chain adj question??

[left5x]

I have read the owners man on doing the chain adj, but how do you read the amount of travel?? do you only measure travel in one direction "up or down or the amount of both" when the bike is on the stand and slack,,also what are you guys using for chain lube? i ride a lot in the rain and im gonna need a lot of lube?
Thx.....

 

[koolfz6]

I measure with the chain relaxed and then push up. Then make my adjustment. Also, I use what ever Yamaha has as chain lube.

 

[Burnspot]

I have read the owners man on doing the chain adj, but how do you read the amount of travel?? do you only measure travel in one direction "up or down or the amount of both" when the bike is on the stand and slack,,also what are you guys using for chain lube? i ride a lot in the rain and im gonna need a lot of lube?
Thx.....

Same as koolFZ6 here, I measure with the chain relaxed and then push up to see how much slack I have.

As for lube, it's pretty hard to beat DuPont Teflon Multi-Use, found at your local Lowe's or other hardware store. Here's a write up from WBW: DuPont Teflon Chain Lube - webBikeWorld. This is really good stuff...been using it for quite awhile now and it works great....no fling.

 

[Sawblade]

I'm using this stuff right now. It does fling in the first few miles, but the film strength afterwords is crazy. I've done 500 miles with about half in the rain, and it still doesn't look like it needs cleaning.

 

[dean owens]

Same as koolFZ6 here, I measure with the chain relaxed and then push up to see how much slack I have.

As for lube, it's pretty hard to beat DuPont Teflon Multi-Use, found at your local Lowe's or other hardware store. Here's a write up from WBW: DuPont Teflon Chain Lube - webBikeWorld. This is really good stuff...been using it for quite awhile now and it works great....no fling.

first, didn't realize you were in rocky mount. my wife and i lived in wilson a few years ago and would go to rocky mount quite regularly to watch movies or go out to eat.

second, at least locally, lowes is no longer carrying the dupont teflon lube. tried to get some at my local lowes in pittsboro. the lady looked it up on the computer and said it was no longer going to be stocked and told me of some lowes close by that still had a few bottles in. one of them was chapel hill. i was going there later that day anyway so i dropped in and got their last two cans. would be nice if they would keep stocking it. the closest motorcycle shop to me is about 45 minutes. it'd be nice to just drop into lowes and get my lube rather than ordering online or driving 45 minutes one way to pick some up.

 

[SirIsaac]

I have read the owners man on doing the chain adj, but how do you read the amount of travel?? do you only measure travel in one direction "up or down or the amount of both" when the bike is on the stand and slack...?

I have always felt the instructions to be somewhat ambiguous. I'm sure that you are supposed to measure the total distance when pushing it in both directions, i.e., the distance from the maximum upward deflection point to the maximum lower deflection point. After all, the specified range is 45 to 55 mm, 1.77 to 2.17 inches. If that was for one direction, the total range would be 3.5 to 4.4 inches. I'd think that the chain would really flop around and the bike would be very jerky with that much slack. But, I have always wondered if the deflection range is from the top of the chain when pushed up to the bottom of the chain when pushed down, or is it from the center-line of the chain at both extremes. The attached diagram illustrates my question. If you assume the left picture is correct and adjust to the loose end of the range, it will not matter, i.e. the chain is probably about 0.4 inch, so it would be on the tight end of the right picture is correct. But if you adjust to the tight end of the range according to the left picture and they meant the right picture, then the chain will be too tight, which is bad. (I realize I am probably over-complicating this, but, I can't help myself.)

 

[Burnspot]

first, didn't realize you were in rocky mount. my wife and i lived in wilson a few years ago and would go to rocky mount quite regularly to watch movies or go out to eat.

second, at least locally, lowes is no longer carrying the dupont teflon lube. tried to get some at my local lowes in pittsboro. the lady looked it up on the computer and said it was no longer going to be stocked and told me of some lowes close by that still had a few bottles in. one of them was chapel hill. i was going there later that day anyway so i dropped in and got their last two cans. would be nice if they would keep stocking it. the closest motorcycle shop to me is about 45 minutes. it'd be nice to just drop into lowes and get my lube rather than ordering online or driving 45 minutes one way to pick some up.

Hmm, I'll have to run by the Lowe's here this weekend and see if there's any left there....I just used up the last can I had. I think someone here's posted a good link to a fairly cheap online retailer. I plan to pull the swingarm off the bike next week and lube the bearings and do a thorough chain cleaning at the same time. Guess I need to act quick.

Rocky Mount....hmm, yea. It's okay, but there's nothing here but restaurants and drag bikes. Our utility rates/crime are driving the businesses out.

 

[Cali rider]

I have always felt the instructions to be somewhat ambiguous. I'm sure that you are supposed to measure the total distance when pushing it in both directions, i.e., the distance from the maximum upward deflection point to the maximum lower deflection point. After all, the specified range is 45 to 55 mm, 1.77 to 2.17 inches. If that was for one direction, the total range would be 3.5 to 4.4 inches. I'd think that the chain would really flop around and the bike would be very jerky with that much slack. But, I have always wondered if the deflection range is from the top of the chain when pushed up to the bottom of the chain when pushed down, or is it from the center-line of the chain at both extremes. The attached diagram illustrates my question. If you assume the left picture is correct and adjust to the loose end of the range, it will not matter, i.e. the chain is probably about 0.4 inch, so it would be on the tight end of the right picture is correct. But if you adjust to the tight end of the range according to the left picture and they meant the right picture, then the chain will be too tight, which is bad. (I realize I am probably over-complicating this, but, I can't help myself.)

You accurately measure slack from centerline to centerline. Look at it this way, if you were to supposed to measure from the top to the bottom of the links, and you had ZERO chain movement up and down, your "slack" measurement would always be a minimum of 5/8". Slack is just that, movement before restriction.

 

[left5x]

Thanks,,, it makes better sense now. i did the adj and it was pretty easy. im going to get me some of that dupont lube as well.
thank u all.....

 

[Andz]

I have used Castrol Chain Wax and Putoline Tech Chain ceramic chain wax and both do an excellent job. The Putoline makes the chain white though which looks a bit strange.

 

[Sawblade]

I'm leaning towards the outside edge of the chain when measuring. I did have the centerline within spec, and it always seemed really jumpy when the chain went from slack to tight while riding. I tried using the outside edge (coincidentally right before I saw that handy diagram), and I can smoothly go from engine braking to light acceleration without the bike lurching forward.