chain slack

[mvk24_imp]

I have always gone to the middle of the bottom of the chain.

Put a ruler or tape measure behind it. And give it a gentle wiggle both Up & Down and make sure it falls within the margin.

If it would move 1 inch upwards from baseline, then it would also move 1 inch below baseline (downwards). And that would give you a total slack of 2 inches instead of 1 inch in 1 direction.

This is the way I learned (but it can be wrong and im open to hearing otherwise)

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Ive no argument with your technique, mvk, but surely the sheer weight of the chain will mean it will move further up than down? In other words, the lower run will be bow shaped at rest.

Ive no argument with your technique, mvk, but surely the sheer weight of the chain will mean it will move further up than down? In other words, the lower run will be bow shaped at rest. I believe the idea is to take account for both movements instead of each individual.

If when you move the chain Up & Down then what is the range of movement. Is it within an inch? 1 1/2 inch? The slack would be the total sum of all movement the chain has all together on the vertical plane.


By my understanding above, only measuring the Height of travel from a baseline of where the chain is resting does not account for ALL of the vertical slack the chain has. Which in this particular instance is a vertical plane of movement both upwards and downwards.

(I think that makes sense how I wrote it)

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someone with a 14 std please look (or take a pic of) at the decal on the swingarm for me. I swear I saw it with up and down but mine is hidden behind a beautiful symmetrical chrome pipe on the lh side. lol

Now that I'm explaining my thinking it's making me more confused lol.


I believe we're just saying a few ways to skin a cat but ending up with the same result. The photo on my 14ex seems to explain it. The illustration of the chain and arrows show total slack of motion up and slightly down. Not only upwards from a resting chain position.

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[the Ferret]

hmmm it appears that decal shows it only measured when pushed up

I find this conversation fascinating actually. Makes me ponder,

 

[mvk24_imp]

hmmm it appears that decal shows it only measured when pushed up

I find this conversation fascinating actually. Makes me ponder,

Mwahahah we are getting different interpretations of the same photo too!

My friend, we have started yet another oil thread

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[the Ferret]

:rofl: well didn't mean to start that

to me that diagram shows chain at rest and chain at top of arc (when pushed up) and arrows indicated slack is what is the gap between them. How do you see it?

edit: I went out to my bike and with a flashlight and mirror could see that that is the same decal I have on mine

 

[mvk24_imp]

:rofl: well didn't mean to start that

to me that diagram shows chain at rest and chain at top of arc (when pushed up) and arrows indicated slack is what is the gap between them. How do you see it?

edit: I went out to my bike and with a flashlight and mirror could see that that is the same decal I have on mine

- I see the both an upward and downward arrow.
- The black gap in the middle of the "moving chain" is a diamond not a triangle. (Indicating downward movement from rest)
- and the lower line representing the chain definitely appears to be slightly pointed downwards indicating a pull below resting position.


At this rate I bet we end up with the same adjustment give or take a few millimeters! As long as we are measuring how much the chain moves in any direction and it falls within the safety margin then all is well. With the miles we do we'd know if it was wrong by now haha

I'm with you cause now im pondering lol

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[the Ferret]

:rofl: well didn't mean to start that

to me that diagram shows chain at rest and chain at top of arc (when pushed up) and arrows indicated slack is what is the gap between them. How do you see it?

edit: I went out to my bike and with a flashlight and mirror could see that that is the same decal I have on mine

- I see the both an upward and downward arrow.
- The black gap in the middle of the "moving chain" is a diamond not a triangle. (Indicating downward movement from rest)
- and the lower line representing the chain definitely appears to be slightly pointed downwards indicating a pull below resting position.


At this rate I bet we end up with the same adjustment give or take a few millimeters! As long as we are measuring how much the chain moves in any direction and it falls within the safety margin then all is well. With the miles we do we'd know if it was wrong by now haha

I'm with you cause now im pondering lol

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Yea I think I pondered that too in my original post (What the difference would be between using the two different methods)

 

[mvk24_imp]

:rofl: well didn't mean to start that

to me that diagram shows chain at rest and chain at top of arc (when pushed up) and arrows indicated slack is what is the gap between them. How do you see it?

edit: I went out to my bike and with a flashlight and mirror could see that that is the same decal I have on mine

- I see the both an upward and downward arrow.
- The black gap in the middle of the "moving chain" is a diamond not a triangle. (Indicating downward movement from rest)
- and the lower line representing the chain definitely appears to be slightly pointed downwards indicating a pull below resting position.


