Drive Chain Adjustment

[ricklee4570]

I just put new sprockets and a new chain on my 97 1200. I adjusted the chain with the bike on the centerstand to about 22 to 25 mm of slack. (22mm when I just normally push up and down on the chain and 25-26 when I really put a lot of pressure on it. When I place it on the ground, I think it probably reduces to about 15mm or so (guessing)

Here is my question. Occasionally I will take on a passenger. She weighs about 130-135 pounds. Would I be better to add more slack to the chain to make sure it is not over tightening (due to the additional weight)?  Or am I safe with leaving the chain as is?  I was assuming that the manual was correct and that they probably figured in a wide range of weight variants when they reccomend 20 to 30mm slack on the centerstand.

Thanks!

[orionburn]

IMO you'll be fine. Like you said they take in variables to riding. Wouldn't be fun to have to make chain adjustments for times when you're carrying a passenger or luggage. Besides I would think the extra weight is going to be absorbed by the rear shock and shouldn't affect the chain slack anyway.

[Dave 02 1200]

Chain tension can be set most accurately by the following method.  It is much easier than it sounds.

1. Put the bike on the center stand.

2.  Remove the bottom bolt from the dog-bones.

3.  Raise the rear wheel until the swingarm is horizontal and the axle is in line with the swing arm pivot and the drive sprocket.  Block it in place.

4. Tighten the chain until there is no slack but do not overtighten.

5. Replace the lower dog-bone bolt and nut

6. Check the slack with the bike on the side stand as per the manual.  (It will be exactly right)

This method might take an extra 5 minutes but it is well worth the confidence it gives knowing that your chain is right.

[pmackie]

+1. You can also use a friend and a tie down strap to pull the swingarm in line with the pivot and countershaft sprocket.f Once you figure out the correct slack on either the centre or side stand, it will be the same, whether you add a passenger or not.

[rmtcook]

OK, for us non-mechanics who would like to do this (I just turned 1800 miles on the odo and the chain seems pretty loose). A couple of questions.

2.  Remove the bottom bolt from the dog-bones.

What the heck are dog bones??  

3.  Raise the rear wheel until the swingarm is horizontal and the axle is in line with the swing arm pivot and the drive sprocket.  Block it in place.

I understand that I have to pull or push the wheel up by either blocking the wheel or some tie down process to flex the swingarm, but do I look for the swingarm to be horizontal to the ground? I'm not sure what you mean by the axle being in line with the pivot and drive sprocket.

One other question. Do I really have to worry about torqueing the axle nut when I'm done like it says in the manual? I don't have a torque wrench.

Thanks for taking the time to post this procedure. I'm sure it's a simple thing for most, but I like to have steps to follow!  

[orionburn]

Dogbones are slang for part of the linkage that connects the rear shock and the swingarm. They get their name because, well, they look like dog bones. Look at #13. The schematic is from a B6, but still gives you an idea what he's talking about -  bones

To be honest, I've never gone that in depth to adjusting chain slack and haven't had any problems. That's just me, though.

One other question. Do I really have to worry about torqueing the axle nut when I'm done like it says in the manual? I don't have a torque wrench.

IMO - Dear God YES! I haven't messed with my Bandit yet, but I know on my FZR it's a tight fit back there between the wheel and the swingarm. You sure don't want it to loose, and to tight can start to bind things up. Take the time (and money) to invest in decent torque wrench. You'll be surprised how often it will come in handy once you have it. To me motorcycles don't have the leniency that cars do when it comes to tightening things up.

[Red01]

I've never gone to the precise methods mentioned above, I've just followed what's in the owners & service manual, which is to adjust it on the side stand so there's 20-30mm (0.8-1.2") freeplay on the bottom run, midway between the sprockets. (Pretty typical for chain drive street bikes.) I shoot for the loose end of the spectrum because a chain that's a little too loose is MUCH better than one that's a little too tight. Too tight can cause bearing damage in the gearbox, especially to the countershaft bearing.

That said, 15mm (0.6") is a little tight. Given new chains stretch a little at first, it's probably liveable though.

[ZenMan]

I've never gone to the precise methods mentioned above, I've just followed what's in the owners & service manual, which is to adjust it on the side stand so there's 20-30mm (0.8-1.2") freeplay on the bottom run, midway between the sprockets. (Pretty typical for chain drive street bikes.) I shoot for the loose end of the spectrum because a chain that's a little too loose is MUCH better than one that's a little too tight. Too tight can cause bearing damage in the gearbox, especially to the countershaft bearing.

