Chain tension and drive sprocket bearing etc

[oggy]

On recent trip to Alps, fully loaded, on lubing the chain I noted the chain tension was quite tight. - nowhere near the play of 40mm as recommended. This would put a bit of a strain on the drive sprocket bearing - a noted weak spot of the TA.

Unloading the bike back home and putting the bike on centrestand, tension reduced and the play was about right.

Why is this, (presemably geometery of swing arm??) and how do you compensate - Do you simply allow for more play when unloaded?

[raymo]

On recent trip to Alps, fully loaded, on lubing the chain I noted the chain tension was quite tight. - nowhere near the play of 40mm as recommended. This would put a bit of a strain on the drive sprocket bearing - a noted weak spot of the TA.

Unloading the bike back home and putting the bike on centrestand, tension reduced and the play was about right.

Why is this, (presemably geometery of swing arm??) and how do you compensate - Do you simply allow for more play when unloaded?

when loaded, up the pre load on the shock absorber ( not the easiest thing on an alp ), so the ride hight (sag) is at same 'normal' hight ( some folk recommend 30% of travel with rider & load )
this might help
http://www.motorcycle.co.uk/articles...ion_setup.html

chain tension should be set so that there is no sever tension over the whole suspension travel.. it will tighten as it approaches the centre line then slacken as it gets to full travel.. if you have set it correctly on the centre stand, then it should be ok.

Hope this helps

cheers
Ray

[FatFergie]

According to my 600 manual the tension of 40mm is for on the sidestand. Once that's right it won't matter how heavy (or light) you load it.
You can check it without too much bother. Line up the three points: wheel axle, front sprocket and swingarm pivot (you'll have to disconnect the shock). Your chain will be tightest at his point. It should be able to run freely with a very small amount of play. As you move the swingarm up and down you'll notice the play increases.

Does that make sense?

[Nareef]

piguglyshandydrinker once told me to:- "put someone on the pillion seat, while you are both on the bike reach down & feel for slack in the chain."

That way as long as you have a bit of slack then you will be OK on your travels. Don't worry too much about what the "Book" says, real world is often different.

[phil w]

According to my 600 manual the tension of 40mm is for on the sidestand. Once that's right it won't matter how heavy (or light) you load it.
You can check it without too much bother. Line up the three points: wheel axle, front sprocket and swingarm pivot (you'll have to disconnect the shock). Your chain will be tightest at his point. It should be able to run freely with a very small amount of play. As you move the swingarm up and down you'll notice the play increases.

Does that make sense?

No disagree. I had my chain at the 40mm on side stand and when I went to J and Sharri for a fettling day. J looked at the chain with me sat on it and it was a guitar string and had to slacken off more. Mind I am 19 stone and a bit back then. So the bike was carrying 2 baby hippos

[FatFergie]

Don't doubtcha. I was just saying what the honda book says. I didn't mean that it was necessarily correct. It is right for my 94 600
However it shouldn't matter how heavy or light you are once you've got the tension correct for the tightest part of the suspension travel ie: all three points in a line. If you get that right you can check how much it is for your own bike and so long as you use the same method every time it doesn't matter whether it's on the stand or off it, unloaded or loaded.

[graeme0309]

I drove all around Europe on my TLV650 2007. I am 18stone and I took about 6 stone of camping and other kit on board. The chain was very tight. Before I set off, I stopped at the dealer (Honda Shoreditch in London) and said "does this look right? The chain looks like an ankle chain on a fat chick's leg". And they said not to worry.

About 3 weeks into my trip I noticed that my chain had stretched beyond belief (when I was unloaded). I went into Honda (Todi, Umbria, Italy) and all they could say was adjust the tension, to take up the slack, which I did.

I got back to the UK 3 weeks after that, was sitting at the traffic lights nearing home in east London, and suddently I was stuck in second gear (with a hard flick upwards I got the bike going in 4th eventually but what a mess).

Went into Honda Shoreditch the next day and they had to replace the sprocket kit and gear selector pin whcih had sheared. What a mess. We argued about it for half an hour but I ended up paying 700quid to have it fixed. (I don't have the time away from work and family to strip a bike down and do the repairs myself).

I am going away in 4 weeks for another 2 week trip to the Alps. I am really perplexed as to what kind of stratgey to make with the fecking chain. Slack, tight, neither/measure it this way/measure it that way. I've ready all the threads above but I am not confident that, with a really very, very heavy load (on the edge of th manufacturer's maximum allowance) that there is really a 100% bomb proof solution.

What I am thinking of is .............. taking a spare chain with me. And once it stretches, whack on the new one. Sounds crazy. But I can't afford another 700quid in repairs, post trip.

[steveR]

I am going away in 4 weeks for another 2 week trip to the Alps. I am really perplexed as to what kind of stratgey to make with the fecking chain. Slack, tight, neither/measure it this way/measure it that way. I've ready all the threads above but I am not confident that, with a really very, very heavy load (on the edge of the manufacturer's maximum allowance) that there is really a 100% bomb proof solution.

What I am thinking of is .............. taking a spare chain with me. And once it stretches, whack on the new one. Sounds crazy. But I can't afford another 700quid in repairs, post trip.

TBH, I can see why you are so concerned, but even with the loadings you are talking about as long as you have a newish chain that is properly tensioned and lubed, it should be able to cope. IME, chains need a few hundred miles to settle down and after that, with lube (auto oiler if u like) they will not be a bother for thousands of miles, modern O-rings do not stretch suddenly like the old jobs.

Personally, if I was you, I'd have a new C&S on a fortnight before pushing off, and then get the chain tension checked when you are sitting on the bike, fully loaded, by a mate. As long as you have the 40-50mm necessary slack, all should be OK I would have thought. I prefer a slightly slack chain as opposed to Banjo strings!

A thought, the sprockets are in line aren't they?? May be worth checking, though after the work you have had done, that shouldn't be an issue.... I hope. As someone else mentioned, crank up the preload too.

[phil w]

Consider an uprated rear shock that can handle a load better also

[Orinoco]

I always thought that a properly adjusted and lubed chain should be able to cope with load and swing-arm movement etc without being over tight at any point.

The trick was always to find the tightest point in the chain before beginning the adjustment and ensuring that the slack is correct at that point. I too tend to err on the slack side.

I must admit it's been a while since I took my bike on holiday [kids tend to complain about being squashed into panniers ] but when I went I always had a small can of chain lube in the top box and gave the chain a squirt every 300 - 400 miles