Cam Chain Wear

[3Phase]

Scott: I can assure you my covers have been off plenty of times.

Roger that, Mack, I wasn't trying to cast aspirins on your headache! If you've been keeping an eye on the top end it's easier to tell when the dots are off and, like Greg said, make sure the chain guides aren't worn out.

Soccer Mike and I replaced the upper guide in his XJ because it was worn so flat it practically fell out of the head when we took off the valve cover to check the clearances. The lower guides looked okay when I looked down into the cam chain tunnel but there wasn't much that could be done about it right then anyway so we just gleeped the upper guide from a junk engine and buttoned everything back up.

[mack]

Crippled

I absolutely hate being older. I'd love to jump on my ride and shoot down to talk to you Scott over a couple beers and head north and see Crazy Steve. The difference twenty years makes. Very depressing. I have to plan out my days now so every hour my back gets a break. Can't just jump on and and pick a compass point and go anymore. Having family is part of it, having the lack of physical ability is something else.

[crazy steve]

Mack, I have the exact same problem. I had some back cutting done, and while the improvement was great (I was using a cane, and would have been in a wheelchair or walker soon without it), it ain't what it was....

I try my damnedest to get everything to waist level, as any bending does me in fast. I have about 20 'bend-overs' in me on any given day; exceed that or try to do more than I should, and it's 1-4 days before I'm worth anything again... Same thing goes for riding; I still like to do it, but anything beyond 4 hours in one day will lay me up for two. The color of these years ain't 'golden'...

[3Phase]

A Day In The Life

Getting old sucks but it mostly beats the alternative. My back and neck got blown out in four car chain collision at a stoplight back in '94; rear-ended by an Irishman on St. Patrick's Day. Really.

No, he wasn't drunk. He was on his way to get drunk going about 50 mph in a van and, "he didn't notice that the lights had changed." I'd spent months rebuilding and tuning the 340 in my '73 Duster and I got to drive it for about an hour before we both got totaled. Now my back locks up if I move wrong and 40,000 volts shoots out my arm and leg.

Aspirin and band-aids my friends. Just ride.

[motoman]

[ Now my back locks up if I move wrong and 40,000 volts shoots out my arm and leg.

Aspirin and band-aids my friends. Just ride. [/QUOTE]

And all this time I thought Columbo had MonsterGreenCoils

[crazy steve]

Aspirin and band-aids my friends. Just ride.

Aspirin don't cut the mustard.... I've had pain pills for after I'm stupid, but that means I spend the day watching half-movies (take a pill, start a movie, when I wake up another movie is on...etc), so it's better to just pay attention and not overdo it...

[3Phase]

I refuse to use pain killers except for short-term things like dental work but I know what you mean about overdoing it. That's why I go slowly and try to stick to motorcycle engines instead of small blocks or I wind up unable to move without making Fred Flintstone sound effects while I spider off the couch on my fingers and toes.

[skids]

The color of these years ain't 'golden'...

OK Steve, I guess that picture that used to be attaches to your posts was really that of Frank Zappa?

[crazy steve]

Nope, I can start getting my SS this year.... not sure if that's a good thing or not...

Yep, that was Frank....

[mack]

Frank

Saw Frank in Toronto in 71 I think, can't remember a lot from back then. Was pretty smokey in there. But what a great show. I never thought of him as a consumate guitarist but man could he play.

[jetmechmarty]

Oem cam chain

Assuming my cam chain is the one installed at the factory, does it have a master link, or is it of the continuous loop variety?

Does anyone here have a reason to believe an EK chain is better than DID, or vice versa?

[bikerphil]

IIRC, the genuine Yamaha chain is truly a one piece chain. The aftermarkets easily become a one piece after it is installed with a (230?) chain riveter. I remember someone saying the chains that Z1 sells appear to be a bit more heavy duty than the replacements like partsNmore sells. I have used DID with no problems, can't recall who I got it from. Order an extra master link when ordering a chain in case the first one gets botched, it's not that hard to ruin one.

[bikerphil]

Here's the thread I was thinking of...

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29209&highlight=cam+chain

[skids]

I installed an Enuma (sp?) cam chain and didn't get a lot of resulting adjustment room on the tensioner device. I was a bit depressing after all of that work!

[jetmechmarty]

Skids,

That's the EK chain Z1 Ent sells.

EK Chains (Enuma Chain Mfg. Co.) has been manufacturing high quality chains for over 60 years. Their manufacturing plant in Japan is an ISO 9001 certified facility and produces a large line-up of performance street and racing chains such as the MVXZ Quadra X-Ring series, the ZVX2 series and the new ZZZ "ultimate sportbike chain" which harnesses the power of modern 1400cc sportbikes.