runs, three times around or so and stop when the C mark is aligned. Nothing ever says to turn the engine backwards. In fact, rotating backwards would cause the cam chain to be pulled tight on the side where the tensioner pushes in. Rotating clockwise as the engine runs pulls the chain tight on the "back" side of the engine (as it sits in the frame) putting the slack where you want it on the front side where the tensioner is between the crank and the cams. My only guess on the C mark is something to do with weight of the crank and rods making the crank want to rotate clockwise keeping the tension where you want it.

[Crazcnuk]

By 'backwards' I mean in relation to Honda, Suzuki, etc. You are turning it forwards per the XS.

With 2 people, you could adjust it in about 30 sec.

[DGXSER]

C'nuk, not to be argumentative, but pushing down on the back of the rear tire, would turn the engine backwards in relation to how it runs. When I ride down the road, the back of the rear wheel comes up. But I now understand your intent.

My concern is still this would not address the C mark, and admittedly I am not certain the reason it is so all important to be on the C mark. But it seems there would be a reason or they would not have put the extra mark on the timing plate just for setting the cam chain. JMO