SuzukiSavage.com - New machined cam chain adjuster extensioner

Digger

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Re: New machined cam chain adjuster extensioner
Reply #15 - 06/21/09 at 21:50:48

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 04/28/09 at 22:44:09:

Well, do you remember if its more closely spaced than the original?

This certainly qualifies as a modification. I hope its set wider than OEM specs. & IF it is, I hope you cam chain lasts noticeably longer than what a few of us have seen.

I've been on the road for five weeks (on my Gold Wing....business trip) and must have missed something about the groove spacing.

I ordered a Verslavy a few months ago and have not installed it yet. Do I need to modify the groove spacing before I install it?

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verslagen1

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Re: New machined cam chain adjuster extensioner
Reply #16 - 06/21/09 at 22:08:40

Digger wrote on 06/21/09 at 21:50:48:

I ordered a Verslavy a few months ago and have not installed it yet. Do I need to modify the groove spacing before I install it?

Not unless you are a genius with a file.

The issue in a nutshell...
The stock plunger has serations let's say every 1/32"
Every time the plunger moves a 1/32" it locks into a new groove.
The heat cycle sees the cylinder grow about 1/64" differential between aluminum and steel. When the plunger locks into the next tighter setting, there is some extra stress. So for 1" of plunger travel (17mm is about 3/4" but let's keep to round numbers) there will be 32 high stress points.
Now if you made a plunger with 1/8" spacing there would be only 8 points. Now certain things would have to be checked but I could see this would extend the life of the chain by a factor of 4.

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diamond jim

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Re: New machined cam chain adjuster extensioner
Reply #17 - 06/21/09 at 22:19:34

Mike (mikestrikes) and I were talking about cam chain tensioners a couple of weeks ago. Two issues we thought about that may play a role in early failure of the LS650 tensioner, at least compared to other MC engines with auto-adjusting tensioners, is the high spring pressure and the fact that the tensioner exerts pressure not in the middle between the camshaft and OHC, but instead exerts pressure so close to the camshaft but so far away from the OHC. Mike noted how small some of the springs were in tensioners that he had seen in other bikes. It seems to me that if the LS650 tensioner was centered between the camshaft and OHC that a much lower spring rate would be sufficient.

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Digger

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Re: New machined cam chain adjuster extensioner
Reply #18 - 07/05/09 at 19:57:19

verslagen1 wrote on 06/21/09 at 22:08:40:

Digger wrote on 06/21/09 at 21:50:48:

I ordered a Verslavy a few months ago and have not installed it yet. Do I need to modify the groove spacing before I install it?

Not unless you are a genius with a file.

The issue in a nutshell...
The stock plunger has serations let's say every 1/32"
Every time the plunger moves a 1/32" it locks into a new groove.
The heat cycle sees the cylinder grow about 1/64" differential between aluminum and steel. When the plunger locks into the next tighter setting, there is some extra stress. So for 1" of plunger travel (17mm is about 3/4" but let's keep to round numbers) there will be 32 high stress points.
Now if you made a plunger with 1/8" spacing there would be only 8 points. Now certain things would have to be checked but I could see this would extend the life of the chain by a factor of 4.

Ver,

I gotcha now.

However, if you made a plunger w/ 1/8" teeth spacing, the cam chain would spend a much larger portion of its life "slapping around." That characteristic might just negate the longer life postulated by reducing the number of "high stress points."

Bottom line....I'm leaving the spacing of the notches alone for now!

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Digger
2001, Metallic Glacial Blue, Raptor Petcock, Verslavy (first hole) (otherwise, mechanically, the bike is stock), 13,xxx miles
I don't own a cage.
www.astronautbiker.com

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verslagen1

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Re: New machined cam chain adjuster extensioner
Reply #19 - 07/05/09 at 21:31:55

Digger wrote on 07/05/09 at 19:57:19:

However, if you made a plunger w/ 1/8" teeth spacing, the cam chain would spend a much larger portion of its life "slapping around." That characteristic might just negate the longer life postulated by reducing the number of "high stress points."

Spring tension would certainly have to be reconsidered. And it maybe why the current spring is quite a bit stiffer than the old version.

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