I was on the roster of the other Concours group. I am Mark Krieger and I make Krieger cam chain tensioners with some engineering to make them for what I feel is a fair price, significantly less than the cost from others.
I got involved in cam chain tensioners when I had two ratchet style tensioners fail in my KLX in less than 15,000 miles. The ratchet style is the "new improved" OEM tensioners some mention. I made the original tensioner a manual unit. Then when I bought a Zephyr 550 it had a junk tensioner to begin with. Someone tried to "fix" it and it was totally trashed. No one made a manual unit, so with some prodding from a few on the Zephyr Zone, I made my own and four extra. They sold and others asked for them both for the Zephyrs and then the KLX. That was two and a half years and about 600 tensioners ago. Since that time I had a Concours rider pick up one of my tensioners - quite literally, he stopped by the house and got one. That started its use in the Concours. There are several riders here who probably have them in their bikes.
I wanted to present the part I make as a viable option to a failing tensioner set up that is either damaged beyond dealing with or requires being taken apart at intervals to clean and rework... not my definition of automatic. I've had people present solutions or say "all you have to do is take it out, take it apart, clean it, and reset it. Again, not automatic. Fact is a manual tensioner can be installed and not removed for the life of the engine and adjustments, with the exception of when installed with new a new cam chain, require less attention than the valves do. Since a loose cam drive is detectable by ticking noise, essentially the engine "tells you" when it needs adjustment.
The new "improved" tensioner may, for design reasons, kick the ratchet rack back inder the pawl. I saw it on my KLX's second tensioner. I bought an 05 ZX6 tensioner off ebay to use as a pattern for a new tensioner and there it was - the same kick back pattern and tooth damage. Here is a shot of the damage as best I could photograph it. It is clearly apparent with magnification and the human eye, but a smart phone camera just doesn't quite do it justice. One tooth is chipped and the pattern shows a wear pattern over four teeth. Because of my sense of ethics and fairness, this tensioner will stay on a shelf in the garage in spite of my original hopes of reselling it to get my money back. It wouldn't be right to sell it knowing what I know.
The replacement part I make is shown below:
The installation is non-invasive and only takes about a half hour to do it. The kit has the new fasteners, gasket, and instructions. As of November 2011, including shipping, it sells for $35.20 in the U.S, $41.95 to Canada/Mexico, and $43.95 to the rest of the world.
To date over 500 Krieger Cam Chain Tensioners are in motorcycles in over 40 U.S. states, most Canadian provinces, and a total of over 25 countries around the globe.
My web site is in need of updating, but still here is the address.
www.kriegercamchaintensioners.com and I can be reached at mkrieger002@columbus.rr.com if you have questions or would like to pick up a tensioner kit.
