slice Posted September 23, 2022 Share Posted September 23, 2022 Ok so LOOONG story short (I hope)I have had the FJR for over 5 years now and in all that time I have been lucky that nothing major has gone wrong BUT the other day I heard what sounded like a bag of spanners loose in the barrels! So youtube to the rescue and scanned the various FJR folks and their problems and lo and behold there was my noise, yep cam chain tensioner had let go, not a major job to change and in all the vids it looked easy and quick! I am on my 3rd day! First finding one was easy FJ owners club had one in stock and is only 20 miles down the road so no prob plus a couple of gaskets and the loss of £135 quid I'm ready to go. Took the cam chain cover off so I could use a zip tie to clamp the chain together so it would not jump a tooth and that seemed easy except for the first bolt that came out brought the thread from the casing with it, then NONE of my socket set extensions would fit in the poxy little hole in the frame that you reach through to undo the bolts on the tensioner so off to Amazon for a 1/4 inch drive set of extensions plus a set of 1/4 drive sockets and other sundry bit's and bob's. 1 day gone. All the bit's arrived and was an easy if fiddly job to reach in and undo the bolts and remove the tensioner. By this time I am into 2nd day and it's getting dark. Day3, Put the various odds and end's back together and torque the nuts up and sort out the stripped bolt thread, great all ready to start and listen to my bike as quiet as a mouse BUT then I remember the cloth I had stuffed into the bottom of the crank case to stop the oil dripping while this all went on! So cover off and strip all the sealant off and new gasket (again!) £25, double check that I had not misaligned the case and no other sodding bit's of cloth jammed into the various places I had been working on. So finally I have it done, 3 days instead of 3 hours and still can't start it as the sealant needs 24 hours to cure before final torque up of bolts. It's great doing your own maintenace and you get a sense of purpose knowing that it is done right and not flung together by a guy who is only there for the wages but christ it can be a pain in the arse OH and I still have to put the fairing and all the other crap back on but not before I make absolutely sure there is no oil leaking. On the plus side I now have a nice new shiny set of 1/4 drive sockets and a set of 1/4 drive extensions that I would not have had if I had sent it in for someone else to do it, there's always a sunny side if you look for it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE0 Posted September 23, 2022 Share Posted September 23, 2022 Well done Slice, leaving a cloth inside the engine reminds me of when surgeons find they are missing a swab at the end of the operation! although we had procedures in place that ALL swabs are counted before final closure!....but you still hear stories of swabs and instruments turning up post op!! Anyway, good job you've got her all back together and are the proud owner of a nice set of shiny sockets! I remember doing the cam chain and tensioner on my 400/4, I even did a video on you tube as I shared my experience to help others. Well done Slice, have a pat on the back from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neversaydie Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 I think most of us had had those moments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnerz89 Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 Aren't bikes fun to work on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted September 24, 2022 Moderator Share Posted September 24, 2022 well done, did my cam chain on the TDM, was fairly straight forward in my instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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