The manual probably says side stand because the center stand is not standard equipment. I do mine on the center stand. It is all but impossible to find the tight spot any other way. All bikes will not be the same but the tight spot on mine is a half inch tighter than the loose spot. GH
The tightest spot is when the rear axle, swing arm pivot point and counter shaft sprocket are all in a line. Achieve that anyway you like.
30-40 mm with motorcycle on the side stand, this just about lines up those three points, if the bike is heavily loaded or on the center stand I would go closer to the 40 mm
Yeah, buts chain don't always wear evenly so you should check for the tightest spot along it's entire length, too.
The correct way is probably to check tension over various parts of the chain. Personally, I have the bike on the side stand (even though I do have a centre stand) and tighten it until it touches the swing arm. That seems to correspond to the correct chain tension suggested in the manual. I do this unloaded.
JRP, you are missing something. When they say adjust at the tightest spot they mean to locate the tightest spot by rotating the wheel and checking the slack in the chain. The spot with the least slack is the tightest spot. Remember that a hot chain will be tighter than a cold chain. I you are not sure or unable to find the tight spot I would adjust to the long side of the recommended range. GH
Put it on the sidestand with the bike in Neutral. I have a clear plastic ruler where I have taped the limit which is 35-45 mm between top and bottom without yanking the chain. I also loosen the axel nut so it slides more easily. I then loosen the lock nuts and take one turn up or down till the wrench stops against the top or bottom (actually only a quarter turn), each side till it comes within specification and retighten the lock nuts and axel nut - 100 ft pounds torque. And recheck to see if it's still within 35-45 mm. Note I stop adjusting as soon as I show I am within the limit. Usually I am a mm or 2 of 40. If you try to get it to an exact number of mm's you will go nucking futs. After that move the chain up and down with your hand to get a feeling where the right spot is without measuring. As pointed out by others it's looser than you think and about where the chain hits the swingarm. . It's better to err on the side of too loose rather than too tight. You will see that you need to adjust very little untill the chain is starting to age then you might move it as much as an 1/8 th to 1/4 of an inch. Dave
I'm not missing anything, I simply said that is the spot where the chain will be tightest , if the axle moves up or down from that point the chain will get looser. Adjust it anywhere you like (manual says on the side stand) just make sure you have at least some play where ever the chain is tightest. And yes, turn the wheel to check for tight places in the chain itself. This is not rocket science
How comes? BTW, having a center stand and not using it seems a bit weird, but well you will know why. My personal hint, use the center stand if you have one and adjust as loose as possible while being inside the given limit or even a fraction out of limit.. Most people tend to adjust to tight. Another hint: before tightening the nut of rear axel slide a big screw driver between chain and sprocket and push the wheel forward with force, jam the screw driver between chain and sprocket. In this position push the brake pedal and tighten the nut of the rear axle. This procedure ensures that when you tighten the nut you wont pull the rear axel away form the tension screws/tension brackets and the chain tension does not change after tightening the rear axle/nut.
I respectfully disagree. The chain will be tighter on the side stand than on the center stand because on the side stand the drive gear is closer to the line-up position between sprockets and the swingarm pivot. If you adjust looser than spec while the bike is on the center stand your chain will be too loose. Under load (esp. heavy) while riding the chain will often be looser than when the bike is on the side stand because your suspension is compressed and the swingarm is beyond the line-up point (hope that makes sense).
With my normal load in the Jessie side and Vario top case my suspension is not compressed at all on the side sand. I agree that the geometry change when the swing arm moves is real but with the center to center difference of only 3 1/4" between the sprocket and swing arm pivot the change is minimal. Not enough to matter how the bike is propped up when adjusting the chain. Lets just agree to disagree. GH
I think many people make this a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Put the bike on the side stand, transmission in neutral, roll the bike back and forth a bit to make sure there is no residual tension. check the deflection, in the middle of the chain(ie between the front and rear sprockets) with your finger...if you can move it up and down (total movement) about 3/4 inch you are fine. If the chain is looser...ie total movement up to 2" the chain is loose....no big deal. Have a beer and enjoy the day! If it is more than that adjust chain to 3/4 inch movement. If the chain is tighter than 3/4 inch....the down side you will wear your chain and sprockets out much faster...when this wear happen.... things will loosen up nicely!!
What complicates it is something being out of round. mine goes from tight to recommended slack in every full rotation of the rear wheel. The standard OEM rear sprocket is out of round. I'm wondering if it always was, because it has always made a slapping at certain speeds....or if the slapping is a result of transmission pulses and has worn the rear sprocket out of round...it has slapped since I bought it...and the sprockets and chain have 50,000km on them, but are still in really good condition. I clamped a screwdriver on the swingarm with the tip just touching the tip of the teeth on the rear sprocket, and then turned the wheel. It's out of round by a couple of mm from the look of it. The front looks ok. It would most likely be the rear, a couple of mm change on the rear takes it from 40mm chain slack, to running tight. New chain and sprockets just became more urgent.
Keep in mind the rear sprocket is only attached to the rear rim by rubber mounts. They will never be perfectly round, but maybe yours are going bad?
But it's also held in place by the axle, no? I'd guess all sprockets are somewhat out of round, based on the way they are manufactured.
Yeah the cush drive has rubber mounts, but it's centre is controlled by the bearing. It appears to be a manufacturing fault, and possibly the source of the "wokka wokka/shimmy shimmy/slappa slappa" noise. Depending on what speed you're doing it makes different noises. If I use a fixed point at the tips of the teeth and rotate the gap increases on one side and decreases again as it completes the revolution. I'll check the mounting points on the cush drive and see if they're running true. Standard sprockets, and the chain is still in really good condition. The temptation is to just slacken it off and keep running it until dead.