auto or manual ?

[mwross1964]

Hi guys ,my bike is in the garage getting fixed,not took long huh!! (wombles sake,let down so many times up till now).When it comes back (I hope) I am still unsure about leaving the auto cam chain tensioners or changing to manual ones (more money).
I get mixed stories from all I have spoke too,mechanics included,some say change some say keep them,so I am no further forward,the bike has done 18k.How many of you still with firestorms of course, still have the automatic ones?any advice would help.

Mark.
p.s does my avatar of my bike show up in my posts?

[Seeker 77]

No avatar mate, i would stick with a manual gearbox to be honest, auto boxes just don't work as well on bikes..........















Only joking. A new auto cham chain adjuster will give you peace of mind without checking every 5 minutes. Is that what fooked it last time?

[mwross1964]

avatar at last.....
keep the replies coming,I will go on the majority advice,nothing like experience.

[bikerpiker]

Hi mate , i modified the original cct's on mine by fitting the wee stoppers,theres plenty info if you do a forum search, loads of us have done the modification.....by doing this the auto cct can work as intended,ie spring tensioned , but if the cct spring was to break,then no damage can occur cos of the stopper

Then again loads have fitted manual cct's (Ape's)and swear by them, fit and forget ,bar the odd adjustment

Or fit new standard auto cct's ,but treat as a service item and change them every 6k miles or so, just as a precaution .

It's your choice

[Beamish]

Avatar looks good mate +1 on what Bikerpiker has said. Cheapest is the bolt fix. I wouldnt rely on a new CCT lasting a full service interval to be honest as mine went in 3000miles. Do the bolt fix and then forget about the problem. Is there any forum members close enough to give you some hands on help?

[mwross1964]

ok the stopper thing, who wants to help and get paid for it?

Mark.

[bikerpiker]

Avatar looks good mate +1 on what Bikerpiker has said. Cheapest is the bolt fix. I wouldnt rely on a new CCT lasting a full service interval to be honest as mine went in 3000miles. Do the bolt fix and then forget about the problem. Is there any forum members close enough to give you some hands on help?

I forgot about that mod , ... the bolt up the jacksie of the original auto cct ,which coverts it to manual ,yup ,thats another option .

Maybe i was lucky things went ok when i modded mine with the stopper, as it went tits up for a lot of people with more mechanical knowledge than me .

Probably the failsafe option is get them to fit manual cct's if it's in the garage anyway,...buy them here ---- http://www.debben.co.uk/acatalog/VTR1000.html .

Collywog was taking orders for auto ccts which had been modified to manual a while back.... http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 9&start=90

[WireWalker]

Honda auto tensioners have never been great. On the whole though if you changed your oil regularly and serviced the tensioner every now and then it did the trick fairly fuss free. The obvious advantage on a four was that you usually had a bit of a rattle for a while before anything bad happened but I could see the VTR torque getting it into a "Slap of no return" kind of situation as I've seen described and it would most likely end in tears.

I hadn't given much thought to the manual vs auto question though I did ask the previous owner his opinion. He pointed out that they had the pink dot which, according to legend, is the newer fixed one so I thought I may inspect them and then let them get on with it but now you're all making me scared

Since bikerpiker has been good enough to provide a URL that would let me buy them without involving customs and a worrying wait I am thinking I may do this if it provides proper peace of mind. TBH I don't fancy the thought of the VTR engine letting loose chunks of itself down the barrels at high speed! I'm getting scared again!

[Jim67]

Fit and forget !!!! Manual manual manual!!!! I was like so many on here, when riding you think it sounds a bit different and then you start getting paranoid about the ccts!!!!
The manuals once in place are a bit touchy feely to set up but they are easy and when done just forget them for 8 thousand miles or check every year and maybe a slight adjustment.
Best money I spent on the Storm.

Jim.

[sirch345]

It must be your decision, after all it is your bike

I (and Delmeekc) came up with the metal bar (or stop as some call them) idea so the original CCT's can operate as Mr Honda intended, as Stevie (Bikerpiker) has already mentioned. So that's what I have fitted on my bike.

Chris.

[goody]

I'm got the same dilema at the moment, just got my storm the current cct's have done 16K and are five years old. For peace of mind I've fitted the stoppers as described above. My original thought was to fit manuals but this is my dilema, when cold the engine sounds perfect after about five minutes the front camchain starts to rattle, intermittently, below 3K revs more noticeable on the overun. I'm guessing that the cct spring is not strong enough (and after the 16K and it's age it's bound to be past its best) to take up the slack as the engine warms up. If I fit manual tensioners then they wouldn't take up any slack as the engine warms up. But do they need to? How quiet is an engine when fitted with manual tensioners?
I have found someone who will make a pair of manual tensioners for £50 they look quite good for the money.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Suzuki-DRZ-400-Ho ... 7C294%3A50
its either this or new tensioners set them up then put the rods in them.

[Jim67]

[quote="goody"] How quiet is an engine when fitted with manual tensioners?

quote]

Its a good question, I would like to hear one with oe ccts against my manuals.

Jim.

[tattie]

I had the original cct's done on mine three years ago they had (pink) dots and my bike is a 1997 model so the dot theory is right out the window.

I have stopped listening for rattles and unusual noises, if it is going to happen it will probably will and some of the new fitted ones have not lasted that long either. Then again you could fit manual ones and make a mess of adjusting them and snap a cam chain. Just an opinion.


Cheers

A.M.