Busted Cam chain blown valves into cylinder...

[Malordus]

Greetings, one and all.

I am a man with a broken heart. I received a phone call from the lovely chap who was looking to repair the cam chain tensioner on my dearest old girl, when he discovered that the unthinkable had happened...the chain had broke and had subsequently wreaked utter havoc within the housing, smashing the valves into the cylinder. He went no further, so there could be more damage i.e. to the piston itself, etc etc.

So I now have a dead 'storm. Despite being heartbroken, I am keeping her and will fix it bit by bit. Cosst is something I will have to ignore: He has already told me the bill would be enormous. So on to the advice bits!

1. I could replace and repair what is there. I havent had her back yet so don't know just how bad it is, but do you guys have any tips or suggestions whilst it is in pieces? (so to speak).

2. I have looked at the alternative of replacing the whole engine - I am seeing 'storm units for around £500, and, interestingly, SP-1 units for £600 or so. As she is effectively a project bike now, what would I be looking at sorting out if I were to slot an SP-1 unit in there? Work on the chassis? Modding the swingarm? I'd have thought the shocks will deffo need replacing to cope with the extra oomph.

3. As mentioned above, I am going to now treat her as a project, and am thinking about going for squeezing out a bit of extra poke (if I dont do the above, of course). Any suggestions?

Feel free to think of it as a 'community project', if you like. Any mods/changes etc you think would help, look cool or whatever, do feel free to post.

Of course, the main considerations will initially go on the smashed valves issue, so if you have any advice on where best to pick up replacements and/or work I could do to improve her whilst she is in bits...you know what to do!!

Thank you in advance.

P.S. I am a novice (generous...) tinkerer and will of course be getting help from a mate who rebuild bikes regularly, so no suggestion is effectively beyond my 'extended' abilities, as it were. Be as wild as you like.

[lloydie]

its very unlikely that the cam chain broke .
where as the cam chain tensioner failing most likely .
food for thought
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAIR-OF-COMPL ... 2c6c5e9129
have you had a second opinion of whats gone wrong ?

and a sp1-2 engine wont fit .

your best and cheapest option would be replace the engine with a known working good one .

[Wicky]

Firstly double check with him that the cam chain has indeed 'snapped' as never heard of that happening . Normally what happens is valves bend upon contacting the piston tops when CCT fails and chain jumps causing the timing to slip - either replace valves and guides etc or find a front head on ebay and transplant that on. Or look for another engine on ebay and transplant the whole gubbins over.

Get manual CCTs fitted to prevent it ever occurring again. And get the R/R replaced if unfinned early pre 2001 with a later finned version or R1 mosfets.

Put an offer in on Loyddies linked heads - try £100 for what you need just the front one.

[Malordus]

Wicky - thanks mate. Regards the R/R - I replaced that bad boy beginning of Jan haha, as the origional had failed. I bought precisely the unit you described!
What he had said is that the chain had snapped, although he acknowledged the rarity of this event - my own research revealed much the same, although a few unfortunate sods have had it happen to them, with much the same results. I am getting the girl back in any event, so can certainly have a very good look myself and update the info accordingly. The very first thing he did was replace the CCT with a manual one, and advised I do the same for the rear, which I shall do. I'll definitely have a look-see on ebay and Lyddies once I know exactly what will need replacing - thank you very much indeed!

lluydiecbr - Bugger! But thanks for clearing that up for me...I shall settle with fettling with the motor I have, unless I do just pick up another unit and slot it in. As mentioned above, it was certainly the CCT (a somewhat common fault on the front cylinder, by all accounts), and his words were that the chain had gone and subsequently smashed the valves into the cylinder. Again, I will take it apart when I get her back, and can come back with pictures and clearer info. Thanks for your post sir, appreciated!

[macdee]

heres what you need

i was going to bid on this but you need it more than me

if you get it i would like your rear head
thanks

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281063538743? ... 1423.l2649

[Malordus]

heres what you need

i was going to bid on this but you need it more than me

if you get it i would like your rear head
thanks

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281063538743? ... 1423.l2649

Bloody hell! Bless you mate, but you crack on....my VTR was my only mode of transport so I've had to buy a little run-about - in other words, I am now utterly broke until pay-day. lol You go ahead and bid on it mate, I've now got plenty of time to ge the old girl running again.

[AMCQ46]

Sorry to hear that you have had to suffer the pain of the of a Cam Chain Tensioner failing. but it should be an easy fix

a whole engine for £300 to £400 is possible, or getting new cyl heads for about £100. Changing the engine is fairly easy

[Wicky]

his words were that the chain had gone

This is what you need to clarify with the mechanic - ' if the chain has gone ...and jumped off the sprockets or gone... completely kamakazi'

This happened to me (@ 35k before I joined this forum of wise nutters) at a steady and lowly 30 mph to be precise (I know cos concerned villagers were pointing speed radar were pointing at me). Mucho clattery clacking followed as the front head lobotomised itself, put back to normal with a head transplant and new manual CCTs and 55.000 miles and counting now. So its not all doom and gloom.

[VTRDark]

I would be very surprised if the cam chain itself has broke, that would take some serious doing. This sounds to me like a straight forward CCT failure with maybe a couple of bent valves. This is probably not as bad as you think ie new engine job. Either repair the damaged cylinder/replace valves or get a 2nd hand head to put on.

Some inks on cam chain tensioners for you.

You can either go for the stop mod http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 31&t=19416
Which is the Honda auto CCT's that are converted to a fail safe. So when it does fail, it don't send the valves crashing.

Or

You go for the full manual conversion, your options are here
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 16&t=22720

Then with regards to fitting View Topic
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=8326

(:-})

[chris vtr virgin]

Hi mate sorry to hear about your bike
There was a guy on gumtree edinburgh,
breaking a storm if your looking for an engine

[tony.mon]

Yep, very unlikely to be a snapped chain, unless maybe manual tensioners set way too tight...
Likely two bent inlet valves on the front pot, second most likely scenario is inlet and exhaust valves bent on the front pot.
Either way a fairly easy fix; you won't even need another head, luckily, just replacement valves and a head gasket.
Maybe a shim or two.

Go for it.

[Malordus]

Thank you all very much for the kind words and advice, very pleasing to see indeed.

I'll update once I've had a look at the head and asessed the damage - hopefully it is just a simple matter of swapping out the head and replacing the gasket! One way or another, the old girl will be back on the road once more

Until then, I will continue to enjoy a few in the comfort of my setee

[AMCQ46]

A few spares here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/honda-vtr-100 ... SS:GB:1123

[VTRDark]

Keep up slow coach.

(:-})

[AMCQ46]

I didn't bother to look at all the links earlier. I now see this is a repeat.... Or am i just going senile??

Need to find out what the milage was, as it could be worth 100 as spares.