Chain tightening

[Rweimer]

K, i Have 178 miles on my 2004 gs500F.  I hear a clanking sound whenever i go over a bump in the road, or down shift, etc.  At first i thought these were symptoms of the popular knocking that is happening with so many other gs'ers..

In my opinion it is less of a knocking and more of a mechanical clanking. I suspect it is the chain.  There are more symptoms that make me believe it is the chain:  just today it is harder to downshift into first, it kind of is resistant to putting it into first from a higher gear, and will stop in neutral.  once i even had to force it into first, and you could hear the gears like you would in a standard car.  not good.

I was told by my friendly salesperson a week ago taht i might need to tighten my chain after about 100 miles.  He briefly instructed me on how to do it, pulling out a little pin, wrenching the bolt until there is about one inch of play in the chain.  Well i have several questions.

When the bike is on the kickstand, there is lots of play in the chain, hell it is laying on the centerstand basically. Then when i sit the bike up, and get on it, the chain seems to grow taut, and appears to be around the inch of play.

I do NOT want to overtighten the chain, but i am afraid if i leave it too loose, it will snap off, fly into the motor housing, and bad things will occur.

any suggestions would help.

i cannot wait til my 600 mile initial service from my dealer.  lots of questions, but great great bike.

------

sidenote.  I pulled over and spoke to some bikers around town, they all meet at this one fast food restaurant in the middle of mobile.  They were mostly comprised of GSXR 1000's, a few hayabusas and one Fireblade.  I thought id stop by just to say hi, and they were pretty receptive, and we talked.  it is amusing to me about how these people are still alive, no offense to them.

none had insurance, none mounted their liscence plates, as in alabama, if you get pulled over, all you have to do is pull out your plate out from under your seat.  I asked them if the cops ever asked for their proof of insurance, and they all laughed.  not even liability among all of them.  I also asked if they had their motorcycle liscences, and none of them had them.  These aren't noobie bikers, they were all at least seasoned bikers, late 20's, early 30s.  I just don't see how they stay alive.

They asked me if i could ride the gs500f, and i said yeah, but ive only had it a week, and i want to learn on it before i jump on a liter, or liter plus bike and kill myself.  They told me right away that if i could keep on two wheels, to jump onto a liter bike, sell mine while i could still get some money back from it.

Geez, and to think, some people may actually be taking their advice.

I'll stick to my 500.  Ill stay away from these 'seasoned' bikers.

[Kerry]

From section 1.11:

To check the chain, shift the transmission into neutral and make sure the ignition switch is OFF.  Place the machine on its centre stand.

Measure the amount of freeplay on the chain's bottom run, at a point midway between the two sprockets, then compare your measurement to the value listed in this Chapter's specifications [20-30mm, or 1 inch +/- 3/16].  Since the chain will rarely wear evenly, rotate the rear wheel so that another section of chain can be checked; do this several times to check the entire length of chain.

EDIT: Fixed typo

[Rweimer]

Try as I may, I can't  seem loosen the bolt or tighten it for that matter to adjust the chain.

i am just going to have to bring it to the dealer, as there is too much play in the chain, and i believe it is hazardous.

Thanks for the advice, anyways.

robert

[Rweimer]

got it.

it just took some force, a lot of force, and remembering things i learned in physics.

thaks kerry