Chain Tension Adjustment

I've put 2000+ miles on my NC700x, the chain is near slack tolerances, so it's time to adjust the chain tension.
I bought the wrench that measures torque, so I can put the axel bolt back to 72 ft/lbs it specifies.

Has Anyone adjusted the chain yet?

Steps I know so far:

1. loosen the axel bolt (on which side? both?)
2. loosen the lock nut on the adjustment bolt (nut furthest back?)
3. turn adjustment nut until chain tension is spec. (35mm +/- 5mm) (nut toward the front?)
4. check the alignment hash marks on BOTH sides of the axel. They should be IDENTICAL.
5. tighten the axel bolt back to 72 ft/lbs
6. check the alignment hashmarks AFTER tightening to make sure they are still identical
7. if hash marks are off, (what do you do then?)
8. lubricate the chain while you're down there

On on video, the mechanic recommended rolling a large screw driver shaft gently into the chain and sprocket.... to put tension on it... I presume... he wasn't clear to me about why he did that. Anyone have experience with that?

Any tips? It seems like this should be an easy one, but I remain cautious.

Strat,
In the How To section of the forum you will find a thread on drive chain maintenance started by Beemerphile. It includes an excellent tutorial on chain adjustment and should answer your questions.

Bob

Spaceteach said:

Strat,
In the How To section of the forum you will find a thread on drive chain maintenance started by Beemerphile. It includes an excellent tutorial on chain adjustment and should answer your questions.

Bob

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NOT to mention the OWNERS MANUALpages 88-91

showkey said:

NOT to mention the OWNERS MANUALpages 88-91

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You know, I have read owner's manual and the Service manual. Each is... succinct.
I'm sorry that you don't like I posted and asked here.

Spaceteach said:

Strat,
In the How To section of the forum you will find a thread on drive chain maintenance started by Beemerphile. It includes an excellent tutorial on chain adjustment and should answer your questions.

Bob

Click to expand...

thank you. I did a search yesterday and didn't come up with that.

Roll the wheel and measure the slack in 3 to 4 places along the length. If any of the measurements is the correct slack measurement you do not need to adjust. Only adjust the slack when all sections of the chain are above the max measurement, and if you do adjust the chain. Recheck after an adjustment to make sure no section is below the minimum measurement. The bearings on the countershaft and axle can be damaged with a tight chain.

Art

Oldenuf said:

Roll the wheel and measure the slack in 3 to 4 places along the length. If any of the measurements is the correct slack measurement you do not need to adjust. Only adjust the slack when all sections of the chain are above the max measurement, and if you do adjust the chain. Recheck after an adjustment to make sure no section is below the minimum measurement. The bearings on the countershaft and axle can be damaged with a tight chain.

Art

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Good advice, Art. Thank you. I also found the lengthy tutorial, with pictures, on how to do this job. That was also a welcome tip.
As per your advice and the tutorial's, I checked the chain and found it to be 30mm slack. 30 - 40mm is the acceptable range (I read in the manuals), so it really isn't time to do the job yet.
happy riding.

StratTuner said:

Good advice, Art. Thank you. I also found the lengthy tutorial, with pictures, on how to do this job. That was also a welcome tip.
As per your advice and the tutorial's, I checked the chain and found it to be 30mm slack. 30 - 40mm is the acceptable range (I read in the manuals), so it really isn't time to do the job yet.
happy riding.

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Correct, not time yet.

It has been stated many times, the hash marks are just about useless for alignment purposes. Go get a chain alignment tool. I have the one Beemer uses in his chain cleaning and aligning tutorial. The screwdriver trick is to pull the rear axle against the alignment adjusters right before you tightened the axle bolt

motorboy said:

I take off the locking 12mm head nut and use a metric caliper to measure the length from the 14mm head adjusting nut to the end of the adjusting bolt 1/4 mill .010 is easy to get.. this is before the first adjustment and I check the measurement to see how Honda has done it not all bikes are equal length the Suzuki DL1000 comes to mind..

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I have now read this post three times.... wait... let me stop and read it again... Wow... OK.. I think I get it now. Not sure I understand what you're measuring or why. Sounds like you're measuring the exposed threads behind the lock and adjustment nuts?...on both sides? to see if they are equal?
Wow, I still don't understand... If they are equal that means the wheel is lined up correctly?
.010 is easy to get? What does that mean?
I've ordered the chain alignment tool. I'm hoping that will make it easier.

that is how I understood it. I would not go this route though, why would you not measure/sight directly the chain and sprocket?

