TOPIC:

Now, I'll admit, I hesitated to put this up. The cam chain tensioner on these bikes is a rather touchy subject, and while I'm fully aware of the other options out there, I'd like to do what I can to keep my bike as stock as possible. That being said, I think I've found out the weak link in the whole "KZ1300 Cam Chain Tensioner" debacle.

I'm fairly certain the weak link in the system is the push rod. My tensioner has nearly 50,000 miles on it, and both the ball bearing collar and sleeve look perfect. The push rod, on the other hand, has several rather deep grooves wore into it, right where the ball bearings lock it to the outer collar. I'm convinced this is where most of the wear happens, and the reason these fail.

I'm actually toying with the idea of getting a replacement rod made by a machinist that knows what he's doing, but in the meantime, I would love to find a replacement pushrod in as good a condition as possible. I'm looking for part #13116-1015, specifically. Not available from Kawasaki anymore (surprise, surprise), but if anyone has one lying around that's in good condition, I'd love to have it.

Thank you in advance.

I replaced mine, i'll have a look around and see if I can find the old one that I replaced or maybe one on my spares bike, i'll let you know, cheers Pete

Ok found one on the spare motor, seems someone had turned it into a manual tensioner as there was a section of aluminium welded to the top with a bolt threaded into it and lock nut, took some photos, your right there are grooves, can see them under the flash and feel them, if you want the rod let me know, is that what your after ??

Hi,

Your worn shaft will work just fine if you just change the movement limiting bolt (6mm, on the side of the tensioner body), to a longer one. The new one should be long enough to hold a locking nut on the thread. Once you have tensioned the cam chain, you just wind the longer bolt down so that it locks the shaft in place. Lock nut will keep it from unwinding. Looks almost stock...
Tightening of the chain does not have to be constant, just do it periodically.

Snowy regards from Finland,
Lauri

I thought about that. I still may, in fact. My other option was to see if I could somehow harden the steel of the stock push rod to help cut down on the wear. My last option was as I stated- see if I can get a replacement milled out of tool steel or something similar.

I have no idea how Kawasaki manufactured these, and it may well be that they're already hardened to some degree. They also may NOT have been hardened on purpose- so the ball bearings of the collar could get a better bite into the rod, and this wear is completely normal.

That being said, I'll be happy to have yours, kza13. PM me with details, how much you want for it, etc.

Lucien-Harpress wrote: I thought about that. I still may, in fact. My other option was to see if I could somehow harden the steel of the stock push rod to help cut down on the wear. My last option was as I stated- see if I can get a replacement milled out of tool steel or something similar.

I have no idea how Kawasaki manufactured these, and it may well be that they're already hardened to some degree. They also may NOT have been hardened on purpose- so the ball bearings of the collar could get a better bite into the rod, and this wear is completely normal.

That being said, I'll be happy to have yours, kza13. PM me with details, how much you want for it, etc.

You're probably right on the money Lucien. you could have it machined out of oil hardened tool steel which would take it to Rockwell 62 but then it needs to be drawn back to a softer Rockwell # but what that would be with out the manufacturing drawing is a crap shoot. Any tool shop that could do the work will have a Rockwell gauge and they could check your old one and tell you what the hardness is and then manufacture one to the same hardness. The only way the old one could have gotten "softer" is if it got up over about 700degress F and the engine would have seized before that.

Just my 2 cents.