What sort of miles have you guys been getting before you have some cam chain tensioner problems on your F3s?? ... I have less than 10,000 miles on my F3 and it never ever goes near the red line so I am hoping it won't be an issue for some time yet ...

Jules

 

I just rolled 18k and have not had any issues...yet. I beat my bike prettyhard and that hasn't seemed to trigger anything. So far I have seen 2 '99 R6 bikes have the CCT go bad, one was raced and the other wasn't so I think it's just a matter of time for some applications.

 

Do you think F3's are any better than the F2's were in the CCT department??

Jules

 

I think mine is bad also. It sounds like a small thunk while accelerating, is that correct? Is it bad to ride around like that or should I replace it this weekend?

 

That sounds more like drive chain, you'll know when the CCT goes bad. At idle you'll hear a lowd metal to metal chain slapping noise because the cam chain is jumping around in the case with out tension, once you apply torque it goes away because it's then tensioned by the engine working


Oh, not sure Jules, I can't imagine that the F3 to F2 would be much diffrent. Have never actually looked for the CCT on my F3, but if it's placed anything like the R6 it's a simple fix if/when it does go.

 

That's good to know,thanks. Now I have to find out what that thumping noise is.

 

Clean and oil your drive chain

 

I had around 48K on mine before it needed to be replaced. Even if you do need to replace the CCT, it's a 10 minute job.

 

Bouncing off the revlimiter isn't what causes the poor CCT design to fail, it's the immediate backing-off of the throttle (letting it "snap" back) when in high RPM's that causes the failure. Even in instances where this isn't the case, CCT's have failed simply from poor design.

You know, I wish I could sit every Honda owner down in a room and tell them...

OEM CCT BUCK SALLS. DON'T REPLACE WITH OEM, GET A MANUAL CCT.

Hondas OEM CCT's have been failing since the early 60's. Do that math and you'll find Honda put those crap CCT's on every single bike since they came to America. There is absolutely no reason to replace a failed OEM tensioner with another OEM tensioner. It's retarded - there is no arguement about, "prefering OEM," or, "Honda put them on for a reason," or "the original lasted so long I might as well replace it with OEM."

Those are all ridiculous arguements and only insinuates that the rider doesn't intend on owning their bike for the duration of it's life - which may be the case. I've just never understood the, "half-***" frame of mind.

Here's the deal on CCT's:

They can say bye bye at any time. Mine went on my first F3 at around 13K miles.

The number one reason they begin failing is snapping off the throttle at high-RPM's (the hydraulic tensioner inside doesn't spring back into place fast enough).

Every problem with Honda's OEM tensioner can be solved with a manual CCT and a monkey can install it.

2 8mm bolts and ta-da.

 

That's some good info ^^. I usually never go OEM parts unless that's all I can get. I've never changed out a CCT so knowing how it works helps a lot. I looked into it more after this thread. Thanks man.