chain slack

[Tev62]

IF using stock length chain Tev62, I respectfully disagree. stock length chain, not worn out and overstretched, in the green zone, will be within spec.

You are of course dead right, but that will only be in the instance of a new chain, a position most people will only find themselves in for a short period of time. I would expect most users to be adjusting their chain a good few times before replacement is due. Oh, and no need to be respectful to me, I can be a complete twat a lot of the time!

[Whoops]

you all are overlooking one thing... there is a green and red zones marked on your adjusters. if you have proper length chain and it's not old and stretched from excessive miles, if the adjusters are in the green zone, you're fine.

this from cb750, but shows my point

Not to derail the slack conversation, but I feel this applies somewhat...

I just performed my first chain clean and lube today and have now adjusted the chain to as close to 1 inch of free play as I could get (owing to the few people here who agreed a slightly tighter chain seemed to shift better).

However, when adjusting the set screws it was immediately apparent that they were wildly different from one side of the bike to the other. The manual states when adjusting, make sure you perform the same turn on each side, but it mentions nothing about how to align the wheel when they are not set at the same distance to begin with.

I blame the dealer that I purchased the bike from. I have found that they claimed they changed the oil and filter (they didn't), changed the brake and clutch fluids (they didn't). The only thing they did do was goop grease on the chain that flung everywhere. And now apparently it seems they only adjusted one side.

I got out my Mitutoyo Calipers and measured the following before making any adjustments.

Chain side, before adjustment: 0.467 inches
Brake side, before adjustment: 0.596 inches

After adjusting the tension on the chain side to as close to 1 inch as possible, I then adjusted both sides to the following before torquing the axle nuts to 83 ft lbs.

Chain side, adjusted: 0.684 inches
Brake side, adjusted: 0.683 inches



Did I do this right or should I have left them with the disparity in the gaps because that is not how the wheel is aligned?

[GoldOxide_imp]

Hey Whoops: Heh, that is better than what I did. For me - that would be good enough in terms of pairing up the measurements.

[the Ferret]

No you did it right except re-measure the chain slack if you really adjusted the slack first (as it says above) and then made sure both sides were even second.

[Stichill_imp]

I swear by my [url=https://www.motionpro.com/product/08-0048]Motion Pro chain alignment tool.

[the Ferret]

Hate to say it, the tool may be great, the video was very much lacking. Didn't show it out of alignment well and didn't show it how it should look in alignment at all.

[Stichill_imp]

Sorry, I was looking for a photo I took of it in use but I couldn't find it. Basically you clamp it on the top sprocket. It doesn't really touch the chain. The flat sides of the sprocket are the datum for the direction the rear wheel is pointing. You extend the pointer rod out as far as it will go in the forward direction. Rotate the wheel a little so the rod is parallel to the top of the chain looking at it horizontally. When you look at it longitudinally from the rear, along the axis of the bike, any misalignment of the rear wheel is immediately apparent. The pointer will diverge at an angle left or right. It is almost always skewed to the right a little, so you make the corrections to the right side adjuster and push the wheel to straighten it up. What's nice is you can dial in that last increment of slack removal while keeping an eye on the pointer, so you keep the wheel aligned.

As usual, Ari Henning is the GOAT for motorcycle maintenance videos; tool use shown starting at [url=https://youtu.be/uDmn-zngFRY?t=105]1:45:












Here's another good video from Ari on chain slack:

[Whoops]

No you did it right except re-measure the chain slack if you really adjusted the slack first (as it says above) and then made sure both sides were even second.

I did remeasure after adjusting. I must have broken and torqued the axle nut 10-12 times because every time I tightened it one side would shift ever so slightly. I gave up when I had them within about 1000th of an inch. There are some slight imperfections in the flatness of the metal I was measuring against on both sides, so the measurement would vary about 3/1000" depending on where you had the caliper tips. Close enough though after 20 minutes of trying to get them the same.

[the Ferret]

3/1000th of an inch? Yea, that's close enough lol

[GoldOxide_imp]

Neat tool Stich (Motion Pro chain alignment tool). I have seen these. I can see why they are convenient.