That said, 15mm (0.6") is a little tight. Given new chains stretch a little at first, it's probably liveable though.

+1, Red.  

Also, if I may add, adjusting your chain too tight will cause both chain and sprockets to wear out WAY faster than normal.  

[Red01]

I've never gone to the precise methods mentioned above, I've just followed what's in the owners & service manual, which is to adjust it on the side stand so there's 20-30mm (0.8-1.2") freeplay on the bottom run, midway between the sprockets. (Pretty typical for chain drive street bikes.) I shoot for the loose end of the spectrum because a chain that's a little too loose is MUCH better than one that's a little too tight. Too tight can cause bearing damage in the gearbox, especially to the countershaft bearing.

That said, 15mm (0.6") is a little tight. Given new chains stretch a little at first, it's probably liveable though.

+1, Red.  

Also, if I may add, adjusting your chain too tight will cause both chain and sprockets to wear out WAY faster than normal.  

Hey! We found something to agree on!  

[ZenMan]

+1, Red.  

Also, if I may add, adjusting your chain too tight will cause both chain and sprockets to wear out WAY faster than normal.  

Hey! We found something to agree on!  

I think we agree on a lot of things.

You must be thinking of someone else.  

[Dave 02 1200]

Red is absolutely right that it is better to err on the loose side on a street bike.  If the chain is too tight it will damage sprockets, chain and transmission bearings in short order.

I also agree that the method described in the manual with the bike on the side stand is about right.

The problem is that most of us are not very accurate in our "measurement" of slack and, as a result we could inadvertently set the chain too tight using the prescribed method.  Or we could set it looser than necessary.

When I adjust it as described in my earlier post and then check it on the side stand, it measures as specified in the manual.  

However, when I set the slack to the best of my ability using the method in the manual first and then check chain tension with the swingarm in line with the sprocket and swingarm pivot, it can be a little too tight or a too loose.

The main thing is to avoid having the chain get too tight when hitting a bump which could momentarily compress the suspension and overtighten the chain.

If you don't want to take an extra few minutes to set it as I have described above, at least take Red's advice and use the method in the manual - but be extra careful to err on the loose side.  

Good luck,

[orionburn]

Rather than start a new thread I'll put this in here. Out of  curiosity what do you guys use to clean your chains? I've used the chain clean from Motorex before and it works alright. Still have to do a lot of rubbing, but it does work fairly decent.

I know the manuals always tell you to your kerosene, but I try to avoid using that crap. I've heard that WD-40 works really well, but seems to be as much debate surrounding that as a regular oil discussion thread. Some say that the WD will damage the O-rings, others say they've used it for years without any problems.

Opinions?

[Dave 02 1200]

I use synthetic gear lube.  

It stinks but it won't harm the o-rings and it has high pressure additives that might help prolong sprocket life.

I use a soft used toothbrush to apply the gear lube and brush away the crud.

The bike is on the center stand and in neutral so I can rotate the rear wheel.  I put some newspaper on the garage floor and over the swingarm to collect the mess.

I know that there are other ways to do it and that some will object to the mess or the smell but it is hard to complain about the results.

[rmtcook]

I used some stuff called CleanUp from Maxima, before I read in the manual that you're only supposed to use Kerosene  

The ingredients are Petroleum distalilates, propane, naptha and isobutane. Doesn't sound good for rubber o-rings, but it worked great. Did the same thing as Dave with the toothbrush and the newspapers. Then used a squirt bottle to rinse the grime and cleaner off the chain, dried thorougly with an old towel and used Chain wax to lube. I'll be tightening the chain this weekend.

I'm interested to hear opinions on whether the igredient combo in the CleanUp is a definite no-no for the Bandit chain.

[Red01]

Kerosene works great, is not too expensive and shouldn't be hard to find. You can also use diesel or jet fuel - both of which are heavily kerosene based. Soak a rag in it and wipe the chain down.

I have used WD-40 to clean chain when it happened to be handy and kerosene wasn't and it works well, too. In this case, I just spay the chain down real good and wiped it down with a rag. Given some folks even swear by it as a chain lube, I don't think it's harmful to the chain. At least I didn't see any flag raisers when I looked at its MSDS sheet several years ago when I was curious about the o-ring charges. I still wouldn't use it as a chain lube unless there was nothing else around and my chain couldn't wait. (See the chain lube topic in the General FAQ for details on the chain lube shootout.)