Are you sure the tensioner isn't just making its normal broken typewriter noise that it makes for the 1st few mins until its cold?

Wack some good quality synthetic oil in there.

 

Oh no, this isn't anywhere near 'normal'. It sounds like a giant coffee can of bolts being held by a crank addict who hasn't had a fix in a few days. It doesn't go away either, it just keeps on rattling.

I'll have the new tensioner in my hands on Tuesday. Open tensioner surgury to commence after work on Wednesday. If the top end problem is solved, then I will continue riding the **** out of it this summer and decide what to do with the bike at that point.

As frustrated as I am with this motorcycle and all of the work that I've had to put into it, I've really grown quite attatched to it too. Lots of guys have no idea that any of these are left on the road (assuming they have a clue as to what a Hurricane is at all). I start to smile inside when I hang with or lead a group of newer/lighter/higher HP bikes on this old thing. It's quite satisfying to tear up a canyon on something that isn't supposed to be able to tear up anything anymore. I think that is a huge part of my attraction to this old bike.

 

My thoughts exactly..... I love my old cbr1000f, but the dang thing beats the crap out of me now. I need to get a new rear shock and have the forks reworked.

 

I've changed my mind. I'm not going to sell it, I'm not going to part it out either... I'm going to throw the whole damn thing in the river and laugh my ***** off while I watch the SOB sink. *sigh*

Where do I begin? I pull the valve cover off and begin to take off the upper chain slider mounted with 4 5mm socket bolts. 1 breaks no sweat, one looks to be stripped so I am very careful with it and BANG go my knuckles... damn thing is stripped. Instead of pitching a fit, I go for the other 2 and get them out. I begin working on the stripped bolt when I STUPIDLY drop a bolt that I just pulled right down the middle of the fawkin' motor. AAAARRRRRRGHGHGGHGGGHGHGH Rookie move! I start to fish for it with a magnet but make no progress. Finally, I decide that it will be much easier once the slider is off.

Well, the head on that **** bolt is stripping and I'm not making any progress. I tried everything in the book to break it loose. I made a mean face, I cursed at it, I waved a dead chicken over my head while running in circles, impact hammer (broke a socket!) and all kinds of other odds and ends. I was going to cut a slot in it and use a big screwdriver to get it out, but I didn't have enough room in there to get a cutting tool in it. Finally, I decided I'll just bend the damn bracket out of the way and hope for the best. I'll worry about getting the bolt out later. The only problem was that it bolts into a small aluminum tower and I just KNEW I would break it off and be in twice as much sh*t. Surprisingly, as soon as I gave the bracket a little twist, it broke the bolt loose and I pulled it out. I'm only 6 hours into this job, I've made 10 minutes woth of progress and now and it's getting dark.

Working in the parking lot of my apartment complex really is a poor place to perform open motor surgery. I pulled the cams, pulled the tensioner, replaced the tensioner, replaced the cams, buttoned everything up and was ready for a test ride.

The top end noise is gone, but the bottom is still barking. *sigh* Hey, I didn't expect perfection. A buddy and I suit up and head out for a test ride. Everything is great until we sit at a light for a while. All of a sudden, the bike feels like it's losing a cylinder and then dies. She won't idle worth a damn. I brought it home, changed the plugs and double checked a few things, but it didn't change the idle.

The valves were spot on prior to removing the cams. Since I didn't touch the adjusters, there SHOULDN'T be a change in clearances. Of course I didn't check, so I'll have to do that tomorrow. The timing marks are ***** on accurate, so I am inclined to rule out my being a tooth or so off. Even if I were off, it wouldn't idle from the get go, not just after idling for 45 seconds.

I had a 3 day weekend last weekend and a great trip planned. My ride for the weekend consisted of one bummer test ride. I have a 3 day weekend this weekend too and all I want to do is ride. Unless I magically get it figured out tomorrow after work, it's looking like the bike will be ignored until Sunday. I'm so frustrated... I've got to take a break, read the manual and then let it all digest in my brain.

Suggestions are welcomed.

Oh, BTW, other than noise, I had no problems of this sort prior to the tensioner R&R. I'm trying VERY hard not to find out what the bottom of a whiskey bottle looks like right now. hehehe

I'll post whatever I find out over the next few days.

PS I eventually did fish that troublesome bolt out of the motor. I can't believe I dropped it in there. I even had some towels stuffed in to prevent this kind of thing from happening.

