what is the chain slack diff on side stand vs center stand?

what is the chain slack diff on side stand vs center stand?


the owner manual instructs us to make chain adjustment while on the side stand. it does not mention what is the slack on center stand. anyone know if there is a diff?

In theory they should be the same since you're only checking slack on the bottom run of the chain. That being said, I'd venture a guess that chain slack will be slightly more when checking on the centerstand since the rear wheel can move easily.

ps. the reason the O/M mentions only the sidestand is because the centerstand is an accessory.

Having the chain too tight causes premature wear to the chain. Yes, there is a difference when on center stand. Check only when on side stand.

When the bike is on the side stand, the rear wheel is in contact with the ground and carrying some of the bike's weight. The rear shock is slightly compressed. Not so when the centerstand is used. However the difference in chain slack should be small.

Who is bored on a Winter Sunday in March ?????????? Somebody measure the max chain slack in both positions and report back with pictures.

This topic has been beat up on earlier threads. I hate to start another duplicate. I realize the forum search thing is rubbish, but you can use Google to find forum threads of interest. Anyway, here's an example thread with deep thoughts on chain adjustment. http://nc700-forum.com/forum/how-tos/433-drive-chain-maintenance.html This thread is also referenced in the FAQ posts.

The results from people who have compared the difference found there is virtually none. Feel free to use the center stand as you should without consequences. I tried measuring it myself a couple of times and could not find a difference at all.

There is a difference because the swing arm pivot is not the same point as the center of the countershaft sprocket. As the swing arm moves up and down it slightly alters the distance from the countershaft sprocket to the rear sprocket. Slack increases as the swing arm moves down. While the difference is small, 3 to 5 mm, it is measurable. Chain slack while up on the centerstand is slightly more than when measured on the side stand so if you adjust the slack to the minimum allowed while its on the centerstand the chain will be too tight when the bike is being ridden. I recall adding 5 mm more to the minimum allowed when using the centerstand.

I did this measurement ones. I my case (because I have lowering links installed) slack on center stand is 5-8 mm more, depends with what force chain was push-pull up or down to take a measurement. I didn't measure when is maximum length between sprocket, but I think it is in upright no load position (picture). From this position swingarm is going up or down, distance between sprocket decreases, chain slack increase.

View attachment 22918

On my CRF I set the slack w/me sitting on the bike. W/the rear tire off the ground, slack is very loose, so if slack is set in that position, will be way too tight when the bike is weighted. The distance between sprockets changes w/suspension movement.
I had my rear tire off the NC and set slack on the main stand, but will check slack when weighted to check for any difference in the 1 3/16 - 1 9/16 slack.

Once again, you need to search for the past posts on this because when measured properly it was found NOT to make a difference. There was a post from beemerphile where he found a 5mm difference if that, and his posts used to be highly regarded by most people. There is a lot that can cause variations on the side stand, such as lowering and pre-load adjustment. No such variations with the center stand. The amount of sag can really cause you to have inconsistent results. Some people unload their rear suspension, or make sure it is under the least amount of compression. Others don't. Why mess with this when you can use the center stand as you should?

thank you for all the response, I did do a search, but could not find anything, and no thread title like i have title this one for future reference.

no good title waste a lot of time as you have to dig thu pages and pages to find your answer.


but again, thank you for those that responded.

I had the same result that dduelin had, i have about 3-5 mm more slack when on center stand vs side stand. so i think the diff is not much to make a diff

Old Can Ride said:

Having the chain too tight causes premature wear to the chain. Yes, there is a difference when on center stand. Check only when on side stand.

Click to expand...

I agree with OCR. Best to test it with the full weight of the bike on the back wheel.

In my own experiments, it seems not to matter. I get the same result with the rear wheel on the ground or up on the lift....
still... best to measure it on the ground.

There is a huge difference in slack w/my bike on the center stand vs weighted, w/me on the bike. I'm setting it to the latter, where it is when traveling down the highway.
It's at the tighter end of the setting when weighted but loose as a goose when on the center stand. I don't see how some see little or no difference. My bike is bone stock and actually has zero miles on the clock, still.

I'll just go with what the operator's manual says. Every NC700X comes with a sidestand. Adjust it on the sidestand, per the manual, set it a bit toward the loose side (to avoid unnecessary wear), but within the specs in the book. I just don't see any reason to second guess it or make it any more complicated than that.

Todd L. said:

Once again, you need to search for the past posts on this because when measured properly it was found NOT to make a difference. There was a post from beemerphile where he found a 1mm difference if that, and his posts used to be highly regarded by most people. There is a lot that can cause variations on the side stand, such as lowering and pre-load adjustment. No such variations with the center stand. The amount of sag can really cause you to have inconsistent results. Some people unload their rear suspension, or make sure it is under the least amount of compression. Others don't. Why mess with this when you can use the center stand as you should?

Click to expand...

Which of Beemerphile's posts do you refer to?

Post 6, 26, 76, or 83 in this thread : http://nc700-forum.com/forum/how-tos/433-drive-chain-maintenance.html

There's an easy way to make up your mind: get off your lazy butts and go measure any difference yourselves! I went out last night for kicks and tried it numerous times and the difference is so small I can't measure it on my bike. I'm talking a couple mm's at best. Different bikes may get different results due to how they are set up, lowered, etc.

Adjusting per manual is best.

Honda knows the chain tension is changing relative to suspension travel and gives a wide adjustment range as compensation.
The chain guard placard states 1 3/8", right in the middle.

But I'm still going to set mine on the tight side, weighted. Being on the loose side is better than tight, IMO.
We know what wears when too tight, so when too loose the chain may slap parts other then the rub strip?, I assume.

After further thought, here is my plan. I will set the chain to 1", weighted. Put the bike on the main stand and take that measurement as my
final and future setting. Doing all this work on the main stand is by far the easiest way to do chain adjustment.

If a main stand was OEM on chain drive bikes, would they still advise chain adjustment on the side stand?

ST13Fred said:

Adjusting per manual is best.

Honda knows the chain tension is changing relative to suspension travel and gives a wide adjustment range as compensation.
The chain guard placard states 1 3/8", right in the middle.

But I'm still going to set mine on the tight side, weighted. Being on the loose side is better than tight, IMO.
We know what wears when too tight, so when too loose the chain may slap parts other then the rub strip?, I assume.

After further thought, here is my plan. I will set the chain to 1", weighted. Put the bike on the main stand and take that measurement as my
final and future setting. Doing all this work on the main stand is by far the easiest way to do chain adjustment.

If a main stand was OEM on chain drive bikes, would they still advise chain adjustment on the side stand?

Click to expand...

On my CBR1100XX Blackbird the owners manual advised to do chain adjustment on the center stand (main stand).

silverhound said:

On my CBR1100XX Blackbird the owners manual advised to do chain adjustment on the center stand (main stand).

Click to expand...

I would expect that would have also been true of the NC700 if it came with a main stand as standard equipment.