How long does a cam chain last?

[Paul]

Pretty sure the rattle noises coming from the engine are from the cam chain.


The questions are:


1) Does anyone know how long (miles) a cam chain lasts?


2) Has anyone had a cam chain fail, and if so what happened?


3) Has anyone had a cam chain jump a tooth and if so what happened?


The noise doesn't bother me, but I'm concerned that it may fail or jump a tooth.

[darrsi]

Had mine changed at around 30,000, but others on here have gone more than 3 times that!!
Noise drove me mad, but doesn't bother some people.
What sort of mileage has the bike done?

[Jules-C]

I'm at 74,000 miles on original cam chain.  The clutch rattle drowns out any noise from my cam chain.

Assuming regular oil changes with proper grade of oil and level been checked regularly a cam chain should last as long as the rest of the engine.

[Fazerider]

115,000 miles for my original engine... even with earplugs it was getting a bit noisy by that stage (though some of the racket was probably piston slap).
It'd probably have gone on much longer without a problem, but a cheap second-hand motor was available so I swapped it out.

[Paul]

To Darrsi


The bikes done 80,000 miles.  I know the mileage is genuine because I've had the bike from new.


To Fazerider


I was thinking of putting another engine in it, which is the easiest side to get the engine out? 

[Fazerider]

I was thinking of putting another engine in it, which is the easiest side to get the engine out?

The right side (pretty sure it's not possible to get it out of the left).

[Paul]

To Fazerider


Thanks for the reply.


I'm guessing you don't need any special tools.
But do you need a hoist or a jack or something like that?


I've got a couple of mates who would give me a lift.


But I'd like to prevent the frame from getting scratched if I can, is there a method to avoid this?


The only other question I've got is:
Do you actually need a fuel pump or can you run the carbs direct from the tank via the fuel filter, just using gravity like bikes used to be?


 

[Fazerider]

No special tools needed. I used assorted blocks of wood together with longer bits of wood to use as levers to take the weight. The problem with a hoist is that the frame gets in the way. A jack can be handy though.
A bit of carpet from the footwell of my car served as protection for the frame, though a couple of layers of duct tape wrapped around the frame rails might have been a better idea.
I had a square of plywood on top of some bricks to the side so I could wriggle the engine out and keep it at the same level, but am a nine stone weakling and was doing the job on my own so you'll probably not find it too hard if someone's giving you a hand.


Fuel pump... never actually tried bypassing it. I'd expect it to idle fine and even run ok with a full tank, but once the level gets down a bit the flow wouldn't be enough for full throttle.

[Jules-C]

Yamaha won't have bothered with the expense of a fuel pump if it runs fine without it.  It might run fine on a full tank but when getting low on fuel the back of the tank is not much higher than the carbs so you might not get enough fuel for higher speeds or loads, particularly with the fuel filter which will also drop what little pressure there is when the tank is nearly empty.

You could run without a fuel filter that that could bring its own problems.

A side effect of removing the pump is that the fuel will be "on" 24/7/365. The fuel pump also acts as petrol tap that turns off when the ignition is off.  Before petrol pumps bacame common on bikes you always had a petrol tap, usually vacuum operated from engine on bigger bikes so the petrol was only on when the engine was running or manually operated on smaller bikes or in a very few cases a solenoid operated tap was fitted.

You run the risk of draining the contents of your petrol tank through the carb overflow pipes if a small bit of dirt gets stuck in a float valve

[Paul]

To Fazerider


Thanks


I've had the bike from new (Easter 2001), and I've kinda grown attached to it.
Never happened with any other bike, but it has with this one.


The cam chain worried me a bit until your post and Darrsi's post.


The bike really needs quite a few things:
1) Back shock absorber
2) Cam chain, and valve shims (never been touched)
3) Choke cable (broke)
4) Clutch cable (stretched)
5) Plug thread in the off-side cylinder (difficult to get a plug in and out) likely damaged threads.
6) Gear lever (worn needs re-bushing)
7) Seat's worn
  Paintwork to the tank is chipped
9) And all the usual suspects of course....most things are worn.


Maybe I should fully restore it..... New engine, new back shock, new everything.
Or am I really starting to loose what little sanity god blessed me with?


The funny thing is, whilst it would be very time consuming, but the cost would be minimal.

[Paul]

To Jules-C


I agree with you.


However I was talking to a guy today at my local M.O.T. station.  He was having his 1996 Fireblade done.
It's a carb engined bike, has a fuel filter but no pump.


And I thought; how much pressure can the pump actually be rated to?  If it pumped too hard surely it would overcome the gravity based pressure of the floats in the carb bowl.


I suppose there's only one way to find out.

[darrsi]

It's a motorbike, the cost is never minimal. 

[Paul]

To Darrsi
'it's a motorbike, the cost is never minimal'
[/size]
Oddly enough in my case it kind of 'is', because the money is already spent.


I bought my Fazer in 2001, and then on an impulse bought another Y reg 2001 Fazer with a few hundred miles on the clock in 2003.
That Y reg Fazer is still sat in the garage with a few hundred miles on the clock posing as a shelf with a sheet.


I would be cannibalising a virtually new (unused) bike, which I suppose is a bit mad, but everything I need is there, and It's already paid for.


I realise that the virtually new Fazer, has a value now, and would be worthless at the end of the project, but I wouldn't actually have to go out and buy any parts.


I suppose I would probably have powder coating the frame, coolant, oil and brake fluid to pay for, and possibly tyres, (the tyres date back to 2001 like the bike).


O.K. it's not minimal, you're right.