PSS I sure would like to RIDE to the office today. grrr

 

Check to make sure that you didn't disturb something in the coils when you took the valve cover off. Also check that you didn't disturb the throttle cable slack or that the chocke isn't sticking on.

Any you must re-check the valve clearances!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know what its like doing a repair in the carpark of an apartment complex. Not much fun.

 

This is a very entertaining and informative thread..I hope you find your problem Jason and I wish you luck...keep up the good work

 

Hi Tom! I'm going to hijack my own thread for a bit here... Did you get your hands on Louie's bike? I haven't seen it in person but it looks like it took a good tumble. I'm glad Lou is ok. I'm sure his wife gave him enough grief to last a long time. hahahahaha

As far MY bike goes, I think what we need here is an exorcist. Yes, I believe my Hurricane is possessed. I re-double checked (I'm making new words apparently) my cam position and timing (Erv Kanemoto would be proud of me), checked valve clearances (all good) made sure no hoses were kinked, cables free and adjusted properly, made sure nuts/bolts were tight, the i's were dotted and all of the t's crossed. Everything is good to go, right?

Uh... not so fast, Batman. I fired it up and it runs just fine until it settles into an idle for about 30 to 45 seconds. Then it decides that it's run long enough and wants to die. As long as I keep just a little gas on, it runs like it normally does-great. While I'm letting it run in the parking lot, the temp guage reads just a hair over 1/2 way. I decide that I'll just ride around the apartment complex and notice that the bike is puking coolant all over the place. The interesting thing here is that it blew the cap off of the plastic reserve tank and is leaking out of that!!! It's not leaking out of the hose. I checked hoses and they are not kinked nor are the blocked. I lost maybe a cup of coolant at the most, but....

I'm throwing in the towel for a few days. I need to think about all of this and get the issues sorted in my brain. I'll bounce this off of my old boss at the shop and see if he has any ideas. Once this is fixed, I'm pretty sure I'll put it up for sale. If a buyer shows up with cash to pay a fair price, then I'll apply that towards another ride but I won't give this thing away.

The past two weekends have just sucked ***. I had a first date with a gal and we ended up back at my place. One thing led to another and she... well, you figure it out. Afterwards, I complimented her on her technique. She said she hadn't done that in a very long time. Like an idiot, I had to ask why. Anybody care to take a guess as to what she said? No? She says to me... I'm not making this up... She says HER HUSBAND DOESN'T LIKE THAT.

*shaking my head in disbelief*

Ever have a few weeks that just don't make sense? I need therapy and my bike needs an exorcist. I think it's time to start drinking.

Jason

 

I have no answer for your mechanical gremlins that have infected your bike..your fuel problem could be a fuel pump issue??
Lou's bike is at Roseville Cycle and it is a gonner..I could tell by looking at it..he is fine.
And about that girl...What were you doing with MY wife?? HA HA
Thanks for warming her up for me though....
And she was lying because I like it; she just says she doesnt...
I know she was lying since her lips were moving!! HA HA
J/K
Hope you figure out what to do with your Hurricane

 

I think I figured it out-at least some of it. After double checking my tensioner R&R work and finding everything in order, I moved on to the electrical system. On a hunch, I decided to check the plug wires. I have no idea why, I just thought it was a good idea. The wires are about a year old, so when I pulled them off and checked resistance I didn't expect to find anything strange. One wire had a bit of an attitude, but tested ok. It couldn't be reinstalled correctly as the stopper on the coil end of the plug had come loose. Upon reinstallation, it felt kind of 'gritty'. I pulled it back off and noticed a bunch of funk on the wire. I tried cleaning off the tit inside the coil where the wire plugs in but didn't have much room to work. Using a dental pic, I scratched it up a bit, spun the old wire on the tit, blew out the hole where the wire plugs in and reinstalled my old wire for that cylinder/coil. I fired it up with my fingers crossed and it made a world of difference. I made sure to let it idle for a good long time and get it hot enough for the fan to come on. No coolant overflow, no stalling or otherwise weird idle, but I still have a bit off a tick that comes and goes. I suspect it's the front slider for the cam chain. I turned it over a bit when the cover was off and that seemed to be where a lot of the noise was coming from. I'm going to leave it alone for a while though-I do NOT want to work on this thing anymore. It's time now for a canyon carving session along my favorite Sierra Nevada road, then the bike gets the detailing of a lifetime.

After that, I'm very seriously considering selling it.