My 1979 XR 250 needs a new cam chain. its not skipping timing but its on its way and probably not a good idea to ride. how does the auto tensioner work exactly on this bike? im pretty sure its at its max and the chain is just to stretched and needs replacing. i tried to undo the 2 bolts and nothing still quite loose. 2nd question is will the replacement chain be the same length? is it just the teeth side of the chain that stretches?
Need some help on timing chains/cam chains
- Thread starter bikerganglol
- Start date
The center bolt is for the tension spring for the auto tension. The 2 outers are to hold it to the jug.
The chain will come proper length for year and model applied. They are not master linked.
i know the chain will come at the proper length lol... im asking what part on a used chain stretches is it the tooth side? or will a stretched chain actually be longer in length than a new one
Chain stretch is overall, not just one link, inside, or outside. It is overall.
Of course it will be longer than the new one, the word stretched pretty much says it all.
Of course it will be longer than the new one, the word stretched pretty much says it all.
literally saw a guy on youtube change the cam chain on the same bike and his tensioner was at the max and his chain was still super loose. he showed the brand new chain and put it right next to the old one and they were the same length so i was thinking it was just the teeth part that stretched. weird
If it stretched anywhere it would be longer anyway so something ain't right, could be down to millimetres of tolerance between worn tensioner and stretched chain and might look the same by eye as you watch YT on a 5-18"screen, if it was mine I'd pull it all apart and renew at will or pocket depth tbf!
Well it's a Honda of that era ( bombproof ) if maintained properly! It's quite hard to kill an 80's Honda! Trust me I've tried and failed, never blew an engine til a couple years ago and I blew up my POS Ferd high top Transit
, 5th gear at 55mph-2nd gear at 53ish mph Recon engine and new turbo 
£2.5k bill ( 
My sisters van
Still got it and I fekin love it more than our 2018 transit 170 high top 
Oh the XR’s are 10 times more durable, but the newer bikes are so much more powerful. It’s a trade off, the more racier the motor the more maintenance. Had an ‘84 xr250r snap the cam on half, there’s where my smartass comments come from. Went about trying to fix it, too many unavailable or ridiculously expensive parts and wasn’t really too keen on rebuilding with used parts. Sweet bikes but it’s going to cost you three times more than it should, and after riding the race bikes it just wouldn’t be the same, so I abandoned the notion.
I live near the city and do a lot of motocross and stupid technical off-road and new fresh machines are widely available so my choices are not limited to what I can ride. If I lived in the country and had few options and an old XR fell in my lap damn right I would ride it and do my best to keep it going. I just have a different perspective.
I live near the city and do a lot of motocross and stupid technical off-road and new fresh machines are widely available so my choices are not limited to what I can ride. If I lived in the country and had few options and an old XR fell in my lap damn right I would ride it and do my best to keep it going. I just have a different perspective.
Inspect the teeth on the crank, and cam as well, just like sprockets, they can wear.
i checked all the teeth for the timing and what not and they all seem fine and no broken teeth, it looks like i can just get away with a new timing chain. its hard to believe that the new chain will take up all this slack? it would just suck if i bought a new chain and it was still loose (thinking worst case scenario)