Motorcycle Repair: Honda Nighthawk 550 suspected cam chain noise., honda nighthawk 550, 1983 honda nighthawk

Question
Hello,
I have a 1983 Honda Nighthawk 550 and recently have been experiencing a rattling noise at warm up and downshift. I have been checking around and most have said this is a loose cam chain and to replace the spring and slipper. My question is do I need to remove the cam shaft to get the cam chain assembly out to inspect or can I just take the valve cover gasket off and remove it from there. The Clymer manual I have is very vague on this subject and really doesn't mention just checking the cam chain tensioner. Says inspect when you remove cam but don't really want to do that if I don't have to. Any advice would help. Thanks

Answer
Gram, I've never tried to replace just the tensioner but looking at the parts fische, I'd bet you can need to pull the cams.  It looks like the chain goes inside the tensioner and you'll have to pull the cams to get to the pins to remove the slipper.


Regards,
Rich