chain tension whats your style?

Taffy · Oct 31, 2007

just to say that i have absolutely no idea what the correct chain tension is on a husey!

perhaps you'd like to tell me!

i have always done mine the same way and interestingly, in the IoM i showed grunt and ady my style and they'd never seen it before thus posing the idea that maybe i'm the only one that does it this way?

i also saw stuart (a non-member) do it another way!

i always lay my belly/chest across the rear of the seat whilst standing on the left of the bike. i have the sidestand down and by pressing down i can eventuially grab the back of the swingarm with my right hand and pull the bike even further down.

i then use my left hand to pull the chain up and if it can touch the underside of the swingarm i know it needs tensioning! this BTW represents the tightest point for the chain so as long as i have slack, even a small amount, i have enough!

my chains last longer than anyone's here at UHE methinks!

i'm on my third chain in six seasons.....

stuart was using a contraption that lines the rear sprocket to the front with a visual rod!

what a waist of time IMHO!

after sucking this up i'll add my wheel alignment method later in this thread - maybe!

regards

Taffy

Neil_E. · Oct 31, 2007

The key is lining up the front sprocket/swingarm pivot/rear sprocket as this is the tightest point. It matters not how it is done; press down on the bike while tugging the chain is sufficient (and fast) as long as you happen to be tugging the chain as you pass the tightest point. Slight play at the tightest spot = success. Good method Taffy.

I stick a rod through the hollow axle (my axle nut is bored through) and use a simple cam strap over the fender if I want to keep it in postion while I check.

dougn1 · Oct 31, 2007

i just tighten the chain up untill she emits a D note when struck with a hammer. then i search out a nasty set of whoops and pin the throttle. i don't care if my wheel is aligned or not cause i'm all over the place anyway

Scouser · Oct 31, 2007

Taffy..I am with you! I got shown that method by a KTM wizard, and adopted as my own. He explained it was a better way because it is your weight over the bike so adjusts it to the rider/machine! Dougn1 ..your method sounds like a Yorkshire man I know who kicks his chain with size 10 MX boots and then says"That'll be reet!"

tm-enduro · Oct 31, 2007

I remove the shock and rotate the swing until the chain the the tightest possible, which I find is at almost full compression of the shock.

steve · Oct 31, 2007

The tightest point is when the c/s shaft, the swingarm pivot and the rear axle are all in line. People who keep adjusting, ie tightening, chains generally do so because they have them too tight and the chain wears quickly and settles at the right length. Once its right, it'll rarely need adjusting, even on a 650.

I get 50,000 km plus on my ZX9 and that does track work as well as 2 up touring. The factory method in the manual for it results in a too tight chain.

A too tight chain puts unnecessary loads on the bearings on the above shafts too, as well as corrupting the stroke of the rear suspension as suspension loads are transferred to the chain and c/s shaft. Real real tight, and the suspension will almost lock up.

Better a bit loose then a bit tight.

Steve

Johnf3 · Oct 31, 2007

Tight chains are also hell on rear hubs and wheel bearings as well.

All the posts so far are right. At the tightest point, make sure your chain has a bit of slack in it.

Linkage bike don't require as much slack. Several times some well-meaning Japanese bike owner has told me my chain was too loose. Wrong!! I get great chain/sprocket life and I even run aluminum rear sprockets.

steve · Oct 31, 2007

And at the risk of stating the obvious, when the bike is on a stand the swingarm is drooped, the distance between the c/s shaft and rear axle is less than when it is compressed a bit such that all three pivots line up. As such, there is no Husaberg, or any brand specific method, just apply the above principle.

Lube as you see fit to suit your conditions and it'll be fine.

You can remove the shock to get the swingarm to travel, get someoneto sit on the bike, or even rig up a tie down or similar to help hold it compressed. Do it once, and then you'll know what it looks like when unladen on the stand for next time.

Steve

Scouser · Nov 1, 2007

Steve'
you are right.. but the method taffy and I are recommendinging is if someone/anyone leans or sits on the bike then you are adjusting to their weight/characteristics!! we are adjusting to the rider weight...not his mate!??
JohnF3.
you hit nail on head...Jap owners say chain too loose because they test chain tension in garage...with no -one on bike and no weight on bike! so they do tnot ake account for each rider weight etc!

steve · Nov 1, 2007

Scouser,

Its got absloutely nothing to do with rider weight, absolutely nothing. Its all about the geometrical relationship of the 3 pivot points, c/s shaft, or where the sprocket is, the swingarm pivot shaft and the rear axle shaft.. When the bike is unladen, the swingarm droops, when someone is on the bike, the swingarm rises, and may aproach the point where all 3 shafts are in a line, the point when length is maximum. Hit a bump, and it rises again and goes past that point. That bit is a function of weight and spring, but chain tension is not.

If lying on the bike achieves it, fine

Does this help?
Steve

kzoo · Nov 1, 2007

After I adjust the chain tension I compress the back end until the swing arm is parallel with the ground; I then check tension and adjust accordingly. Which is the same/similar method Taffy uses I believe. I learned it from a friend who rides a KTM. Said he was going through spockets/chains like crazy until he started using this method.

awilksch · Nov 1, 2007

Steve has it right, if you adjust the chain 'according to weight of the rider' and that happens to be less or more compressed than what is being described as 'the points being in alignment', then given normal riding, the swingarm willbe moving past the point where the maximum possible tension is imparted on the chain, that is as the swingarm reaches its inline position and it will be putting more strain on the countershaft, sprokets, many bearings and even the mounting points of the engine, than what should be.

adjust the chain at the maximum length, and it cannot tighten up anymore than what you dial into it.

Per interest, there was an article in ADB (australasian Dirt Bike) in October, with Ben Kearney (younger brother of Glenn Kearney) and his EXC-F 250, and that visually illustrates how loose looking a well adjusted chain is on a PDS shock swingarm.

Azza.

chain tension whats your style?

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Taffy

Neil_E.

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steve

Scouser

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