Firstly, forgive me as I`m sure that this has been covered on the forum somewhere before.
As a new VTR owner, can someone give me a quick explanation of what the problem is with the original Honda CCT`s? I note that the general concensus of opinion is to go with the replacement manual CCT`s. I have seen a set of Kreigers for sale on ebay and just thought I would try to fully understand the problem before I purchased a set.
basically the front tensioner decides to let go unexpectedly as you roll off the throttle allows the cam chain to slip a cog or three therefore allowing the cylinder to realign the angle of your valves.
Caused by a shitty bic pen spring that Honda decided to use not getting any oil due to the angle it sits at. This allows corrosion to take place on the small tuppence spring where it rusts and breaks on you.
Get the manuals, fit them and ride worry free. I know all this cause my cct failed on me.
Occasionally the rear can go as well which is why you need to change the pair. It's not particularly hard to do as long as you follow the instructions on this forum. Do not under any circumstances use the haynes manual because you will set your timing 180 degrees out. I did this mod on mine as my first spanner wielding experience and didn't find it particularly hard thanks to the members on here.
Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience!
It's worth adding that the problem with this bike particularly is that with most engines the chain can't get slack enough to jump over sprocket teeth on the cam sprocket; unfortunately with Firestorms it can do so.
So all your mates down the pub that just tell you it'll rattle a bit, then you get a new tensioner; theirs did the same when they had a (insert any other make or model here) and it didn't cause a problem.... are WRONG with this bike.
It's not falling off, it's an upgrade opportunity.
Either fit manual tensioners, or do the stopper mod (details for that is in the "The Workshop Knowledgebase") which takes the guess work out of setting the cam chain tension. The only down side with the stopper mod is, if a tensioner does fail it'll need replacing, but no other damage can occur to the engine providing that mod is carried out correctly.
Some motorcycle dealers say the latest standard CCT's from Honda have been modified, but I have yet to see anything in writing to prove this.
Either fit manual tensioners, or do the stopper mod (details for that is in the "The Workshop Knowledgebase") which takes the guess work out of setting the cam chain tension. The only down side with the stopper mod is, if a tensioner does fail it'll need replacing, but no other damage can occur to the engine providing that mod is carried out correctly.
Chris.
+1 on this, stopper mod is best of both worlds......auto tensioner & failsafe. Given the workshop skills shown on your CBX special, you should be able to do the stopper dead easy
As tony said the Firestorm is not same as IL4, and especially the instructions on setting TDC before removing the old ones are critical. ignore any advice from people who dont know this bike, what works for other bikes wornt work here
Can I throw another quick question into the mix? Is there the same CCT problem with the SP1/SP2 engines or have Honda remedied the situation? If they have, are the CCT`s not interchangeable? (ok, 2 questions)
After the original techo wonder bike, the VF750 went iffy, Honda introduced gear driven cams into the VFRs for a bit of over engineered quality assurance but quietly slipped back to CCTs on later VFRs. IIRC so I guess they must have worked on making made them relatively reliable.
It may be that your whole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
yeah well I expect she wants to see you when you're on holiday together 
)
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