Steve76
2nd Feb 2004, 05:05
Righto:
This month - how to adjust your Motorcycles chain correctly so you can ride safely to your job on your HELICOPTER.
Most Motorbike chains these days are O-ring chains.
A super idea that allows you to get a significant amount of mileage in comparison to the original non-sealed roller chains. Most of us can remember having to carry the tools and to adjust the old chains every 300 odd kilometres (or less if you ride like Squeek...)
The boffins came up with the idea that if the rollers are sealed with o-rings it will trap in the grease and resist water and dirt etc. And generally it works.
However; they still need adjusting eventually.
How to do:
1) Raise rear tyre off ground. Note how easy this is with a centre stand.....
2) Curse the ba$tard that fitted the 4 into 1 system or the manufacturer for not fitting a centre stand......
NB: Most chains can be adjusted without raising the tyre off the ground once you know what you are doing.
3) Rotate rear wheel while watching the bottom of the chain (that part running closest to the ground). You will note that it may rise and fall as the chains have a habit of stretching unevenly due to excessive acceleration and deceleration with gearing. Not always the case but often the culprit.
4) Find the section that is the tauntest.
ie: that part that rises and falls the LEAST as the chain travels around. Place this section at the bottom and then check the vertical displacement of this section.
5) The chain should comfortably rise and fall about 1 inch.
It must do this without being forced or being too loose. This is one of those "feel" moments that you acquire with a bit of practice and previous experience.
A gentle but positive pressure up and down on the chain will access the adjustment. You will note that if the chain is stretched, this test may show greater displacement in other sections of the chain.
This means that you must replace the chain eventually. However, if you are tightarse poor like most of us, you will ride the bloody thing until it is at the absolute limit. In this case you will have to accept excessive amounts of play in the "stretched" section in order to adjust the "tight" section correctly. If you adjust to the "stretched" section, the "tight" section will be over-tensioned and subsequently wear the drive sprockets and gearbox output shaft and bearings.
It will also cause riding issues.....but I will leave that to Squeek to elaborate on :)
6) Consult owners manual or just dive in with a bunch of tools and make the necessary adjustments.
When finished it is important to ensure each side adjuster is correctly aligned with the swingarm. This will make sure the front and rear sprocket are running true to each other. Any misalignment will cause wear and interesting handling issues. On some bikes you can measure the distance from the rim to the swingarm at the front of the swingarm to ensure the tyre is centered and aligned. However, some tyres are offset to one side in the swingarm - so be wary.
Once all adjusters are tightened, recheck the chain tension as discussed. Sometimes tightening the adjuster pulls the tyre back and over tensions the chain. It may take a couple of goes.
7) Clean and lubricate the chain.
O-rings are delicate little things. DON"T soak the chain in petrol or yucky stuff like that. Instead, go to the S76 and elect to do a fuel drain. Use the fuel drain (kerosene...of course;) ) to wash the old lube off the chain. This is a messy job and quite frustrating. O-ring chain lube is designed to be non-fling but no manufacturer has managed to live up to this claim, so you get lots of lube all over everything if you are a dedicated chain carer. This extra lube loves to attract dirt and becomes hard to remove. The only cure is elbow grease. Tough titty.
Once the kero has taken off the old lube, allow it to dry or do so yourself with a clean non fluff rag and then apply the new lube.
8) Generally it is best to put lube on a "hot" chain .... ie: one that has been ridden. Not always practical after cleaning but good to do at the servo after refuelling. Your chain needs a lot of lube constantly. If you let it dry out it will wear excessively and cost you money. If it is not adjusted correctly it will wear the sprockets and possibly break or dismount from the sprockets. If this happens we may end up meeting as I will attend the accident scene......
Do the lubing at least once a week or more.
The best products are the ones that splatter everywhere. However, there is a brand that sells a "super-clean" lube. I will post the name later. It does an OK job but needs to be put on more often.
9) Finally, check the sprockets for wear. Go to the bike shop and have a nosey at a new sprockets teeth. Take this image back to your bike and look at the front and rear teeth.
If they resemble a sharks fin, the eiffel tower or a nice curling wave off a point break, then your sprockets are probably stuffed. This wear means you are a hard man on the gas or just that they are old. Old sprockets will exacerbate wear to the chain and a new chain should always be mated to new sprockets if the finances can cope with it.
Well, until next month. Safe riding and please add your POW's to this subject.
