TOPIC:

Ed, that's exactly what I was thinking. If the chain noise wouldn't quiet down while idling, It has to be something broken. Likely the front guide. Pull the valve cover again and look for loose or broken guides. I got my grandmother's 75 240D and I thought I heard cam chain noise. Being a Diesel, I thought it could be the pistons. I didn't check and broke a cam chain. That was a beefy chain too but it broke and lunched the motor.
Steve

Ed, I'm pretty sure that upper guide is there only to prevent the chain from whacking the under side of the cam cover and should not exert any force on the chain.

Thanks! Ed

The upper guide has a radius to it. If the chain is tight, putting the cover on will put stress on the chain and guides.
Steve

I don't have that model KZ but I do have a FSM for it and it says nothing about the cam chain adjustment being dependent on the cam cover being in place. It may not be pertinent but the FSM for my KZ 750 B4 specifically warns that the cam chain adjustment cannot be performed with the cam cover removed. I would think that if it was critical Mrs Kaw would say so, as she does for my 750.
Bill

Let me ask a couple of questions and see if you guys agree.
Wouldn't any bike with an automatic cam chain adjuster suffer a misadjustment if the engine was rotated with the cam cover removed and the cam cover was part of the tensioning system? Doesn't any valve adjustment on these bikes involve rotating the engine with the cam cover removed?
Am I missing something here?
Bill

You're right. Only thing different is the manual adjuster. I was suggesting checking the guides in case he had tightened it too much.
Steve

You cannot adjust the cam chain on these later Hyvo chained engines with the cam cover off (unless you have used a cutaway cover or you have made a jig to mimic the top runner as is often used to facilitate cam degreeing etc )
Doing this will result in an over tight cam chain and possible damage when the cover is re-fitted.
I suggest you take the bike to someone who is familiar with these engines before any serious damage is done if it's not been done already.

Thank you so much ZED for explaining me how to adjust the manual cam chain tensioner propperly. You should have been the one to write the instruction for APE! It made a lot of sense.

Simon