Bandit Alley
MODEL SPECIFIC => SUZUKI BANDIT 600 thru 1200 - AIR/OIL COOLED TECHNICAL => Topic started by: lucas on May 05, 2006, 12:00:56 PM
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Hello all,
I have been reading the threads regarding the "cam chain tensioner" and I was warned by a friend with a bandit 1200 like mine that if that thing goes bad then very ugly things will happen to my motor :(
I only have 14k miles on my bike right now, but I thought maybe it would be prudent next time the valves get adjusted ( I have the dealer do the adjustment) to have the service also include a new "cam chain tensioner" from:
http://gsxrzone.com/sprockets.html
It's a very cheep part considering the possible damage it's failure could cause.
So finally my question: How long does it take before the stock tensioner usually goes bad or needs to be serviced?
The motor is all stock and will probably stay that way.
Thank you all!
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They usually last well over 30,000 miles. You can clean them periodically if you are concerned. You have a long while before you have to worry. Only a small percentage of riders (racers mostly) really need a manual one. I took mine out at 20,000 miles and cleaned because it got sticky and wasn't tightening. You'll be fine though.
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I have 40K miles on mine and the tensioner is doing fine and has never been removed. There's plenty of these bikes that have seen over 100K miles, a few with >200K and at least one with >300K that have never had a tensioner failure. OTOH, a few have been known to fail. Most will let you know with funny noises that they aren't happy. Most of the ones that fail give up when the engine is abruptly shut down from high rpm - like in drag racing. It's in these applications where a manual one is most popular.
A manual one like your link will solve the problem, but you'll have to stay on top of it's adjustment when you do your valve adjustment checks.