Was wrong on the brand, my Honda has front 4.00-19 Goodyear AllTraction, 4.50-18 Goodyear Eagle RT on the rear. When I swap the front wheel for a GT750 (2 stroke triple, 1969)  tls wheel it will have a NOS Grand Sport GS690 3.25/3.50-19 tire. Speedmasters when it is finished and roadworthy.

Right now it looks funny, nice shaped seat but no cowling or rear fender, flat track bars, replica Brit bike levers and perches (with HD mirror mount holes), no side panels (have one but it is ugly) and low pipes with 12" glaspacks. Stock 4.75 headlight, no boots, old black Progressive shocks, gold flake diamond tuck kneepad covers, old style Honda Super Sport grips (Emgo of course)... And factory mid-mounts with cross-over rear brake controller.

The RYCA parts look like a fun conversion. Went the other way on my Savage, I can't ride low bars.

No,... for two reasons:

1. The welding (since it is MIG) would only affect the heat treatment of the plunger to slightly past the original hole, if that far.  The surface hardness of the plunger (where it slides in and out of the tensioner housing), would not be affected.

2. None of the other several threads here dealing with welding on the extension mentioned anything about heat treating the extended part.  These guys here know WAY more about this stuff than I do, so I figure if none of them are concerned, I won't be either.

This does beg a question, though,....

Has anyone here had any trouble with chain tensioner function/reliability after the mod?

The first pic shows the tensioner when we pulled the clutch cover off the 14,000 mile motor.  The plunger was extended a lot, but no so far as to get cocked in the housing.  The motor was making the clicking noise several folks referred to in other threads.

The second pic shows the piece we cut out of some mild steel to weld to the plunger.

Third and fourth pics show the first grinds after the initial welds.  We used a MIG welder because we wanted the minimum duration of weld heat put on the piece, so as to disturb the case hardening of the part as little as possible.  The piece was clamped into a vise lined with aluminum to suck out heat as rapidly as possible.

Final pic shows the lengthened tensioner.  After the welded part was stuffed all the way back in to the housing, and turned loose to tighten the cam chain, the plunger moved back out two clicks on its ratchet.

wheelchairstuntn wrote on 05/09/11 at 16:27:54:

The plunger is case hardened for wear, not thru hardened.
Quote:

Haven't heard of one.

Mine has over 50k miles on it.

Let me toss in here about how much we enjoy this forum.  It is not only extremely informative, effective, useful, etc., in the way it can help the Savage newbies (Jud and Bob, infamous double RYCA builders), it is quite a bit of fun just wandering around through the threads reading about this marvelous motorcycle. Thanks LARGE.

I could use a set of forks.

Here's a stack of tubes inflated just enough to be a little bigger than the size they'll be in the bikes.  With the heavy nearly-full paint bucket weighing down like that, it is a way to check for slow leaks.  The can didn't descend any for several days, so we think we have no leaks.

We are reusing the front tubes.  Bought new tubes for the new 18" tires.  We also got new rim strips,.. the old ones were not seeming all that pliable.

As a precursor to renaming the wall "RYCA wall" a new clock face was installed.  Hopefully, pretty soon, the wall will be the location for a couple of machines that look more like cafe racers, rather than a couple of hulks leftover from leaving the bikes in a ghetto for too long.

We wish we didn't have so much time on our hands, but the only stuff shipped so far is front end pieces and tanks/sidecovers/seats.

Bob's 2002 LS650 after the 15 Mar session.  All the loose stuff tied up with zip-ties to maybe keep the decade-old flexible stuff from cracking.  I wonder how much that remaining lump of motorcycle weighs.  

Haven't yet done the front wheels.  They are waiting for derusting, truing, and tire mounting.  Goodyear Deluxe Champion on Jud's bike, and Avon Speedmaster on Bob's.

Next step is to study the RYCA videos a bit and start cutting.