Lately I noticed some strange "clack clack clack" sounds coming from my bike while off-throttle.  It was time to lube the chain anyway, so I took a look and found that the chain was loose as hell!!  I mean, there was a couple of inches of play at the bottom, between the sprockets!

I was alarmed, so I tried to adjust the chain tension...not such a good idea.  I slackened the castle nut and proceeded to tighten up the chain adjustment bolts.  I got the chain tight enough (the notch was wayyyyyy past the vertical lines on the swingarm, btw) and rode around a little bit to test it out...and my bike was making crazy sounds.  I put it on the centerstand, and tried to turn the rear wheel.  There was quite a bit of resistance at roughly the same position of the chain...not good.  There was noooo smooth movement of the wheel.  I wanted to loosen the chain so that it wouldn't meet with quite so much resistance, but wouldn't be in danger of falling off, and now the adjustment bolts won't do much.  

When I tighten them, it pulls the rear wheel back, like it's supposed to, but when I loosen them, the little plates just hang loose...and I can't get the rear wheel to move closer to the front of the bike.

I took off the chain guard and the everything there was FILTHY, so my first task is to take off the sprockets & stuff and clean them up.  The rear sprocket looks to be in decent condition, but I don't know about the front.  Everything looks dirty as hell, but I'm hoping nothing is ruined.  Any advice on what to do?  Why is it that when my chain has proper tension it runs into that resistance?  Why doesn't loosening the chain tension bolts return the rear wheel closer to the front of the bike?

I'm not riding my bike now, because I fear that I'll screw something up.  I'm a very unhappy boy  

Quote from: AR5ENALWhen I tighten them, it pulls the rear wheel back, like it's supposed to, but when I loosen them, the little plates just hang loose...and I can't get the rear wheel to move closer to the front of the bike.

Try this...

To get the wheel to move forward (loosen chain), try tapping (wacking?) the adjuster bolt to push the adjuster assembly forward against the swingarm.  You may have to, loosen the bolts of the brake support arm (or whatever it's called), then adjust the chain tension, then retighten brake fittings.  I had the same problem as you, and this solved it.  Start w/ the the chain too loose (tire forward), and slowly make it tighter w/ out going too far.

Also, be sure to check tension on sidestand.

I tried whacking the bolt on the chain adjuster to move the wheel forward, but I didn't loosen any of the brake fittings.

Tomorrow, I'm going to take a look at the front sprocket to see what condition it's in.  If the sprockets are in good shape, I'm just going to clean everything off and try to reassemble.

My guess is that the chain itself is stretched out and needs to be replaced.  The rear sprocket looks okay, but I haven't looked at the front yet.  Even if I was able to get the wheel to move up some, the chain would be WAY too loose.  This makes me think it's time for a new one.

If the chain has stretched past the adjuster marks on the swing arm, then it is dangerously worn and should be replaced immediately.

I figured as much...so, it looks like I'm in the market for a new chain and possibly some sprockets...I remember seeing another thread in here about which chain to get and where to get it from...

Looks like I won't be riding for a little while.

Sounds like you need a new chain. I got 20.000km out of my last chain. Then I really had to replace it. Check yours.
If this is a new chain it happens to, remove a link. When I install a new chain, I always remove 1 more link than standard, because otherwise the chain is way too long (standard is 110 links, so I have 109 links). Good luck!

109 links will give you a shorter wheelbase, too, making it quicker in tight turns. What size sprockets, Joris, are you currently running, though?

16 front, 39 rear. Wanted to go to 15 in front, but top speed gets too low.
Let the front forks come 15mm through the upper steering plate and your GS will turn even better....... :mrgreen: