1984 VF700F cam removal question...

My 1984 VF700F has one lobe with pitting. Cylinder #3 intake, or rear cylinder forward cam, right side. I'm planning to get a new cam for an eventual change. I have the service manual and it goes thru this very elaborate process for removing all 4 cams. Is there a simpler way if just removing a single cam?

Something like marking the chain and cam sprocket with paint and maybe even a small wire tie to keep them together, then removing the cam sprocket bolts, sliding the cam out and sliding the new cam in? I do think the cams will have to be rotated to get to both sprocket bolts, but I hope maybe this can be done with the chain still on the sprocket?

Cams and sprockets are not matched sets, correct? I can use the sprocket in the engine now with the new cam no problem?

I'm just going to have to hope the follower is ok because it looks like the head/engine has to be out of the frame to get the rocker arm bolt out. Maybe there is enough clearance to back out the rocker arm bolt but I dunno. It does look to have the most clearance out of the rear 4.

The offending cam....

 

Why bother? It doesn't look too bad. Just keep an eye on it to see if it gets much worse. If you use a decent oil it might never cause a problem. Of course if you do huge miles then OK, but who does on 30 year old bikes?

 

Ya, I just got the bike about three months ago and have only put 20 miles on it so far. Still need to get it registered and inspected. Been riding my KZ instead.

I would guess I'm going to put 500 miles a year on it based on my current riding habits. I just put rotella t6 synthetic in it and my plan is to pull the cover and take a look at that cam lobe in 500 miles. I'm hoping that with this good oil, keeping the revs over 3K and not letting it idle excessively, maybe the cam will hang in there awhile.

But I still plan to get my hands on a good cam and have it tucked away for when/if the time comes. Heck, if I end up liking the bike enough the megacycle option is appealing. $1200 for the 4 cams and 8 followers to be redone but I'm under the impression that should fix the cam problem for good. This bike is in good enough condition otherwise that I'd be willing to drop the cash on it. But I need to get some miles on it before making that final decision.

 

So the cams are readily available. Where do you get them? I just started riding mine last week. Put about 450 miles on it already. I think you'll like it.:smile-new:

 

Every time I've looked on ebay I've seen at least a dozen of them listed. Usually for $10-20 each. Now I figure its a gamble if you'll get a good one or not but at that price....no problem.

From what I understand if the cam was going to go bad it happened pretty early, so if you get a cam with some miles on it and its still good chances are it will stay good. But I'm sure no expert on this, just what I've read here on this site.

The bike only has 10,550 miles on it. I bought the bike from the original owner, he never took it in for its 8,000 mile service. He had the 600 mile initial done but skipped the 8K biggie, that one includes valve clearance check. I have to wonder if he had taken it in at 8K would Honda have replaced that cam then for free? Oh well.

 

Does anybody know if magna cams are the same i know different part numbers but....for 1983/4

 

So I did some research I picked up a magna manual and a interceptor manual and I found the cams have the same specs very interesting. Is there any mechanics on here that can confirm this ? If not I plan on having mine reground .

 

Spending $1200 for cams on a bike that wouldn't sell for much over $1500 doesn't seem sensible. That lobe doesn't look so bad.

 

This was a zombie thread resurrected btw.

 

Colt cams in Abbotsford BC is regrinding them for 400can and I think the bike is worth it and I think that's quite reasonable price to pay