Chain adjustment advice

[chemicalpoet]

I have tried to search for a chain adjustment thread, but no luck : ( This will be the first time I adjust my chain and i'd like to do it properly. lol I hear many things from here and there and uncle bob, but i'd like some expert advice. Thankies mates!

[jstark47]

My remarks are only valid for the Triumph new Bonneville bikes, I have no personal experience with other bikes:

1. You'll need a motorcycle jack or some way to get the bike's weight off it's wheels.
2. You'll need a torque wrench for proper adjustment of the rear axle nut tightness.
3. Procedure:
a. jack up bike
b. loosen rear axle nut
c. turn the two chain adjusters an equal amount. On the Bonneville, these have a very agressive thread, suggest no more than 1/4 turn at a time. Suggest you make an index mark on each adjuster nut before beginning.
d. ensure the rear axle alignment indicator marks are equally lined up on both sides (they should be if you turned the adjusters an equal amount.)
e. tighten the rear axle nut to the specified tightness
f. take the bike back down off the jack, measure the chain tightness against the specs in the owner's manual. Suggest you roll the bike back & forth and measure tightness at several spots. Within reason, too tight is worse than too loose.
g. repeat. Unless you're very lucky or very experienced, the chain will be too tight or too loose on your first try. It took me three repeats to get it right my first time.
h. clean and lube the chain while you're at it. Most of us (me included) don't do this often enough.

Hope this helps.
Jonathan

[J.R. Bob Dobbs]

Good description!

That's the exact procedure for my Honda 250 and 750, except you don't need to jack the rear wheel up off the ground. If you just do it on the sidestand, you should move it back and forth and check it a few times.

Also check your rear brake pedal (if you have rod-actuated drums) free play after you're done, and adjust it too, moving the wheel back also removes brake pedal slack.

[BuzZz]

All the above is good, but don't trust the alignment marks on the swingarm. They only *might* be accurate. Sight down the chain's top run to verify that the chain is running straight and true, from the sprocket all the way down.

[jstark47]

Good advice from BuzZz. It's not the first time I've been advised the alignment indicator marks might be off.

There are some nuances. E.g., you might have turned both adjusters the exact same amount, but in tightening the rear axle nut, somehow the system got skewed. It happens. You know it's wrong, so grind your teeth, lift the d@mned thing up and do it again. It's like any mechanical system, sometimes it works right the first time, and sometimes it's not your day and you got to fiddle with it.

[chemicalpoet]

Mmmk, well I kinda' get the gist of it, however i'm still not completel sure I can do this alone. I may want to A. ride it down to the local bike station and see what they say or B. just plop down there with a wrnch and go at it but thanks a lot guys. My Triumph T-bird sport is used so, of coarse, they didn't have a manual handy.

[chemicalpoet]

Mmmk, well I kinda' get the gist of it, however i'm still not completel sure I can do this alone. I may want to A. ride it down to the local bike station and see what they say or B. just plop down there with a wrnch and go at it but thanks a lot guys. My Triumph T-bird sport is used so, of coarse, they didn't have a manual handy.