At this rate I bet we end up with the same adjustment give or take a few millimeters! As long as we are measuring how much the chain moves in any direction and it falls within the safety margin then all is well. With the miles we do we'd know if it was wrong by now haha

I'm with you cause now im pondering lol

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Yea I think I pondered that too in my original post (What the difference would be between using the two different methods)

Yea I think I pondered that too in my original post (What the difference would be between using the two different methods) Yea I bet its negligible

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[rickcb]

The 2013-2014 service manual makes it fairly clear you measure the deflection from the resting position to the upper position. See the photo on page 3-19.
What is the best oil to use in the CB1100? Oil filter?

 

[suhawk305]

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this: since the mid 1960’s, I never bothered with measuring chain slack. I just push the chain up to judge its play, and adjust if needed. Like ferret, it is too much work getting up from the floor.

 

[the Ferret]

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this: since the mid 1960’s, I never bothered with measuring chain slack. I just push the chain up to judge its play, and adjust if needed. Like ferret, it is too much work getting up from the floor.

That's how mechanics do it

and I hear ya brother :rofl:

The 2013-2014 service manual makes it fairly clear you measure the deflection from the resting position to the upper position. See the photo on page 3-19.
What is the best oil to use in the CB1100? Oil filter?

Rick, I think you are right about the pic in the manual. I forgot I even had a FSM, it was in the bottom of a drawer in my motorcycle gear room. lol

 

[mvk24_imp]

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this: since the mid 1960’s, I never bothered with measuring chain slack. I just push the chain up to judge its play, and adjust if needed. Like ferret, it is too much work getting up from the floor.

That's how mechanics do it

and I hear ya brother :rofl:

The 2013-2014 service manual makes it fairly clear you measure the deflection from the resting position to the upper position. See the photo on page 3-19.
What is the best oil to use in the CB1100? Oil filter?

Rick, I think you are right about the pic in the manual. I forgot I even had a FSM, it was in the bottom of a drawer in my motorcycle gear room. lol

That's how mechanics do it

and I hear ya brother :rofl:

The 2013-2014 service manual makes it fairly clear you measure the deflection from the resting position to the upper position. See the photo on page 3-19.
What is the best oil to use in the CB1100? Oil filter?

Rick, I think you are right about the pic in the manual. I forgot I even had a FSM, it was in the bottom of a drawer in my motorcycle gear room. lol I need to get one of those manuals. I been meaning to get the manual to see how to get to my air intake funnels

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[jimgl3_imp]

this has been discussed before. like I said before, I come from the smiling chain is a happy chain school that ferret briefly mentioned. but it took no time at all for me to discover that doesn't work for the CB. under the least heavy acceleration my chain skipped teeth. I've never had that happen before. there is something different about this chain / sprocket set up. so I simply tightened it until it stopped skipping teeth under acceleration. how far a chain flexes when you pull on it depends on how hard you pull on it. it is why Harley has a tool that controls the amount of tension used to push / pull the belt on a Harley to measure slack. the other consideration is suspension travel. if the tautness of your chain interferes with suspension travel, you will have problems. one poster mentioned breaking the countershaft... I find that hard to believe, would think the chain would snap first. I've seen several chains snap. anyway, that's my .o2 worth.

 

[Townie_imp]

When I started riding motorcycles in the mid 60's we learned how to adjust a chain by finding any tight spot in chain, putting it in the middle of the lower run, then push up on the chain to measure slack.

In fact when I wrote the "How To adjust the chain on your CB 1100" for that section of the forum 6 years ago, that is how I advised doing it.

http://www.cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=7158

I've never seen a factory trained mechanic do anything other than push up from the lower run to gauge chain tension.

It seems now the procedure calls for starting out the same way but instead of pushing up to measure slack, now it seems they want you to pull DOWN first, then measure slack up from there. On a chain like the CB's which calls for 1"-1.4" that could make a heck of a difference in tautness.

I know chain tension isn't "critical" and we've always believe "a loose chain is happier than a tight chain", but was wondering which procedure you guys are using, and if any of you have tried to measure the difference using both methods?

something new to discuss.

We discussed this a few years ago. Apparently you are over-thinking it
http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=12969

For what it's worth, I use method B, never had a problem.

 

[mvk24_imp]

this has been discussed before. like I said before, I come from the smiling chain is a happy chain school that ferret briefly mentioned. but it took no time at all for me to discover that doesn't work for the CB. under the least heavy acceleration my chain skipped teeth. I've never had that happen before. there is something different about this chain / sprocket set up. so I simply tightened it until it stopped skipping teeth under acceleration. how far a chain flexes when you pull on it depends on how hard you pull on it. it is why Harley has a tool that controls the amount of tension used to push / pull the belt on a Harley to measure slack. the other consideration is suspension travel. if the tautness of your chain interferes with suspension travel, you will have problems. one poster mentioned breaking the countershaft... I find that hard to believe, would think the chain would snap first. I've seen several chains snap. anyway, that's my .o2 worth.

