justin_o_guy2 wrote on 07/07/12 at 11:46:40:


When you say "1 foot across" I'm not sure if you mean 1 foot in diameter?   Because the rotation of an inch along the circumference is based on pi.  In any case, for this discussion, the .070 is constant, but would rotate each gear a variable amount (degrees) depending on its size.   I dunno and probably don't amount to much anyway, but interesting to think about tho.

One of the things that I have noticed is why the extreme (premature?) wear on the Savage chain in the first place?   To me, it constitutes a "problem" that should have been fixed years ago, given the bike's longevity.  I've had other bikes that used chain tensioners, and they didn't wear out nearly as easily.   Some had "automatic" tensioners and on others you losen a bolt and let an internal spring set the proper tension.  My Harley even had a monster tensioner on the primary drive between the crank and the tranny.  It provided drive for the whole bike, but lasted longer than the Savage cam chain???

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 07/07/12 at 13:28:09:


I agree that making the system a little more forgiving and able to compensate for the heating/cooling cycle would be good.  I don't think just grinding off a every other tooth on the plunger will actually work. if I remember correctly the pawl has multiple teeth and it locks into several teeth on the slider.  It may be possible that a single tooth is not strong enough by itself to handle the loads imposed on the plunger when the engine is running and up to temperature.

I have two thoughts about this:
One would be to go back in time and actually replace the automatic tensioner with a manual one.  If you replaced the spring plunger with a threaded one and had to adjust it manually - how often to you think you would have to make an adjustment?
Second would be to install a second spring on the other side of the plunger that would cushion the excess tension caused when the engine is hot.  It would only compress as the engine wamed and tightened the chain - and it would not affect the operation of the pawl ratchet or tensioner spring (It would only relieve the excess tension when then engine gets hot).