Triumphrat

PaulBx

It may be painfully obvious to you, but not to me. NEALR, can you explain in more detail? Are you talking about putting ties around the bottom sprocket and one top sprocket, then removing the other cam? What do you do with the cam chain tensioner?

WSC

I think he means wrap the cable tie through a hole in the sprocket and around the chain so that it cannot jump from one tooth to another.

__________________
John
2004 Thunderbird Sport
1975 T150V
1968 BSA Thunderbolt

Mandres

That's how I understood it

PaulBx

OK I'm going to assume the cam chain tensioner is removed like the shop manual says, and two sprockets (including the bottom one) are locked to the chain at all times.

andre12a

I used cable ties to hold the chain in place on the bottom gear so it wouldn't slip from its T1 timing mark. I looped a tie through a hole in the sprocket and around the guide arm on both sides before removing the chain tensioner. I also tied the chain to the camshaft gears as well using cable ties. Unfortunately, it made no difference as I had to reset the chain when I finished replacing the camshafts anyway as the inlet shaft had rotated clockwise.

NEALR

Yes, you have to take one sprocket bolt out on each cam (although on the Kawasaki there are spares which can be used). The cable tie loops through the sprocket bolt hole and around the chain to lock the chain to the cam sprocket at the top so that timing can't shift. You need to do both so it can't jump at all.
Then the same as Andre12a said (or another friend uses a wooden chock on his 885 Tiger) to stop the chain dropping off or jumping on the crank sprocket.
Then with the tensioner out you have enough slack to drop one or both cams out easily and use a sucker to remove the shim.
Not sure how Andre's timing needed re-setting after that as I've done it on the GTs for over 60,000 miles, only once yet on the Legend as only done about 8,000 since I got it. Never had the timing shift, and on the GT you can't even wedge the crank run, you have to use a bungee to keep tension on the chain. Unless the tensioner wasn't in at that point? The pull on the back run would then shift the inlet cam anti-clockwise again as the tensioner settles.

PaulBx

I broke the first T-30 also. Then I tried a T-35 and it worked better.

Not saying you did the same thing, but it might be a possible explanation. It's unpleasant trying to clean out the broken pieces of torx bit. One hopes the filter picks everything up...

Well, I decided not to bother with tying the chain to the cams, and all the other ways to avoid removing the camshafts. I just removed them, not too bad. It doesn't look hard to time the camshafts again. I don't see how those methods work because I couldn't get a single shim out without removing the tappet first.

Most of my shims have no numbers on them. Oh, and one cap was missing one of the locator dowels!

BTW I found two exhaust valves at .003" and one intake was below spec too. I will set everything to max because I prefer not to mess with this again in my lifetime and like getting good MPG also and have way more power than I need. Doing this job made me appreciate my old Guzzi Quota. I could do a valve adjust 10 times on that bike, for the time it takes to do it once on the Adventurer. Maybe I should count my blessings it is not a 4 cylinder bike.

The job for tomorrow is musical shims. I hope the damn squirrels living in my garage don't knock over my carefully arranged selection of camshafts, caps, and shims on the table.

NEALR

PaulBx - I too love Guzzi clearances. I remember at a rally 1n '94 just after getting my T3, on the Saturday morning I did the valve clearances and ignition timing check in under an hour with a 7 piece toolkit while I was waiting for everyone else to sober up. It took longer than that a few years later to get enough bodywork off my mate's ZZR1100 to change the plugs.