VTR1000.ORG

hi guys my vtr broke down on me a couple of months ago and ive finally got it into the garage for repair the mechanic dave says the cam chain came loose and skipt a couple of teeth and damaged some valves he says its fixable but gona give me a price first so the question is how much would you reckon as a fair price for the repair and all the bits and bobs so i no i aint gona be ripped off thanks dan

not uncommon.
the front camchain tensioner spring has broke and the piston has hit a few valves, bent them.
hopefully that's all.
if you're lucky you will get away with head gasket, 2 exhaust valves, new coolant & oil, oil filter.
unless there is damage to the piston in which case it could be cheaper to swap the engine.

oh, and you will need to replace the camchain tensioner obviously - a guy on here is selling them - rider on a storm.
whereabouts are you? maybe a local owner can help you out.

hi im in walsall in the black country. the mechanic didnt say anything about the pistons hopefully there fine and will be sorting the parts out for me just worried about the price of the repair as ive only ridden the bike 3 times im eager to get out there and put some miles on the clock

is it a main dealer???
if not you could be looking anywhere from £100 - £300 for the repair, assuming it's only bent a few valves.
if you intend using original camchain tensioners they are £32 from david silvers, and 70 odd from honda.
but for long term peace of mind you are better with manual camchain tensioners imo.

no its a local small garage. hopefully he will be fair wich he seems but who knows, wat is the difference between the cam chain tensioners? is this something that happens with camchains a lot then?

Hillbery,
that is bad luck , hindsight can say you should have come here 1st! The tensioner failure is one of the 2 problems with your bike, and armed with that information you could have saved some grief....but as none of us have hindsight we have to deal with what we are dealt

Standard CCT's are Auto adjusting, so they can compensate for wear and thermal expansion. the alternative is to fit a maunal tensioner [which is just a screw] and set the tension your self.
There is a 3rd option to fit a stopper into the Honda auto tensioner, this stops the CCT retracting too far back if the spring fails.........so although it is noisy, the chain wont jump a tooth.

I am other side of Brum in Solihull if you need help.

If the top-end damage is more extensive the solution can be by bunging on 2nd hand head. Highly recommend you replace the standard OEM tensioners with aftermarket manual 'fixed' tensioners (a new batch just done) that can't implode with the devastating results that you've unfortunately suffered. Check the workshop section for CCTs how-to's and the downloadable PDF VTR workshop manual that could be useful to your mechanic.

by the way, what was the milage went it went? you can't have added many miles if you've been out only 3 times. Still get it sorted properly and you'll get great value and many happy miles afterwards. Mine went at 35,000 now happily at 50,000 with many more to come

as wicky suggests, make sure your mechanic is aware of the method of replacing the firestorm tensioners and retiming the cams - obviously without being patronising, you need to point him toward the guide in the workshop section or he will more than likely get it wrong!

As this sorry story of CCT ferkup will testify....

http://superhawkforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23838

ok thanks, so is it wiser to fit adjustable then and is there much price differance? is the adjusting a no and then thing or is it something you would have to do? sorry if this sounds stupid but i havent a clue about these things thanks again.

£60 for a pair of replacement OEM CCTs of DOOM http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/part ... 510MBB003/

or these manuals "Price 40 euro per pair for VTR.Org members. P&P is 5 euro standard post to UK"

http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17053


or from the USA (where I got mine)

http://www.overstockpartsgalore.com/

Set them up correctly and they shouldn't need adjusting more than every few thousand miles. How to here: http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=31

with piccies http://superhawkforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11275

The good thing about manuals is that even when they go out of adjustment they won't allow enough slack so that the chain jumps teeth and wrecks the engine.
If a manual one fails, well, you've found out, haven't you.

I replace these for locals within a day, from drop off to ride out.

The only thing to add is that you should also re-shim the affected head at least, and until you have the head rebuilt and assembled you can't measure which size shims you will need, and that leads to delays sometimes.
Your local dealer may not carry stock, or have the size you want in stock, and have to order them.
Anyone who says that they can just re-use the old shims is a cowboy, and best avoided. Also avoid anyone who tries to tell you that a replacement tensioner can be fitted without having to set the engine at a specific point on the crankshaft rotation, or says they can do it without taking the cam cover off.


And if you're checking one head it seems silly not to do the other while you can see it and everything's disconnected already.

So cost including re-shimming, re timing and fitting manuals, I'd put at four to six hours labour plus parts (one head gasket, as many new valves as you need, probably just two exhaust ones, a handful of shims, from a hundred and twenty pounds upwards, plus two tensioners).

well ive just gor off the fone to the mechanic and he says its going to cost around £230 for the parts and without his labour but then went on to say the over all cost could amount to £500

thats why was saying you might be as well looking for a decent replacement engine off ebay unless someone here local to you can help out with the head work.
if i had a few nacked cyl heads i'd do them on an exchange basis.... if anyone wants to donate their spare cyl heads to a worthy cause?

i found an engine on ebay with cranckshaft damage and foned the mechanic and asked his opinion and he said it would be more work than hes got now to get that engine and swap the crank shafts over, is this right? and is there anybody on here who knows of any donor engines? thanks