929 CCT.....mod or aftermarket??

[ZUKIMON]

OK guys/gals, I have this dilema. I have been researching my bike since before I bought it and this is one thing that constantly comes up about them.......Replace the CCT before it lets go and ruins the head. I have no noise in the engine at present but I also don't want to worry with it when it's nice and warm out when I could be riding instead of wrenching. I have heard buy the APE, buy the APE, buy the APE, and so on. I have also seen and heard about this:

Honda Cam Chain Tensioners, yes they suck big time but there is a $1.50 fix for the later Hondas, F3 and up. If the CCT has a plug (bolt) at the outer end remove it. Buy a 6X1X30mm bolt and nut . Check thread pitch by placing one bolts thread against the other. They should nest perfectly. Thread the nut on the bolt and install the bolt into the hole that the plug was in. Gently (fingertip pressure only) rotate bolt until it makes contact with the piston. Hold bolt with wrench and tighten nut against the CCT case. Your CCT will now be silent. Why does this fix work? The CCT in the Hondas does not have a ratcheting mechanism. It depends on a left handed threaded shaft that is spring loaded. Due to the locking pitch thread design this shaft cannot back up. Sounds good so far. Unfortunatly the shaft stays in one place so long that the constant vibration wears out the shaft or the nut that the shaft rides in. The shaft gets sloppy and does not exert enough pressure on the chain pad so the chain starts to rattle at high rpm. The bolt fix exerts just enough pressure on the threaded shaft that it prevents the shaft from vibrating and backing up thus eliminating the chain noise. Yes you will have to adjust the bolt but so far I have no historical data as to how long the time intervals are in between adjustments. Maybe some of you big milege people can provide the data. Any way, hope it prevents you from buying a new CCT.

This is how one guy suggested setting the APE, and I believe that these are the directions that come with the APE unit.

with the engine off, remove the stock cct, and put on the APE cct(with gasket of course). back out the locknut and a o-ring, turn in the bolt still it touches the cct chain buffer. start the engine and ya can hear it is pretty noisy, turn in ya bolt slowly and the nose will go away.

to confirm the position, back out the bolt slowly again, the noise will come back. just turn it in till the noise is no more and turn in ya locknut and ya are done.

just to make sure to make it too tight, the noise once goes away, thats the best poisition.

This is the APE model and part number just for reference.
HT929 875-427 EC631 875-756




Now I am a Tech by trade but I work on cars for a living....not bikes. I have worked on bikes before on my own and helping others out and to be honest, other than being completely jammed into a very tight frame, they are basicaly a four cylinder car engine (I guess you could say that a car engine was really a bike engine in disguise ). Really though, I have heard guys put down the bolt in the stock tensioner method, but to me that just seems logical and like something that I would do. I also think that it would work very well with no future problems because of the addition. If you look at the APE tensioner, it's nothing more than a damn bolt with a machined head on it that is smooth and flat, two nuts an o-ring and a billet block. Now I know it's only $50 for one from APE but that's $50 I could put towards something else if I fixed it with the bolt method described above. I would like to hear your thoughts on this and any and all input that you have, especially if you have done this mod, or one of this type before.

[BobTheBiker]

I did the bolt through stock CCT before. its really easy. let me know what yours looks like, I MAY have one that works. its out of an F2 motor, but yeah.

[Dnyce]

i didnt bother reading much past the fact that its a spring loaded tensioner. ape unit looks nice, but its basically a really nice version of a bolt thru stock tensioner idea. dont matter which u end up doin, u get the same result if done right-a manual tensioner.

check the tensioner whenever you check valve clearance-cant take the cams out(if you need to change shims) without backing off/taking off the cct anyway.

[Dave]

hrm, this is something that i had been concerned about but hadnt really looked into before. all things considered, i'll probably go the APE route. price isint too awful, has a nice bling factor, and its another collection of letters for me to add to her resume when it comes time for her to find a new home.

[was92v]

If your engine is not making noise, I wouldn't worry about it until it does. When it does, you've done the research.
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After the second stock CCT went south and and the cam chain sounded like metal chewing metal, I put an APE in my 600F4i. I set it up per the instructions, such as they were and it was loose as hell. I had to invent a wrench to adjust it with, since once it is down in there and the bike is back together, access to it on my bike is zilch. I am more nervous about getting it too tight than a little loose and consistently leave it too loose. I've tightened it a couple of times since I put it in. I need to give it about a 1/4 turn more, and it should be good.
I don't know anyone around here who has modified a stock CCT. I do know people who run 8 sec drag bikes making about 300HP and none of them trust their engines to a stock CCT, modified or not. What do they use? Proven parts... APE. Another stock, used engine costs about a $1000.00 and I figure the APE M-CCT is about $950 less.

word

[HRCNICK11]

I used the APE onmy F2 and F3 they work. Beware if you over tighten it will cause the rubber slider to wear and the bits of rubber will block off your oil pick-up. I saw this on GSXR that was in the shop my friend was the manager of.

[was92v]

Originally Posted by HRCNICK11

I used the APE onmy F2 and F3 they work. Beware if you over tighten it will cause the rubber slider to wear and the bits of rubber will block off your oil pick-up. I saw this on GSXR that was in the shop my friend was the manager of.

Exactly why I am nervous about getting it too tight.

[No Worries]

I wish APE made one for my CBR1000F. The 600 CCT is on the outside of the engine. Mine is inside the engine, under the cam chain, between the intake and exhaust cams. I'm replacing it with an updated Honda one. Plus the chain. And I'm slotting the cams. I may actually finish it this spring.

[HRCNICK11]

I like the chain and gear set up I have seen on some other bikes.

[was92v]

Originally Posted by HRCNICK11

I like the chain and gear set up I have seen on some other bikes.

I like a full gear drive, no chain and beautiful music. In fact I would love to have a 97-2001' 750VFR. For sure one of the best sounding engines.