I bent the front pulley of a KZ440 from the belt being too tight, in turn the bent pulley bent my clutch push rod. I didnt know any better back then. But the belt was still 1 piece.

My dealer searched for an OEM clutch push rod and there was 1 left in the world.. I got it from Poland. Still in the original bag and sticker. It was yellowed and crispy lol

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[the Ferret]

When I started riding motorcycles in the mid 60's we learned how to adjust a chain by finding any tight spot in chain, putting it in the middle of the lower run, then push up on the chain to measure slack.

In fact when I wrote the "How To adjust the chain on your CB 1100" for that section of the forum 6 years ago, that is how I advised doing it.

http://www.cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=7158

I've never seen a factory trained mechanic do anything other than push up from the lower run to gauge chain tension.

It seems now the procedure calls for starting out the same way but instead of pushing up to measure slack, now it seems they want you to pull DOWN first, then measure slack up from there. On a chain like the CB's which calls for 1"-1.4" that could make a heck of a difference in tautness.

I know chain tension isn't "critical" and we've always believe "a loose chain is happier than a tight chain", but was wondering which procedure you guys are using, and if any of you have tried to measure the difference using both methods?

something new to discuss.

We discussed this a few years ago. Apparently you are over-thinking it
http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=12969

For what it's worth, I use method B, never had a problem.

Geez I can't get down and back up and I can't remember a thread we had just 3 years ago. I see a nursing home in my future. Wonder if they will let me out for my daily rides :rofl:

 

[Townie_imp]

When I started riding motorcycles in the mid 60's we learned how to adjust a chain by finding any tight spot in chain, putting it in the middle of the lower run, then push up on the chain to measure slack.

In fact when I wrote the "How To adjust the chain on your CB 1100" for that section of the forum 6 years ago, that is how I advised doing it.

http://www.cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=7158

I've never seen a factory trained mechanic do anything other than push up from the lower run to gauge chain tension.

It seems now the procedure calls for starting out the same way but instead of pushing up to measure slack, now it seems they want you to pull DOWN first, then measure slack up from there. On a chain like the CB's which calls for 1"-1.4" that could make a heck of a difference in tautness.

I know chain tension isn't "critical" and we've always believe "a loose chain is happier than a tight chain", but was wondering which procedure you guys are using, and if any of you have tried to measure the difference using both methods?

something new to discuss.

We discussed this a few years ago. Apparently you are over-thinking it
http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=12969

For what it's worth, I use method B, never had a problem.

Geez I can't get down and back up and I can't remember a thread we had just 3 years ago. I see a nursing home in my future. Wonder if they will let me out for my daily rides :rofl:

Geez I can't get down and back up and I can't remember a thread we had just 3 years ago. I see a nursing home in my future. Wonder if they will let me out for my daily rides :rofl:
LOL! Agree with you totally. Thank god we have a decent search engine on this forum

 

[mvk24_imp]

When I started riding motorcycles in the mid 60's we learned how to adjust a chain by finding any tight spot in chain, putting it in the middle of the lower run, then push up on the chain to measure slack.

In fact when I wrote the "How To adjust the chain on your CB 1100" for that section of the forum 6 years ago, that is how I advised doing it.

http://www.cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=7158

I've never seen a factory trained mechanic do anything other than push up from the lower run to gauge chain tension.

It seems now the procedure calls for starting out the same way but instead of pushing up to measure slack, now it seems they want you to pull DOWN first, then measure slack up from there. On a chain like the CB's which calls for 1"-1.4" that could make a heck of a difference in tautness.

I know chain tension isn't "critical" and we've always believe "a loose chain is happier than a tight chain", but was wondering which procedure you guys are using, and if any of you have tried to measure the difference using both methods?

something new to discuss.

We discussed this a few years ago. Apparently you are over-thinking it
http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=12969

For what it's worth, I use method B, never had a problem.

Geez I can't get down and back up and I can't remember a thread we had just 3 years ago. I see a nursing home in my future. Wonder if they will let me out for my daily rides :rofl:

Geez I can't get down and back up and I can't remember a thread we had just 3 years ago. I see a nursing home in my future. Wonder if they will let me out for my daily rides :rofl: Thats what side cars are for!

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[GoldOxide_imp]

What kind of 5W40 synthetic motor oil do you dabble on the CB1100 drive chain?

What grade do you use in winter?






(please, please! do not answer)

 

[mvk24_imp]

What kind of 5W40 synthetic motor oil do you dabble on the CB1100 drive chain?

What grade do you use in winter?






(please, please! do not answer)

I use olive oil.. Extra Virgin

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[Cormanus]

Wrong! You must use HUBRIS omnigrade.