happy wanderer
Day Dreaming ...
So is the wear coming from frequent cold starts? If so, then why would a "long trip,non-commuter bike" give a problem anytime soon? If not, when does the slap seem to appear, as in miles? Thanks for the part #'s!
I don't think it is coming from cold starts or any specific mileage. The wear is coming from an empty cylinder on the tensioner due to the design and the way it sits upside down on the left side of the engine.
Stop motor = oil drains out. When you start up it takes a second or two to fill the tensioner up again and create that hydraulic pressure to maintain cam chain tension so during that short period the tensioner bar slaps around a bit and this causes wear.
The new one does not allow the oil to drain out so it's full when you start the motor up and this prevents tensioner bar play from occurring.
That's my rudimentary understanding of it anyway. I think Paul Glaves explained it better in here somewhere but the only thing that sucks worse than my memory is probably my forum searching results...