Hi, anyone seen a swingarm eat a chain adjuster before? What could cause it?

Only time I've seen that is after some dude on here put on a 14 tooth front sprocket and did a bunch of wheelies lol.

Quote from: qcbaker on June 08, 2018, 11:41:11 AM
Only time I've seen that is after some dude on here put on a 14 tooth front sprocket and did a bunch of wheelies lol.

Can't say I've done many wheelies (intentionally.. I've lifted my wheel a couple of times by mistake by accelerating too aggressively in first whilst also cornering aggressively, now that's a dodgy feeling!).

Is it possible the axle isn't done tight enough? I mean, it's pretty tight on there.

It could also happen if you were to aggressively tighten the adjuster nuts without loosening the axle bolt. I would think it would take a hell of a lot of effort though, so I can't imagine its very likely that you'd be able to do that accidentally...

Maybe others here will know more than me, but I can't think of other ways that that much force could get applied in that way.

I have one that is a little bent on my GS. Also had it happen on another bike I had. I think it's just cheap metal and when you tighten the adjuster nut to much it pulls it in. Take it off and beat it out with a hammer. Looks like your adjust dial is bent a little as well, as is mine.

Quote from: pliskin on June 08, 2018, 01:15:03 PM
I have one that is a little bent on my GS. Also had it happen on another bike I had. I think it's just cheap metal and when you tighten the adjuster nut to much it pulls it in. Take it off and beat it out with a hammer. Looks like your adjust dial is bent a little as well, as is mine.

Yeah, I remember I bent the aligner thing whilst trying to loosen the axle. The thing about the aligner is, I already pulled it out and hit it with a hammer to flatten it some, but it just went off-centre towards the wheel when I put it back on and tightened it up. That was a couple of days ago.

Both of the adjuster plates were stuffed on my project GS  ( along with most other things) I made a couple of 10mm Aluminium plate ones with a 3mm plate pop rivetted to the inside to locate it. Only specialist tool needed is a pop rivetter and you could use a couple of small nut and bolts instead.  Al, hacksaw and pop rivetter ( or bolts) and a drill. Won't bend and looks better than the stock one.

Quote from: gregjet on June 08, 2018, 01:57:16 PM
Both of the adjuster plates were stuffed on my project GS  ( along with most other things) I made a couple of 10mm Aluminium plate ones with a 3mm plate pop rivetted to the inside to locate it. Only specialist tool needed is a pop rivetter and you could use a couple of small nut and bolts instead.  Al, hacksaw and pop rivetter ( or bolts) and a drill. Won't bend and looks better than the stock one.

this deserves pics

Quote from: Toner on June 08, 2018, 02:38:51 PM

Quote from: gregjet on June 08, 2018, 01:57:16 PM
Both of the adjuster plates were stuffed on my project GS  ( along with most other things) I made a couple of 10mm Aluminium plate ones with a 3mm plate pop rivetted to the inside to locate it. Only specialist tool needed is a pop rivetter and you could use a couple of small nut and bolts instead.  Al, hacksaw and pop rivetter ( or bolts) and a drill. Won't bend and looks better than the stock one.

this deserves pics

Second this. I wish I had the tool set (and perhaps a backup vehicle or two...) to do half that kind of stuff. Alas I'm only 21 and my spannering days are young - been building up some tools but right now I'm still waiting on my torque wrench to be delivered. Not even got a drill or hacksaw yet - I've bought a couple of cheap hacksaws before, but their crappy blades meant they didn't last long - they certainly weren't up to cutting metal.

Anyway, I just now took off the chain adjuster plate and hammered it back straight. I also slightly modified the wheel alignment, which I felt was somewhat off before. The wheel axle looked pretty obviously further forwards in its 'slider' hole on the left side than the right.

I've heard of the crazy string around the whole bike method and the more technical one involving lasers, but also heard of people just measuring from the axle to the swingarm pivot - if that works, it makes sense to me that I could just measure it in the other direction, so I measured from the centre of the axle to the end of the swingarm (right before the chain adjuster plate), keeping the tape measure parallel with the swingarm and looking dead side-on (and did it a few times, to be sure).

It was pretty clear that they were different - I'm pretty sure there was almost a whole centimetre difference between the two. I had done the alignment before by just matching the length of free chain adjuster thread. This time I got it to where the above measurement reads about 6.5cm for both.

The rear wheel spins a little freer now and also when it gets to where the brake disk is slightly out of true it doesn't rub as bad. I remember I bought a bunch of string a little while back to try that string method and it was a non-starter as the centre stand got in the way. No lasers at my local Tesco unfortunately.

" this deserves pics"
For some reason I can't find them. I photoed everything else. They were on photobucket but that's dead. I haven't even got then anymore as I made a set of machined ones from a single piece of 12mm with milled edges. I have pics of those but you can't see the edge bevel ( photo is with the new solid adjusters). The picture of the new ones is about half way down the page http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70598.0.

A Profi CAT dot laser is the best 60 bucks I ever spent. There's nothing technical about it, just hold it on the rear sprocket and instantly see how far your chain is out. It's amazing how much quieter the chain runs. I've had my bike back after tyres fitted by professionals and it's been out of alignment. This takes out all the guesswork but more than that it makes making fine adjustments so much easier because you don't just want the chain aligned you want the right slack too.

As a side note I find that Sledge's suggestion of loosening the two torque link nuts when adjusting the chain is the right way to do it. This caused a few arguments when it was first brought up, but it really works. Some people could not understand how it made a difference, but it does.

