Reno's CB1000R

[Yoyodyne_imp]

You'll quickly grow to love the single sided swing arm. It's an awesome feature.

Personally, I was never sure that the call on the Hawk GT forum for a super slack chain had anything to do with SSSA's specifically, or the Hawk's geometry in particular. More than likely, it is because so many people there raised up the rear-end of their Hawks with suspension mods, creating the need for a more slack chain to accommodate the change in geometry.

Ideally the swing arm pivot and the countershaft are concentric, so as the swing arm moves through its range of motion the tension on the chain never changes. In practice virtually all chain-driven bikes see the tension on the chain vary depending on the swing arm's movement.

For example, the Hawk sees the greatest chain tension when the suspension is fully compressed and the swing arm has moved up as far as it will go. If the chain is adjusted too tightly it can actually prevent the suspension from compressing fully, not good on big bumps! And a too-tight chain puts extra strain on the countershaft splines, in extreme cases damaging them. (The repair for that requires a full engine tear-down, ugh.)

Aftermarket shocks are frequently used to increase the Hawk's rear ride height, which effectively pushes the swing arm down relative to the chassis. This puts the rear axle/sprocket closer to the countershaft than they are when the bike is equipped with the stock shock absorber. In such cases the chain should be adjusted extra loose, because the distance between the rear sprocket and countershaft increases—even more than the stock setup—as the suspension is fully compressed, and thus chain tension will increase more too.

Whether or not the CB1000R is similarly sensitive to chain tensioning depends on where the swing arm pivot is in relation to the countershaft, and I have no info/experience on that subject.