The chain alignment tool works great. If anything, I would want to some how get a longer rod. but then you have to worry about bending and damage over time and use.

Tagged for future input.

I may need to adjust mine, but reading so much text here makes me wanna just pay the shop to do it.

motorboy said:

Yes I'm measuring the exposed treads if both are the same wheel is straight the .010th means that's how accurate I can get it with out really trying but not the lock nut remove it the adjustment nut is what I measure off of to the end of the bolt I adjust one flat of the nut at a time measure 30mm-40mm slack I run my chains a little loose 35mm-40mm the stock chain is a O ring not X ring chain so it gets a little stiff from link to link the O ring chain has more resistant to movement than a X ring chain beats the hell out of anything else I have tried over the years including alignment rods.. hope this clears it up

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Yes, that's much better. Thank you. I'll try that when I finally adjust the chain tension. It would be interesting to try your method first, then check the result with the chain tool.
(I do not want to be a pest, but do you post replies from a cell phone? The absence of capitalization and periods . make your text hard to read. It's difficult to tell where on sentence ends and the next begins.)

happy said:

I may need to adjust mine, but reading so much text here makes me wanna just pay the shop to do it.

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Adjusting the valves...now that's something I'd pay the dealer to do! Adjusting the chain seems possible but only with a lot of reading and study first.... oh, and the right tools as budget allows.

motorboy said:

Yes I'm measuring the exposed treads if both are the same wheel is straight the .010th means that's how accurate I can get it with out really trying but not the lock nut remove it the adjustment nut is what I measure off of to the end of the bolt I adjust one flat of the nut at a time measure 30mm-40mm slack I run my chains a little loose 35mm-40mm the stock chain is a O ring not X ring chain so it gets a little stiff from link to link the O ring chain has more resistant to movement than a X ring chain beats the hell out of anything else I have tried over the years including alignment rods.. hope this clears it up

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You're the Honda expert, so help me out, but I don't understand how measuring the bolts is any better than using the tic marks. If the manufacturer can't be trusted to set the axle position tic marks accurately, how can you assume they will weld both sides of the swingarm perfectly? I think the only ways to check axle accuracy would be to use any combination of two or three of the following:
1) Front to rear wheel alignments - you can use the simple string method. This prevents dog tracking by aligning the rear wheel to follow the same track as the front.
2) Measure and set the distance from the swing arm pivot to the rear axle on both sides. This aligns the rear axle to the frame, but not necessarily to the engine.
3) Use a chain alignment tool to align the front and rear sprockets. This aligns the rear axle to the engine but not necessarily to the frame.

Once you have established a good alignment, you can reference the tic marks and any error they may have, then use that for all future axle adjustments. In the end all these alignments are likely compromises. It will only get as good as the manufacturing/design will allow.

Greg

P.S. Sorry to be critical, but ditto the prior comment. motorboy, your run-on sentences and lack of punctuation make your posts very difficult to read. I'm sure you have a lot of good info to share, and I hope to be able to make sense of it.

Wow, now I'm lost. What are we trying to align and seems like no perfect solution?

The chain alignment method is the one that has worked best for me over the years, but its interesting to see the other techniques people have come up with. Let's face it, once you know the axle is properly aligned, you can check the swing arm marks or adjuster bolt lengths and figure out your corrections, if any are needed, and use either for future adjustments.
By the way, while the chain alignment tool is a simple and elegant solution, I've also just held one end of a straight edge against the face of the rear sprocket and checked the alignment that way. Works the same as the alignment tool except you have to use your hand to hold it in place while you sight down the chain.

Bob

I just use a straight edge, too. After that, simply turning the adjusters on each side the same amount has normally been 'close enough' for me.

Why create problems? If the motorcycle goes down the road straight, and tires wearing equal and chain is not climbing the sprocket teeth, not sure what else to think of, just assume Honda made the frame OK, and use the adjustment marks as Honda provides. The measurement from the pivot bolt assumes the swingarm is square. If it is not square the equal length is useless. Nice tool but will only verify the marks on the swingarm and not correct frame alignment.

Art