The day the tensioner died ( lucky way)

[speedlimit85]

Was chain adjusting tightening with the little torque when the bolt went slack and would not get tight.

Lucky time to fail with the bike on center stand and motor turned to the C-mark. Plus I already have v-max ACT with bolts and gasket.

I put it on, turned the motor by hand then started. I guess I'm part of the modification club now.

[DiverRay]

And you know why we are all going that way! The adjuster is one of the few "oops" things Yamaha did.

[cajun31]

Was chain adjusting tightening with the little torque when the bolt went slack and would not get tight.

Lucky time to fail with the bike on center stand and motor turned to the C-mark. Plus I already have v-max ACT with bolts and gasket.

I put it on, turned the motor by hand then started. I guess I'm part of the modification club now.

Took me a long time to make this change on all of mine. I finally decided it was much easier to go this route rather then having to remember to mess with the Oem all the time. I don't put many miles on these bikes so I am not worried about premature cam chain failure. The big debate when this mod was first introduced was about how much more tension the Auto tensioners put on the chain versus the oem. If I was a high miler I might have thought twice but being that these bike of mine don't get ridden that much that was a non factor for me. One of our members actually modified the auto tensioner to limit the tensioner travel to not exceed that of the OEM. The Vmax do travel a slight bit further when fully extended.

[bikerphil]

FWIW, I have an engine with the original cam chain and the ACCT installed. It has over 150K on it, no issues yet, maybe a little power drop due to stretching.

[RanMan]

I'm about to install the V-Max tensioner on my XS1100SG. I'm a bit concerned about the increased pressure that the V-Max part has. Just wondering if anyone has experimented with trimming the spring slightly to relieve some of the pressure. Any thoughts? Thanks

[oldyam80sg]

I installed a tensioner froma Venture/ Ventura? I got on E bay.

[RanMan]

oldyam80sg Do you know if the tension is different from the V-Max?

[cajun31]

oldyam80sg Do you know if the tension is different from the V-Max?

Automatic Cam Chain Tensioners - XS11.club Forums The Vmax and the Venturer have about the same tension. I went with the vmax tensioners because the bolt holes line up, whereas the venturer may need to be slightly filed to make them fit. On either you need to use your original bolts to mount our the ones that come with these tensioners needs to be cut down. Moving between the .com site versus .club it is a bit more difficult to search for old threads that still have viable pictures. I can't remember which member actually modified the vmax tensioner to make the travel the same distance as the oem tensioner. Overall this is one of the best mods you can do to your bike. Just make sure you follow the recommended sequence when installing it.

[RanMan]

cajun31 thank you! Excellent info. I'll be sifting through this before I do the installation. I plan to omit the gasket and use Right Stuff since it works great for so many applications. I thought about using Yamabond but I know that RS has proven itself. Looks like I will be chasing down another tensioner from a Vision. I just don't feel really good about the spring strength of the V-Max tensioner. Thanks again

[DEEBS11]

https://xs1100.com.au/forum/index.php?topic=105.0

[DEEBS11]

https://xs11.club/forum/modification...-tensioner-mod

[DEEBS11]

Cutting a spring will make it stiffer. Not really what you want.

[motoman]

A self adjuster's spring tension is irrelavent to its function. The self adjuster has a notched index that opposing piece drops into when adjuster takes up any slack from spring tension in adjuster. Simple and bullet proof as far as self-adjusters function.

[oldyam80sg]

Just checked my E bay purchases last year-It was from a 1990 V Max.

[speedlimit85]

I think it's leaking. Could it be the copper washer?

From an '86 vmax...anyone know the size of the washer under the big bolt? 19 mm socket Could the oil return washers be the same?

Or what else it could be? It's not but a drop, but it should be dry.