Camchain Replacement - Should I?

[pete]

Ok, so reading through the manual and it says to replace the camchain during a full rebuild.

Sounds good, but it's over $90 US which means the stealers here will probably be $150+ going by normal inflation type rates.

So, should I replace it? Is there any way to know if it's still good or not?

Alternatively, I can get an aftermarket one for about $83 plus postage here but not sure if that's a good idea or not.

Any thoughts?

[tkent02]

Measure it. They last a long time.

[pete]

Makes sense, but I don't know what any measurements should be as I can't see anything in the manual.

I looked in with all the torque and bearing clearances etc. but it doesn't say anything about camchain measurements.

Any ideas?

[Nessism]

It should say in the factory manual Pete. If you don't have one, you might want to download one for a different GS since the chain elongation spec should be the same.

[Suzuki_Don]

Pete the camchain specs are as follows:

Camchain 20 pitch length = 157.80mm 0r 6.213in.

This is the limit, if it is longer than this measurement then THROW IT.

If shorter it is OK to use again.

BTW cam chains are not that expensive. I bought one from Z1, it was a Tsubaki (not sure of the spelling) racing, heavy duty chain for about $60 bucks I think. Took about 10 days to arrive.

Found this on their web site for you. Even cheaper than I thought.

Cam Chain - EK 219H 120 link KL12-8097
- - - - - - - -
Cam Chain - EK 219H 120 link - Fits Suzuki GS400B/XB/C/XC GS425N/EN/LN GS450ET/EX/EZ/ED/GAZ/GAD/GAF/LT/LX/LZ/LD/LF/LG/LH/LJ/ST/SX/TX/TZ/TXZ/TXD GS500EK/EL/EM/EN/EP-EY/K1 GS650GX/GZ/GD/GLX/GLZ/GLD/MD XN85D GS700EF/ESF GS750B/C/EC/N/EN/ED/ESD/LN GS850 GS1000 GS1100 GS1150

Fits Yamaha XJ650G/H/J/K/LH/LJ/LK/RJ XJ700N/NC/S/SC XJ750J/K/RH/RJ/RK
$32.09

[pete]

Cheers Ed and Don!

Ed, no factory manual I'm afraid, only Clymer and another dodgy brand. I no longer trust the dodgy brand and Clymer doesn't have the spec's.

Don, did that come from your 550 factory manual? I thought it looked like a lot of them were the same so that was my next question, so thanks heaps for passing on the info.

I haven't looked anywhere at the moment beyond Alpha Sports and BK Performance here in Brissie, so good to know there is a well priced alternative if I need it.

I'll try to get some time aside one night this week to measure it.

[Suzuki_Don]

Yes Pete it was from my 550 factory manual. You will find Z1's postage is quite reasonable compared to other US dealers.

[pete]

Cheers again Don.

I got a set of case cover allen bolts from them and I was pretty impressed with the postage price and it was less than two weeks to get it to me which was even better as I lack patience.

[Steve]

Ed, no factory manual I'm afraid, only Clymer and another dodgy brand. I no longer trust the dodgy brand and Clymer doesn't have the spec's. ...

Not sure what your "dodgy" brand is, but you can get a copy of the Haynes manual on BassCliff's site.
.................................................. ......................................... ....../|\
............................................ .................................. (click the link) |

.

[pete]

That's the dodgy brand Steve, will keep it as a reference for procedures in case something in the Clymer doesn't make sense, but that's it.

I will never use any measurement from it since they listed the torque spec as twice what it should be and I stripped a thread in the crank case as a result.

[pete]

Pete the camchain specs are as follows:

Camchain 20 pitch length = 157.80mm 0r 6.213in.

Ok, went down for a measure tonight but now I'm completely confused again.

The chain is much much longer than 157.80mm, so I thought 20 pitch length would mean the length of 20 links, but no that's way out too, more like 250mm or something.

What am I missing here? Surely there's something stupidly obvious that I'm missing to measure the chain...



Couple of pic's of my cam chain in case it helps any.

[pete]

Rightio, I swear I really like to shoot my mouth (fingers in this case) off before thinking it through properly and making a fool outta myself...

So, while looking through the forum I had another thought... there are outside links and inside links on a chain, so I just effectively counted about 40 links instead of 20.

So, went down and counted inside and outside links as 20 and funnily enough i get a measurement of between 155 - 156mm in length, which sounds like it would be quite serviceable.

I brightened up my pic a little and put some arrows on where I measured to make sure what I measured is right, and that I didn't just happen to measure something incorrectly that gives me a good number...

[KC1908]

Pete,
I replace the camchain everytime. The DID racing ones are only $45 US and $15 postage. Bought one the other week off an ebay store Townline sales and sevice. With our dollar on parity parts are cheap on US ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT

Cheaper then buying them in Oz

Ken

[tkent02]

I didn't realize you had the engine apart that far. In that case I'd replace it too. I wouldn't tear an engine all the way down to just replace the chain if it was within limits, but if it's already apart that's a different story.

[pete]

Cheers guys!

TKent, sorry, forgot to mention it was completely dismantled...

Ken, thanks for the heads up and the link.

I just ordered one, less than $63 including postage in Aus dollars is $20 cheaper than the cheapest aftermarket one here, and I don't even know what brand that is.

DID is a brand I know is good