Topic: CB350F cam chain adjustment

[bryanj]

You should not need to push hard at all, it is just a plunger that pushes on the horseshoe th increase the bend on the tensioner.
What happens is a loose chain batters the pivot of the horsehoe siezing the pivot so the shoe wont move no matter how hard you push the rod.

Look at the parts diagram to see what happens.

To fix it means removing the horseshoe and that requires the crankcases to be split

[jpschroeder]

You think it’s ok to ride the bike some (<1000mi) and crack the case over the winter? Or is that a super bad idea?

[jonda500]

Back in the eighties I rode my 400-4 for years with the adjuster bolt snapped off in the hole and an ezy-out snapped off inside the broken adjuster bolt (it was like that when I bought it). I had to order a new adjuster bolt and lock nut, split the cases and got the bolt disintegrated out. My horse shoe pivot/hinge did get damaged quite a bit from running with a lose chain for so long but it was still movable.
I always had to push hardish on the phillips head to get the rod to move - but it would always easily loosen if I reduced the amount of push - important not to push so much that it slows down the idling engine, you want the rattle to only just barely go quiet, no tighter!
John

[jpschroeder]

Ok little update. I did push hard. I couldn’t tell if it was really moving but with the engine running it actually really quieted up the chain. I was able to tighten it like that too. That’ll have to do till this winter when I’ll do a rebuild. Wish me luck, it’s my first