Chain Slack question

[REO Scorpio]

So I measured the up and down deflection on the chain and came up with 40mm. Spec is 47-55. Would you go through the hassle of adjusting or would u just leave it as is?

Was going to adjust it this morning, but that axle nut was way over torqued. So I took it to my shop and they were able to loosen it for me, but felt that the chain did not need adjusting. I know they just eyeball it, and I would probably do a better job myself, I just don't want to mess up a good thing and walk away with a misaligned tire or something.

As of now, I have not noticed any whine from the chain or anything, though might be hard to tell with the Scorpion exhaust.

Just looking for feedback...

Have a good weekend guys.


Scorp

Also, anyone know where to dl a 09 service manual? I have the '07, but the swingarm and some other things are different, so I'd like the most up to date version.

 

[Botch]

A great question.

When I got my second set of tires I used a mom-n-pop shop, and the bike whined like my sister when I took it home. I readjusted the slack myself (and nearly dropped the bike loosening the wheel nut, always orient the wrench to push "down" instead of "forward" ).

I went to the stealership for my third set, and again the chain is too tight (I haven't measured it like you have), although the "whine" is very light; I haven't taken the time to adjust it yet, not sure if I should or not.

 

[REO Scorpio]

Yeah, I just don't know. I don't want to do any long term damage to my baby with a tight chain, but also don't wan to accidentally mess up the alignment either.

 

[D-Mac]

Yeah, I just don't know. I don't want to do any long term damage to my baby with a tight chain, but also don't wan to accidentally mess up the alignment either.

Loose is better than tight. If you can hear something funny, you should probably adjust it. In most cases I think having it too tight would be worse than having the alignment slightly off.

It's actually a pretty easy adjustment to make once the axle nut is loose. Good tip about making sure you're not forcing the bike off the stand!

I've got over 13K on my FZ6 chain and it looks like new. I've never had to adjust it other than when I removed the wheel to put on a new tire or swapped sprockets for fun. People get too obsessed with alignment IMO. The tick-marks on the swingarm aren't perfect, but they're close enough, and as long as you're careful about adjusting both sides by the same amount you can keep it aligned pretty well.

 

[REO Scorpio]

Okay, so I went ahead and adjusted the chain per the manual. Got it set at 53mm and just decided that was good enough. As you all have said, loose is better than tight, so I figured I would go on the loose end of the specs.

As for alignment, my hash marks never seemed to line up before, so instead I measured from the edge of the axle bolt enclosure to the edge of the swingarm on both sides (see pics) and they both came out to about 69mm.

Do you guys think that is an okay measurement to use? The hash marks seem to be about a mm off from each other, but the wheel and the chain seem to be running smooth.

Thanks,

Scorpio

 

[mglowe]

...

As for alignment, my hash marks never seemed to line up before, so instead I measured from the edge of the axle bolt enclosure to the edge of the swingarm on both sides (see pics) and they both came out to about 69mm.

Do you guys think that is an okay measurement to use? The hash marks seem to be about a mm off from each other, but the wheel and the chain seem to be running smooth.

Thanks,

Scorpio

I would not have measured that way, but that doesn't mean it's out of alignment either. If the chain is aligned with the front sprocket and tire wear looks good your method most likely is in alignment. Personally, I measure from the swing arm mount bolt holes but others have a different way.

As far as the original post about chain slack I would get it in spec. The spec is there for a reason but loose is better than tight as others have said.