[Checkered Floor Garage]

My Vulcan has 24,000 miles with the factory ACCT’s. Lend me your ears…do you hear the beginnings of any ACCT wear?

I know it’s tough to hear/listen on video rather than in-person. And my straight piped exhaust introduces more noise/distraction for my ask here. But what I hear is some ticking noise at a very fast rate. I record both the right and left side of the bike. The engine is cold in this video and you’ll hear it both with the choke on and then off. Do you hear anything to be concerned about regarding the cam chain? Are things extra “ticky” here?

I’ve seen videos of the Vulcan 750’s cam chain slapping and making a TON of noise. I’m just not sure if this is the very early phases of cam chain tensioner issues. If so, I’ll replace with TOC MCCT’s before the end of this season. Thank you

 

[Checkered Floor Garage]

I do think I hear a bit of cam chaim noise, for which I would recommend trying the Gambo trick on both ACCTs. You may even feel the issue better while doing the Gambo.

I think I also may hear a bit of exhaust leak but I cannot be sure. I always have a hard time with YouTube videos.

Wow you have an incredible ear! A bionic ear! I do, in fact, have a small exhaust leak from the clam shell clamp. When I got the bike I put on new exhaust gaskets, but I had a hard time re-installing the exhaust pipe. The exhaust bolts on one side of the engine are slightly misaligned/crooked. I'm afraid to touch it further/take it off again. It's been like this since 2020 with 10,000 miles ridden since. I don't plan to touch this at the moment. But damn, you have a good ear.

 

[Checkered Floor Garage]

Doesn't sound abnormal to me.

Thank you for the insight.

 

[Checkered Floor Garage]

I don’t hear it, when mine went, before they got really terrible, I’d be able to hear the clack when the bike was cold. Leave the bike in neutral and blip the throttle. The clacking to me sounds slightly out of time and is more noticeable as the RPMs come back down. I don’t hear that in your video. These bikes sound like old sewing machines.

I'll check again when it's colder. Today when I recorded the video, a "cold start" in actuality was only like 60F. The other morning it was way colder, like low 50's. And I swear I heard it way more then.

And yes, the sound of these bikes is music to my ears. Especially with my straight pipes. I love it! The exhaust pops occasioanly when upshifting under moderate to heavy acceleration.

 

[Checkered Floor Garage]

Mine is making the same noise what was the problem.

Actually, since posting this a few days ago I actually notice the clacking to be way more noticeable when the motor is cold AND the temperature is cold, like low 50's or even high 40's. So the problem is that after 18 year and nearly 25,000 miles, the automatic cam chain tensioners (ACCT's) are starting to go. So I will replace my ACCT's with MCCT's (manual cam chain tensioners). You can get them on ebay for pretty cheap, but I went with the MCCTs from TOC MFG.

 

[Checkered Floor Garage]

So after looking at this post, I’m thinking it’s time for me to do my tensioners as well as I do have ticking going on. How hard are these to change? And how is the tension checked? I’m still learning the quirks of these bikes even after putting 8k on in less then a season lol

Same here, I put a ton of miles this season. Yeah, as Spockster said check out my video and reach out via this forum if you have any questions. I don't think this was too hard at all.

 

[Checkered Floor Garage]

I just checked out the video. its a huge help thanks a ton. Ill be ordering those friday as soon as i get my paycheck.

You are welcome! That's why I made the video: to help others like you and me. The TOC MFG MCCT's are quite pricy. I paid like $186 including shipping. You can find them on eBay for cheaper but also (IMO) cheaper quality. Also the eBay bolt is really long and will hit up against the coolant overflow tank and will need to be addressed.