2009 ST1300PA With maxed out timing chain

[Had24get]

I'm going to walk away. Larry said he's got a few more trusty options people are looking to sell and I've already found one on here that looks to have been maintained much better the next state over for the same price.

 

[Obo]

I'm going to walk away. Larry said he's got a few more trusty options people are looking to sell and I've already found one on here that looks to have been maintained much better the next state over for the same price.

I think you made a wise choice. Good luck with the ongoing hunt!

 

[TerryS]

The cam chain is a wearing and stretching part; the tensioner takes the slack out of the "loose" run of the chain where it return to the cams from the crank, but the other side is a straight run under tension, and this determines the timing between the crank and the cams. As the chain stretches, the timing on the cams becomes retarded compared to the crank. Unless this is a significant stretch it probably matters little but it can lead to uncertainty when re-installing the cams after a shim change as the crank and cam markings can no longer be perfectly aligned. I'm sure there is some performance effect as well, albeit very minor. I have had personal experience of the chain stretch/alignment issue on my VTR1000F at 85,000km, although being a v-twin I expect it wears cam chains more rapidly due to pulsing as each head is effectively a single cylinder. On the ST the cam chain wear should be slower due to the even firing order of each bank.

Here's a article on chain wear: https://www.diymotofix.com/blog/cam-chain-wear-and-replacement-tips1