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Manual primary chain adjusters/ stage 3-4 upgrades

Manual primary chain adjusters/ stage 3-4 upgrades

Far Canal
4 years ago

A friend recently completely ruined his engine cases on a lowrider S with the 117 upgrade. He bought the bike new with the upgrade. Luckily he took out extended warranty and it is fixed.
He said at the time he bought the bike fitting a manual primary chain adjuster with the upgrade was not usually done.
Seems it is now a recommended practice for stage 3-4 upgrades as the automatic primary tensioners can ratchet up too tight and cause damage.
Had a stage 4 kit put in my bike a few years ago now, and just looked at the invoice.....no manual primary chain adjuster in there according to it. So plan to take the cover off to confirm this before more riding.
I might have come down in the last shower and be broadcasting old news, however I bet there are lots of bikes out there as well with the stage upgrades and still running the auto tensioners.

fatbat
4 years ago

FC, What was the cause of your mate's engine failure?

Far Canal
4 years ago

Automatic primary chain tensioner ratcheting up too tight.

Hoodeng
4 years ago

Auto tensioners tend to ramp up on the throttle snap shut and hard back on it again, i found my chain was spastic tight after i did the motor at it's first service, i know the tension was to the looser spec on assembly ,it was no issue with the stock motor.The SE kit works well.
What i also found when i pulled the cover to replace the tensioner was a dark magnetic residue on the inner primary surfaces,there was no running parts issues as such but i did find the rollers on the OEM chain had fine material loss along the seam, as a matter of course i used a Diamond chain.

Cheers.

Grease Monkey
4 years ago

So what tensioner do they recommend? If it's this one I wish you well with the noise.
Best option I've seen to date is to drill and tap the original tensioner so you can set it and lock it and still have a bit of spring movement, no noise and doesn't ratchet up, it is as hard as hell though and takes a bit of drilling, been meaning to do it to mine.

fatbat
4 years ago

Thanks Fc sorry I was confused and thought he had a manual adjuster installed.
This is good to know. My 117 kit was installed by the dealer when new in 2017 so I’ll look into this.

Cheers.

tussuck
4 years ago

You would think that Hayden would make something like the M6 tensioner we use on Evos.

Far Canal
4 years ago

Grease Monkey.
Yes that is the type I was looking at in the shop the other day. Only bought the primary gasket as I wan't to be sure which type mine is fitted with first.
Was not aware that they are noisy?
How often do you generally need to manually adjust them?.

Fatbat
I have looked to buy a Lowrider S with the 117 upgrade. The guy had the receipt for the work and there was no manual adjuster fitted to that one.

Hoodeng
4 years ago

I meant i installed SE manual adjuster kit at the first service on discovering the chain tension issue.

Cheers.

Far Canal
4 years ago

Quoting Hoodeng on 30 May 2019 03:27 AM
I meant i installed SE manual adjuster kit at the first service on discovering the chain tension issue.

Cheers.

How often do you need to tension it up and how do you know when the chain is at the right tension?.
Cheers

Grease Monkey
4 years ago

FC I can't speak for everyone that has used one of the SE adjusters, in my case it was horrendous, I loaned it to a mate, he fitted it, laughed and sent it back, I initially used it when they first made them, 2012? Not sure, my mate used it this year, heap of blokes in the west got into them when they came out, some said noisy some said not, did read that if your runout is good on both sprockets and you use a new chain they are ok but I have no personal experience there.
Hoody did not mention noise so I'm guessing he has none.

Gnoo
4 years ago

Quoting tussuck on 30 May 2019 02:56 AM
You would think that Hayden would make something like the M6 tensioner we use on Evos.

They do.,, been running an M6 on my twin cam for years.

AJ56
4 years ago

Quoting tussuck on 30 May 2019 02:56 AM
You would think that Hayden would make something like the M6 tensioner we use on Evos.

Quoting Gnoo on 30 May 2019 06:24 AM
They do.,, been running an M6 on my twin cam for years.

I have been using the M7/6 on mine for about 5 years maybe longer. Make a hell of a difference

Far Canal
4 years ago

What are M6 M7 ones?

tussuck
4 years ago

Quoting Far Canal on 30 May 2019 09:17 AM
What are M6 M7 ones?

Google 'hayden' primary chain tensioner. They have been around since the Evo days and are bloody awesome.

Baloffski
4 years ago

Quoting Far Canal on 30 May 2019 09:17 AM
What are M6 M7 ones?

Quoting tussuck on 30 May 2019 09:31 AM
Google 'hayden' primary chain tensioner. They have been around since the Evo days and are bloody awesome.

Put a Hayden Tensioner on my Glide years ago, is fine still, but only a cam etc. up grade.

Grease Monkey
4 years ago

Quoting Far Canal on 30 May 2019 09:17 AM
What are M6 M7 ones?

Quoting tussuck on 30 May 2019 09:31 AM
Google 'hayden' primary chain tensioner. They have been around since the Evo days and are bloody awesome.

Quoting Baloffski on 30 May 2019 11:28 AM
Put a Hayden Tensioner on my Glide years ago, is fine still, but only a cam etc. up grade.

Big torque can bugga the aftermarket tensioners that have springs, lots of happy campers out there though.
Couple of pics of the stocker that has been modified.

Baloffski
4 years ago

Greaseman, good shots of mod. 2012, well that says good things.

Grease Monkey
4 years ago

Another option to the SE adjusters, don't know if it is any different in the noise department.

Hoodeng
4 years ago

There has been no noise from mine as such.When i installed it i did the usual quarter rotation to check for tight spots and the chain was consistent ,chain is set to 3/4" cold. The chain has been adjusted a little from new which i expected.

The course of events for mine was;
first, build motor and install SE compensator, Diamond chain, carbon plate kit , stock spring with VPC lock up at the same time.
second, at first service discover tight chain and correct adjustment .
third, second service, discover chain tight again and then order SE tensioner, on disassembly for tensioner installation discover SE Compensator running dry in bush,install tensioner and updated compensator.
Currently, no noise issues,chain tension stable,primary oil clean at change.

That modified stock tensioner is a good utilization of parts already supplied.

I am interested as to what type of noise people have heard coming from the SE mechanical adjuster?

Cheers.

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