Automatic cam chain tensioner

[natemoen]

The vision 550 tensioners......i see them on ebay from time to time...cheap. is there a difference from the 'rear' and 'front' ???

Are they 'plug and play' ??? or is there a trick to mounting them?

Steps??

don't think there is a difference between the two. It will go in the cct hole either way but the hole nearly line up one way and are significantly off the other way. You can tell which hole needs the little not of filing. I think it was the lower hole I filed but don't remember for sure, I do remember that I had to file in towards the cct body.

[James England]

Actually, looking at:

http://www.cmsnl.com/yamaha-xs1100e-...list/A-11.html and comparing it to:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350403772905&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

there's quite a difference between the end of the plunger on the standard XS1100 and the plunger from a VMax. The rubber block at the end of the standard plunger means that the force of the 'push' is dissipated over the entire width of the cam chain tensioner blade but it seems to me that the Vmax one is nowhere near as wide at the point of contact with the blade. Could this damage the blade or cause it to wear? I'm sure the blade will get a bit of hammer from the chain whizzing round all the time. Or am I missing something or getting it wrong here?

[dbeardslee]

Ivan has a venturer tensioner installed that also has a plain steel plunger. He actually took the motor apart after 4k miles or so, and inspected the cam chain guide. There was a little bit of rubbing on it, but nothing that could remotely be called damage. I don't know about the VMax tensioners, but from the pictures it looks an awful lot like the venturer variety.

[natemoen]

I don't think the actual contact patch would really be all different size wise. Maybe 1/8 inch square total (just a rough guess from seeing them). Cause as the chain wares the plunger is going to be touching the blade slightly differently as it basically rolls across the face of the plunger.

[dbeardslee]

I wouldn't worry about a little metal-on-chain-guide contact. For starters there's two parts to the chain guide on the tensioner side that provides a little buffer between the guide and the plunger. And if you think about it, the other side of the guide has constant metal contact - the chain rubs on it all the time, and at significantly higher speeds than the plunger is ever going to generate. Probably why it's made out of teflon.

[natemoen]

I wouldn\'t worry about a little metal-on-chain-guide contact. For starters there\'s two parts to the chain guide on the tensioner side that provides a little buffer between the guide and the plunger. And if you think about it, the other side of the guide has constant metal contact - the chain rubs on it all the time, and at significantly higher speeds than the plunger is ever going to generate. Probably why it\'s made out of teflon.

Exactly. This is one of those things that seems to get over analized every time it comes up.

[yamahansolo]

The vmax and venturer have the same part number. No diffrence what so ever. Also looking at the vmax guides and venturer they look the same as the xs. So if it was such a big deal then all the maxes would have problems.

[mharrington]

I got his for $9 shipped to my door. I bought it cuz it was cheap. Its off a 1986 FJ1100. I compared it to a stock spare I have and the plunger fully extended is the same as an XS unit. Looks like it would just bolt in. Id rather wait and hear that someone else had success with this unit.

[dbeardslee]

I had an FJ1100 tensioner on mine for a while. It goes in deeper than the stock unit, and the plunger won't hit the chain guide squarely. It puts a lot of tension on the chain, the holes don't line up and need to be modified to mount it, and I could never get the one I've got to quit leaking. I s-canned it and went with a venture tensioner.

[James England]

I had an FJ1100 tensioner on mine for a while. It puts a lot of tension on the chain, .

This is what concerns me re the automatic tensioner idea, desirable as it would be to have a self-adjusting chain. I think I'll buy a VMax assembly and compare the pressure that the plungers push at. If there's a significant difference between the pressure which both apply, I'll be sticking with the OEM tensioner. I'd have thought that increased pressure on the tensioner would be detrimental to the chain.

Hopefully, both OEM and Vmax will push at similar pressures?

[yamahansolo]

They do. I have them both and I had them off the bike playing with them. The vmax one in a little longer. And yes it doesn't have the rubber but that doesn't mattter. Look how much trq and hp the vmax has it doesn't wear cam chains any quicker I am sure. its not like the cam is rolling around on the tensioner itself. Also I had taken the oem one off several times to fix the leak. It always weaped just a tad. The vmax one does not.

[davidsymons53]

I have a line on two venture cam chain tensioners for $25.00 USD each plus shipping. it is a package deal.

Does any want one of these for $25.00 plus shipping?

David

[mharrington]

I had an FJ1100 tensioner on mine for a while. It goes in deeper than the stock unit, and the plunger won't hit the chain guide squarely. It puts a lot of tension on the chain, the holes don't line up and need to be modified to mount it, and I could never get the one I've got to quit leaking. I s-canned it and went with a venture tensioner.

Thanks for the input!!! A cycle salvage yard in here MI gets $50 for a Max/Venture cam chain tensioner. I may spring for one at that price sometime this winter if the money is just taking up space in my checking account.

[davidsymons53]

I have a line on two venture cam chain tensioners for $25.00 USD each plus shipping. it is a package deal.

Does any want one of these for $25.00 plus shipping?

David

Venture cam chain tensioner sold to a fellow xsive.

[dbeardslee]

I think I'll buy a VMax assembly and compare the pressure that the plungers push at.

The place to check is between the cam sprockets - supposed to be 1/4" of slack there with the chain properly tensioned. I can tell by the engine noise that the venture tensioner (hereafter referred to as VT) is somewhat looser than the FJ. Ivan had already checked the VT variety between the sprockets and found it to be adequate, so I didn't see a need to pull the valve cover to repeat the check - I just bolted it on. Next time I adjust the valves I plan on measuring the slack, but it's been on there for a couple thousand miles with no problems, so I'm sure it's fine.