Steve :ok:
This month - how to adjust your Motorcycles chain correctly so you can ride safely to your job on your HELICOPTER.
Most Motorbike chains these days are O-ring chains.
A super idea that allows you to get a significant amount of mileage in comparison to the original non-sealed roller chains. Most of us can remember having to carry the tools and to adjust the old chains every 300 odd kilometres (or less if you ride like Squeek...)
The boffins came up with the idea that if the rollers are sealed with o-rings it will trap in the grease and resist water and dirt etc. And generally it works.
However; they still need adjusting eventually.
How to do:
1) Raise rear tyre off ground. Note how easy this is with a centre stand.....
2) Curse the ba$tard that fitted the 4 into 1 system or the manufacturer for not fitting a centre stand......
NB: Most chains can be adjusted without raising the tyre off the ground once you know what you are doing.
3) Rotate rear wheel while watching the bottom of the chain (that part running closest to the ground). You will note that it may rise and fall as the chains have a habit of stretching unevenly due to excessive acceleration and deceleration with gearing. Not always the case but often the culprit.
4) Find the section that is the tauntest.
ie: that part that rises and falls the LEAST as the chain travels around. Place this section at the bottom and then check the vertical displacement of this section.
5) The chain should comfortably rise and fall about 1 inch.
It must do this without being forced or being too loose. This is one of those "feel" moments that you acquire with a bit of practice and previous experience.
A gentle but positive pressure up and down on the chain will access the adjustment. You will note that if the chain is stretched, this test may show greater displacement in other sections of the chain.
This means that you must replace the chain eventually. However, if you are tightarse poor like most of us, you will ride the bloody thing until it is at the absolute limit. In this case you will have to accept excessive amounts of play in the "stretched" section in order to adjust the "tight" section correctly. If you adjust to the "stretched" section, the "tight" section will be over-tensioned and subsequently wear the drive sprockets and gearbox output shaft and bearings.
It will also cause riding issues.....but I will leave that to Squeek to elaborate on :)
6) Consult owners manual or just dive in with a bunch of tools and make the necessary adjustments.
When finished it is important to ensure each side adjuster is correctly aligned with the swingarm. This will make sure the front and rear sprocket are running true to each other. Any misalignment will cause wear and interesting handling issues. On some bikes you can measure the distance from the rim to the swingarm at the front of the swingarm to ensure the tyre is centered and aligned. However, some tyres are offset to one side in the swingarm - so be wary.
Once all adjusters are tightened, recheck the chain tension as discussed. Sometimes tightening the adjuster pulls the tyre back and over tensions the chain. It may take a couple of goes.
7) Clean and lubricate the chain.
O-rings are delicate little things. DON"T soak the chain in petrol or yucky stuff like that. Instead, go to the S76 and elect to do a fuel drain. Use the fuel drain (kerosene...of course;) ) to wash the old lube off the chain. This is a messy job and quite frustrating. O-ring chain lube is designed to be non-fling but no manufacturer has managed to live up to this claim, so you get lots of lube all over everything if you are a dedicated chain carer. This extra lube loves to attract dirt and becomes hard to remove. The only cure is elbow grease. Tough titty.
Once the kero has taken off the old lube, allow it to dry or do so yourself with a clean non fluff rag and then apply the new lube.
8) Generally it is best to put lube on a "hot" chain .... ie: one that has been ridden. Not always practical after cleaning but good to do at the servo after refuelling. Your chain needs a lot of lube constantly. If you let it dry out it will wear excessively and cost you money. If it is not adjusted correctly it will wear the sprockets and possibly break or dismount from the sprockets. If this happens we may end up meeting as I will attend the accident scene......
Do the lubing at least once a week or more.
The best products are the ones that splatter everywhere. However, there is a brand that sells a "super-clean" lube. I will post the name later. It does an OK job but needs to be put on more often.
9) Finally, check the sprockets for wear. Go to the bike shop and have a nosey at a new sprockets teeth. Take this image back to your bike and look at the front and rear teeth.
If they resemble a sharks fin, the eiffel tower or a nice curling wave off a point break, then your sprockets are probably stuffed. This wear means you are a hard man on the gas or just that they are old. Old sprockets will exacerbate wear to the chain and a new chain should always be mated to new sprockets if the finances can cope with it.
Well, until next month. Safe riding and please add your POW's to this subject.
Steve :ok: