Chain tension not the same throughout the chain?

[danci1973]

Is it normal that the chain doesn't have the same play on every part of it?

I mean, if I turn the wheel while checking the tension, the chain is loose on some parts and tight on other parts...

Is something wrong with my bike?

Thanks, D.

[pantablo]

that is normal. can't explain it but everyone says that about every bike it seems. Normal procedure to check at several places along the chain (by moving the rear wheel and checking a different part of the chain in same place.

[The Buddha]

Its a kinked chain or uneven wear on the sprokets...Too much difference means you replace them...as a set...BUt a little is un avoidable...The solution of course is to get rid of the chain and put in a belt.
Cool.
Srinath.

[Richard UK]

Every chain will be like this after some wear.  It could still be quite serviceable.  Lube the chain before you check the tension, as dry links can kink and bind and shorten the chain.  Then adjust the chain at its tightest point.  Do this by spinning the wheel with the bike on the centre stand (watch for the chain tightening), then after you have found the tight spot and without moving the back wheel, put it on the side stand to do the adjusting.

[bill14224]

I had this problem, and it turned out the PO bought a cheap non-O-ring chain for the bike.  After a few thousand miles, the weakest area of the chain became stretched to the point where chain adjustment became difficult.  It was without slack in one area and flopping like crazy in another.  The sprockets were still unworn and like-new.  The solution was purchasing a quality O-ring chain.  Now I have constant chain slack no matter what the chain position is.  A good 110-link chain for the GS shouldn't cost more than $70.

[the mole]

Have I missed something here or has bill14224 just reincarnated a post from 6 years ago?

[qwertydude]

Also I've found that keeping your chain too tight will cause a tight spot to develop. When it says to have a half inch of freeplay that's at maximum extension, it's when the swingarm is is inline with the front and rear sprockets. If you set it too tight when you hit a bump it'll go to maximum extension and can put a stretch in some parts of an older chain. New chains are less susceptible because the tolerances are tighter. So moral of the story is run your chains slightly looser, I keep mine at about 1 inch of play when on the sidestand. Your chain'll last longer and require less frequent tightening.

[sledge]

Have I missed something here or has bill14224 just reincarnated a post from 6 years ago?

Its a new record 

[DoD#i]

Beats the alternative. Here you can go hunt through the archives and find information. Might be a bit silly to post your comment on a thread 6 years after thread death, but consider the alternative...

I joined another forum to ask questions back when I bought my elderly truck. Got most things sorted out, stopped doing much there. A year or two later I go back there - my account is gone, and all posts over 6 months or a year old are also gone. I don't recognize any of the names of the people posting. I actually go check my old email and verify that yes, this is the same forum I signed up for all of 3 years before - which has flushed all the collected wiz-dumb of the past, so people can ask the same questions over and over without being able to refer to tried and true solutions that were mentioned more than a year ago.

I did not sign up for that benighted piece of shaZam! again. Nor did I waste much time looking for the answer to whatever question I had in the pathetic archives.