The last time I tightened my chain I did it using the side stand like the manual said. I read the posts where people had done it on the center stands as well. But, I've not seen anyone mention that they tighten their chain on a rear stand. Why?
I was planning on tightening my chain tonight and the bike is already on the rear stand. I was thinking why couldn't I just do it with the bike on the rear stand, so I searched the forum. All the results seem to be side/center stand related.
Is there a reason I shouldn't tighten my chain on a rear stand?
-Porkchop
PS - I'm normally not this lazy but I'm still recovering from sprained elbow, bone chip and hairline fracture. The less I push the bike around the better.
Hi there,
If you tighten it to the specified stock chain slack while the bike is on the centerstand, the chain will be too tight.
That can damage the chain, the wheel bearings and the bearings on the countershaft sprocket.
It is best to do the adjustment on the sidestand to get the slack right.
Other people use the centerstand method, but leave the chain slack looser so that when the weight of the bike is on the wheels, then the slack can be correct.
Be sure that whatever yo do, the slack is correct so it's not too tight or too loose.
And rotate the wheel to find where the tightest part of the chain is. That's the place where you should adjust the slack -- where the tightest part of the chain is.
They get tight and loose spots in them from normal use and wear.
You just have to take them into account when making adjustments.
Good luck,
Trwhouse
There is a spec? ;)
I adjust it, get the rider to compress the suspension and make sure it doesn't go tight.
What's the downside to too loose?
Quote from: Trwhouse on July 06, 2009, 03:42:37 PM
Hi there,
If you tighten it to the specified stock chain slack while the bike is on the centerstand, the chain will be too tight.
That can damage the chain, the wheel bearings and the bearings on the countershaft sprocket.
It is best to do the adjustment on the sidestand to get the slack right.
Other people use the centerstand method, but leave the chain slack looser so that when the weight of the bike is on the wheels, then the slack can be correct.
Be sure that whatever yo do, the slack is correct so it's not too tight or too loose.
And rotate the wheel to find where the tightest part of the chain is. That's the place where you should adjust the slack -- where the tightest part of the chain is.
They get tight and loose spots in them from normal use and wear.
You just have to take them into account when making adjustments.
Good luck,
Trwhouse
Guys, thanks for the replies but I'm talking about a rear stand, not center stand. The rear stand raises the rear of the bike by the swing arm so if the purpose of doing it on the side stand is to maintain compression on the suspension then I don't see why I can't tighten on the rear stand.
-Porkchop
Quote from: intergalactic on July 06, 2009, 05:04:50 PM
What's the downside to too loose?
The downside to too loose, is your chain falling off. I had it happen once on my old bike, and it's not a great feeling.
The reason you don't see much about people adjusting their chains on rear stands is because most of us don't own rear stands. When your bike comes with a center stand there's no real need to buy a rear stand. I think it's probably the most logical way to tighten your chain if you have it. It keeps wait on the back end so you can get pretty close to proper tension, and still be able to spin the wheel to look for tight spots, and even lube your chain while you're at it. Even better is if you can have someone sit on it while it's on the rear stand.
The point is that the manual states a chain slack assuming the swingarm is at some known angle with respect to a line drawn between the sprocket centers. Putting the weight of the rear of the bike on the rear stand will be very close to the weight of the rear of the bike on the rear tire, leaning slightly to the left with some small fraction being supported by the sidestand. Should be close enough. If you have no weight on the rear wheel (use center stand), the angle of the swingarm will be greater than then known angle mentioned in the first sentence.
If you still have a sidestand, you can measure the difference yourself: Set the tension one way, then switch the support criteria and measure again.
Others on the board have installed taller rear shocks without modifying the shock mount point. This increases the angle of the swingarm, and therefore requires more chain slack.
Well I went ahead and did it on the rear stand and it seems to be fine. Actually it seemed a lot easier (or since I've done it a couple of times before with the side stand I just got better).
QuoteThe reason you don't see much about people adjusting their chains on rear stands is because most of us don't own rear stands.
tt - Your thoughts on how most GS owners don't have a rear stand kinda makes sense. Since the PO had taken the center stand off, one of my first purchases was a rear stand.
Thanks for your thoughts guys.
-Porkchop
Yeah, some people have taken them off, and some people own stands because they have other bikes aside from the GS. I used to have one, but I got rid of it, I'll need another one someday.
It is great that there is so much advise here on what not to do and how to do it correctly. One thing not mentioned and a lot of people make the mistake of is the tracking of the chain. It's great to properly adjust the slack or lack of slack in the chain. But no matter how you adjust it always double check from behind the wheel eyeballs slightly cheating to the chain side and rotate the wheel several times. At no time should the chain jump, grab or make excessive noise. Even the most novice mechanic can tell visually from behind if the track of the rear wheel is off.
Bottom line is a properly adjusted and tracking chain will glide and offer little to no resistance when turning the rear wheel by hand :thumb: