Ok guys and girls, got a question. I've got an 2003 SV650S with about 57.000 km (36.000 miles) on it. Bought it in 2003 and did about 7-8 trackdays a year with it since 2005.
Last summer when picking up the bike from the 30.000 miles service, my dealer pointed out to me that the cam chains (especially the front one) would have to be replaced on short notice (as in: next service interval). He told me the wear was caused by doing track days and a more "sporty" riding style. Ok, if he says so. When listening to the bike, I have to admit it does make a pretty hard rattling noise, coming from the front cillinder (much more rattling noise than other pointy SV's). The rattling occurs both when riding and when running idle.
But when I was talking to some other technically skilled SV riders, they could'nt imagine the cam chains already need to be replaced. One of them has an curvy SV with more than 56.000 miles on it, but didn't do track days with it. So now I'm beginning to doubt the advice/ information the mechanic has given me. It's a pretty expensive repair
, so I want to be as sure as possible.
So now my questions are:
- Is it possible that the cam chains need to be replaced at 36.000 miles? I can imagine that certain riding actions makes the chain wear out faster (traffic light sprints, wheelies, cracking the throttle very often), but I'm
not in to all of these things.
- Is there a way to check the length of the cam chain and compare it to a new one or service limits? I wasn't able to find any cam chain service limits in the service manual. At the moment it's the opinion of the mechanic without any "hard" evidence.
- Could it be just the tensioner? Unfortunately I'm not that technically skilled to try certain things myself, especially when the engine is involved.
I already did a search on cam chain problems, but haven't found what I was looking for. So hopefully someone over here can help me out!
Thanks!!!
