Be carefull about doing certain maint "early"

[trosco]

Gonna ride the Nomad to the NE region / E Canada combo regional rally in a couple weeks. Rolled over 45,000 the other day so decided that along with engine oil/filter and rear dif lube change I'd give it a general once over with the tourqe wrench. Cleaned the throttle body and put a new air cleaner element on while I was at it.
I wasn't sure if I would do the cam chain extenders at this time but I wanted to check them carefully as I was at 45,000 miles. Both extender plungers were recessed into the extender body about 3/8 inch so I decide to go ahed with the change. Process was pretty straight forward. Because I am a slow and carefull guy it took about 2 1/2 hours. After removing from the engine the rear plunger was fully extended with it's ratchet assembly in the final notch. The front plunger actually had a notch remaining before it would be fully extended. I last checked my extenders at 32,000 miles. The plungers were both slightly recessed then, both between 1/8 & 1/4 inch. When I removed them that time the front had 3 clicks and rear had 2 left so I reset them but did not change the feet at that time. In retrospect, I am glad I waited.
What I wanted to share is based on just my experience it seems to me that the cam chain stretch and/or follower foot wear slows over time. And so be careful if you are thinking about doing this on a 20,000 mile engine. You may be getting close to needing the extender change but with a couple clicks left on the stock extender you could be good for another 20,000 miles. Just a "For What it's Worth" piece of info.

[fish]

very interesting

[glwilson]

If that is consistent among Nomads, then it is good information for people to know...

[recumbentbob]

thanks for posting that.
I have 28,500 miles on my Nomad. I have never checked them I will do that in a week or so when this heat wave is over.

[vulcanguy]

Good post Ross!
I got mine done at about 73,000 clicks. Engine is quieter :)
Looking forward to seeing you at the Rally next month!

Cheers!

[cactusjack]

I think we decided a long time ago that the cam chains stretch initially to a certain point, then the don't stretch much after that, if at all. So it seems that once the extenders are in, either the chains stop stretching or nobody has kept a bike long enough to see the chains wear out or stretch to where they are sloppy again.

[jmorrow]

A couple year ago someone posted on here where someone was selling their Nomad on eBay. That person had listed all the maintenance he had done to his Nomad and the mileage. If I'm not mistaking he had to replace the spark plug tubes and put the extenders in at 177,000 mile.

[yoda]

I installed the extenders on my 07 at 26000 miles. They were at the end of travel, so it was time. I think that there are variables on every bike for the extenders, just as there is for everthing else on a bike. Short trips vs long trips, frequency of oil changes, and riding styles all affect how any bike, as a mechanical vehicle, wears.
Bottom line, everyone should be prudent and at least inspect items prone to wear at regular intervals.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Good advice Ross. I think some people make the mistake of changing the extenders too early. I only have 19,300 plus miles on my Nomad and haven't even thought of chaning them yet.

[schoeney]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

I think we decided a long time ago that the cam chains stretch initially to a certain point, then the don't stretch much after that, if at all. So it seems that once the extenders are in, either the chains stop stretching or nobody has kept a bike long enough to see the chains wear out or stretch to where they are sloppy again.

In thinking about this we should probably be asking members to keep us posted on how many trouble free miles they have after adding the cam chain extenders.

If the extenders add an average of 100,0000 miles before they are needed again (can you even do them again?) then it makes sense to do them early because 99% of us won't have the bike that long so why wait.

If they only add 20,000 miles it is a different story.

I realize miles can vary but it is the only measurement that makes sense to use.

The other thing that would be interesting to know is if there is any relationship between when extenders needed versus pinging, grade of fuel, stock vs, altered fuel system/exhaust.

Quinten Grubb (of 260,000+ mileage fame) did not show any extenders or cam chain work on his very detailed maintenance records until 170,000 miles. But that could have been a simple omission from his records.

So what should you do if you are half way through a 1500 mile trip and you start hearing the "buzz"?

[skiman]

Mileage has nothing do with it wear limits do if you reach the 5/16" wear limit time to do extenders regardless of your mileage.

[recumbentbob]

So what should you do if you are half way through a 1500 mile trip and you start hearing the "buzz"?[/QUOTE] You ride & finish your trip.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by schoeney

Quinten Grubb (of 260,000+ mileage fame) did not show any extenders or cam chain work on his very detailed maintenance records until 170,000 miles. But that could have been a simple omission from his records.

But he also had to replace the spark plug tubes, meaning the chain had been cutting into it for a while. I wonder how he didn't know something was going on until it was too late?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say he could have done them a 100K miles sooner and would have had a quieter bike.

[Jared]

Does anyone know how much movement there is in the extender. What is the difference between it fully contracted and fully extended? 3/4"? More?

I personally can't seen any harm in doing it when you are relatively close. Chuckster has said as long as the arm is inside the body that you are okay adding the extenders.

As long as it's not pressing too tight on the chain with it fully contracted, then when it resets, the tension on the chain isn't going to be any more with the extender than it was in it's OEM form.

[skiman]

The extenders don't add or take away from life of the chain if you can put then on without adding tension to the chain put them on, there's no "better" time to do it. What I mean is it's not changing brake pads that have 15k more miles on them your not losing anything by doing them as soon as there enough room for then to fit your not throwing any thing away all your doing is giving it more room for adjustment.