Quote from: Kookas on June 08, 2018, 02:45:25 PM
I've heard of the crazy string around the whole bike method and the more technical one involving lasers, but also heard of people just measuring from the axle to the swingarm pivot - if that works, it makes sense to me that I could just measure it in the other direction, so I measured from the centre of the axle to the end of the swingarm (right before the chain adjuster plate), keeping the tape measure parallel with the swingarm and looking dead side-on (and did it a few times, to be sure).

Quote from: user11235813 on June 09, 2018, 06:26:40 AM
A Profi CAT dot laser is the best 60 bucks I ever spent. There's nothing technical about it, just hold it on the rear sprocket and instantly see how far your chain is out. It's amazing how much quieter the chain runs. I've had my bike back after tyres fitted by professionals and it's been out of alignment. This takes out all the guesswork but more than that it makes making fine adjustments so much easier because you don't just want the chain aligned you want the right slack too.

As a side note I find that Sledge's suggestion of loosening the two torque link nuts when adjusting the chain is the right way to do it. This caused a few arguments when it was first brought up, but it really works. Some people could not understand how it made a difference, but it does.

Quote from: Kookas on June 08, 2018, 02:45:25 PM
I've heard of the crazy string around the whole bike method and the more technical one involving lasers, but also heard of people just measuring from the axle to the swingarm pivot - if that works, it makes sense to me that I could just measure it in the other direction, so I measured from the centre of the axle to the end of the swingarm (right before the chain adjuster plate), keeping the tape measure parallel with the swingarm and looking dead side-on (and did it a few times, to be sure).

Thanks for bring that up - I had a quick google for laser tools before and couldn't find anything that wasn't super-expensive workshop kit, but that's a pretty decent price (£40 from M&P for other UKers here).

Quote from: pliskin on June 08, 2018, 01:15:03 PMI think it's just cheap metal and when you tighten the adjuster nut to much it pulls it in. Take it off and beat it out with a hammer.

Yep.

They probably tried to adjust the chain tension without loosening the axle nut.

I've had my GS for a bit over seven years now and IMHO the chain adjustment system is marginal, at best. The plates at the end of the swing arm are a little weak, but the main problem is the flimsy "chain adjuster washer." This is the name of it on the parts diagram... it has the mark on the top of it to help align the rear wheel and bends out of shape when you tighten the axle. Maybe another thin washer under the axle nut would help, but I'm wondering if anyone has fabricated a better 'washer'...

Quote from: alyoopz on June 22, 2018, 01:10:45 PM
I've had my GS for a bit over seven years now and IMHO the chain adjustment system is marginal, at best. The plates at the end of the swing arm are a little weak, but the main problem is the flimsy "chain adjuster washer." This is the name of it on the parts diagram... it has the mark on the top of it to help align the rear wheel and bends out of shape when you tighten the axle. Maybe another thin washer under the axle nut would help, but I'm wondering if anyone has fabricated a better 'washer'...

Is that the thing with the 90-degree bend at the bottom? Mine bent out of shape the first time I tried to loosen the axle, because I wasn't too careful and the axle spun instead. You can see it in the photo. At least it forced me to find more accurate ways of measuring wheel alignment, though!

I made a couple of axle washers by welding two small plates together at right angles from stainless steel when I was manufacturing my adjusters. Only have pics of them on the bike.

Quote from: gregjet on June 23, 2018, 01:28:30 PM
I made a couple of axle washers by welding two small plates together at right angles from stainless steel when I was manufacturing my adjusters. Only have pics of them on the bike.

What's that you've got on your brake line?

Those adjustment blocks are nice and stout.

I've learned to not trust the adjustment indicators. It's more accurate to measure the distance to the axle with digital calipers. It's easier on bikes with axle blocks, but doable on the GS500.

"What's that you've got on your brake line?"
Are you referring to the pressure brake light switch? It actually now lives at the Master cyl end becasue it was too close to the exhaust.

Quote from: Kookas on June 09, 2018, 07:14:15 AM

Quote from: user11235813 on June 09, 2018, 06:26:40 AM
A Profi CAT dot laser is the best 60 bucks I ever spent. There's nothing technical about it, just hold it on the rear sprocket and instantly see how far your chain is out. It's amazing how much quieter the chain runs. I've had my bike back after tyres fitted by professionals and it's been out of alignment. This takes out all the guesswork but more than that it makes making fine adjustments so much easier because you don't just want the chain aligned you want the right slack too.

As a side note I find that Sledge's suggestion of loosening the two torque link nuts when adjusting the chain is the right way to do it. This caused a few arguments when it was first brought up, but it really works. Some people could not understand how it made a difference, but it does.

Quote from: Kookas on June 08, 2018, 02:45:25 PM
I've heard of the crazy string around the whole bike method and the more technical one involving lasers, but also heard of people just measuring from the axle to the swingarm pivot - if that works, it makes sense to me that I could just measure it in the other direction, so I measured from the centre of the axle to the end of the swingarm (right before the chain adjuster plate), keeping the tape measure parallel with the swingarm and looking dead side-on (and did it a few times, to be sure).

Thanks for bring that up - I had a quick google for laser tools before and couldn't find anything that wasn't super-expensive workshop kit, but that's a pretty decent price (£40 from M&P for other UKers here).

I've got one, it's a good tool but too expensive. Can't believe some Chinese factory isn't copying the idea and selling it for $10. It's a dot laser in a rectangle.
Doesn't really suit the sprocket on the GS500 but you can make it work.
My one needs a new battery so when I get my carburettor back from the shop, I'll go and pick one up.
I just counted the threads on the adjusters for now. I had them out and they have the same number so I'm hoping it will be good enough.