camcap bolts

[His Dudeness]

I'm removing my camshafts and I know you can damage them if you take them out wrong so I thought I'd ask here before I do it. The manual says to remove the upper chain guide and to loosen the cam cap bolts from the outside in and in a crisscross pattern. I attached a picture of what I think that means I'm just wondering if it's right? Hopefully it uploads Also do you have to take the exhaust side chain guide out or can you leave that in?

[red98]

yep...thats right.....i removed the front cam chain guide after removing the tensioner,fiddly as rad gets in the way,think i loosened all the mountings,removing the guide will give you the slack to get the chain off the cam sprockets......when loosening the cam cap bolts ,just a little at a time,watch out for the two valves which will be partly compressed,making sure the engines at TDC before you start ...

[His Dudeness]

yep...thats right.....i removed the front cam chain guide after removing the tensioner,fiddly as rad gets in the way,think i loosened all the mountings,removing the guide will give you the slack to get the chain off the cam sprockets......when loosening the cam cap bolts ,just a little at a time,watch out for the two valves which will be partly compressed,making sure the engines at TDC before you start ...

Thanks red


I'm having trouble pressing the plate onto the new chain. Could anyone out there who has done a cam chain tell me how you got the plate on?

[unfazed]

I used a pliers to push it in until it was flush with the pins and then used the inner links of the old chain to push it home. Make sure you have the chain tunnel well covered before you start. would not fancy tring to finf a cam chain link down there.

[His Dudeness]

Have the plate on now. Tried a million things with no luck. Funnily enough what worked in the end was my chain tool    http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorcycle/chain-tools/sealey-chain-breaker-and-riveter

Have to rivet the pins now. Nightmare

[unfazed]

Starting the bike will be the nightmare, wondering if you have it rivited right
Just make sure it is as flexible as the other links and not tighter. Once it is peened over any bit it willl hold, don't over do it.
Just realised I did not mention that I had used a parrallel action pliers. 
One of the most usefull pliers I have in the tool box.
 

[His Dudeness]

I've never heard of parallel action pliers. That's another tool to add to the wish list. Didn't get the link riveted in the end. I was trying to do it with a a flat end punch but it was a bit too big. I'll have to try something else but I won't get a chance to continue until next weekend

The chain I ended up getting was made by morse.  It had a small m on the side of the link. I checked the old chain that I took out and it had the same m on it.  The original Yamaha one must be a  morse too? Or maybe mine's been changed before. The bike's done less than 40,000 miles though so I doubt it's been changed before.

[unfazed]

I used a 2.5 lb lump hammer and a small stapling hammer. Got a friend to hold the lump hammer against the rivit and tapped the open ended rivet edges with the stapling hammer.
The pliers jaws close in parallel compared to the standard one closing the jaws at an angle.
It is something like the one in the picture attached
 
 
 

[His Dudeness]

Handy piece of kit. All of my spare money seems to end up being spent on the bike or tools for the bike It's an illness

[His Dudeness]

Got a chance to finish this today and she's all back together. Sounds sweet at idle, no more ticking.  Went for a spin and had it at full wack a few times and it all sounded good. I'll take the cover off in a few days and check the chain again but it seems happy. Just in case someone finds this in a search the bike has less than 40,000 miles on it but the old chain was definitely worn out. The tensioner had one adjustment left and with the cover off you could clearly see the chain wasn't sitting on the exhaust sprocket properly. When I got it out of the bike there was no siezed links but I'd say one in three was a bit notchy and stiff. Fairly poor imo after that mileage.