Adjusting chain

[ray nielsen]

I"ve just adjusted my original chain for the third time.  The first adjustment was at 2500, the second at 11,000 and now the last one was at 17,800.  In each case the adjustment was one or two "flats" or 1/6 to 1/3 of a turn each time.  

The  original chain seems like a high quality item and I'm expecting maybe 40,000 miles before I replace it and the sprockets.  I did install a 16 tooth front sprocket early on to reduce RPM at highway speeds and maybe that has had a beneficial effect too.  A Scott Oiler keeps the chain "wet" and even though the back wheel gets a bit grimy it's easily wiped off with a rag when necessary.

What have others of you found for chain life?  What kind of maintenance do you perform?  Any comments on chain oilers vs. spraying the chain?

Thanks,

[land_shark]

I'm running the stock chain at ~19k.  I've probably adjusted it more often than I needed to.  Lately, most of the adjustments were to align the rear wheel.

A year ago, or so, I started using some 3-in-1 oil on it to keep the rings in shape, and I think I did them much more harm than good     It would actually dry them out, and eventually caused some very tight links.  This lead to an incredibly loud case of chain-flop, and I believe led to the development of uneven stretching among the links.

After figuring out that the loud clacking I was hearing was because of this, I had several coleman-fuel/kerosene cleaning sessions to remove the grit and grime that stuck to the old oil, and in the rollers.  I'm back to Chain Wax, and everything is smooth and trouble free.  I'm sure I've significantly killed some of it's life, but I would expect it to last me another 5k.

This was such an annoying ordeal for me, I'm anxious to hear others' stories and advice!

[Red01]

A chain oiler will help it last longer than any of the lubes.
The stock chain is of mediocre quality. You might get 40K out of it, especially with the 16T up front, but few folks do.

Spray-on lube/wax users typically get 10-15K out of the stock chain. Double that for folks with lube systems. Of course, some folks will be exceptions to this, but that seems to be about the norm. I got 15K out of my OEM chain, and the DID VM I replaced it with now has ~22K. I use the Honda chain lube in the red can.

[gsxr400 racer]

Here is my info for chain adjustment , the chain slider at the front of your swingarm , to make sure your chain is properly adjusted you should be able to touch the chain link on the bottom of the chain slider under the swingarm towards the back of the chain slider flat , this will insure that your chain is loose enough for any type of riding!

[Bazza]

I"ve just adjusted my original chain for the third time.  The first adjustment was at 2500, the second at 11,000 and now the last one was at 17,800.  In each case the adjustment was one or two "flats" or 1/6 to 1/3 of a turn each time.  

The  original chain seems like a high quality item and I'm expecting maybe 40,000 miles before I replace it and the sprockets.  I did install a 16 tooth front sprocket early on to reduce RPM at highway speeds and maybe that has had a beneficial effect to.  A Scott Oiler keeps the chain "wet" and even though the back wheel gets a bit grimy it's easily wiped off with a rag when necessary.

What have others of you found for chain life?  What kind of maintenance do you perform?  Any comments on chain oilers vs. spraying the chain?

Thanks,

Actually the origional chain is garbage. If you get 40,000 miles out of it, you will be the 1st in Bandit history. Most get 15,000 miles tops. I think you will find you will be adjusting it often from now on, and you will start to see kinking begining to occur on individual links. I got 16,000 km out of mine, and I am very anal about chain maintinance.


A DID ZIM X ring chain is twice the quality of origional equipment.

I purchased a pro - oiler out of Belgium, (at the recomendation from a few people at STN) and installed it with the new chain. So far I am very impressed with the pro oiler. Chain maintinance has disapeared now. My chain looks like new after about 3000 km. The continuous lube with the pro oiler eliminates buildup you see with regular chain lube use. And the best part is, you can use regular motor oil.

I have finally managed to get the pro oiler fine tuned. It uses very little oil, and the container supplied I estimate will last about 1600 km. (or more) Since I finally have the settings dialed in perfectly, there is very little fling off, and the only draw back is you will see a drop or two of oil on the ground after a long ride and some oil accumulates on the kickstand etc.  (It makes not much more of a mess than regular chain lube application)

Pablo who owns pro oiler gives great service, and the parts are all 1st rate stuff. It is the best chain oiler for pintpoint application of oil, as it is all electronic, and works off your speedo sensor. (No oil is ever applied unless the chain is moving. This is not the case with most of the others)

Keep in mind folks, chains do not "Stretch". It is wear on your pivot points on your chain that causes the chain to become longer. Your chain links do not actually stretch.

You can see a few picts here of my installation

http://members.shaw.ca/zukeman/Pro-Oiler.htm


Pro oiler site is here

http://www.pro-oiler.com/


The truth about chains


http://www.quality-cycle.com/truth_about_motorcycle_chains.htm