Triumphrat

fenderbender · 04-07-2007

At the risk of seeming a real mechanical dummy, can someone check me on this...
I have never been able to properly adjust the chain on my '99 Tiger. It was 18 months before I realised that it had been set up for a shorter person, with the eccentric adjusters turned right round. I had my dealer turn them back for tall person mode and fondly thought I would now be able to set chain tension.
Today, I loosened the allen bolts at the end of the swing arm, put the big allen key into the adjuster on the left hand side of the bike and tried to turn it. I got a lurching movement clockwise (which seemed the logical way to turn it to tighten up the chain) but the chain was then way too loose. I figured I must have been turning the key the wrong way, so tried to turn it anti-clockwise. I got barely any movement anti-clockwise and precious little movement on the right hand side. Even standing on the key brought no movement.
I should mention that the bike has no centre stand and so I have been trying to do this on the side stand (it's way too precarious to do it on a paddock stand with all that pushing and pulling on the allen key)
Help! Am I the only one can't adjust his chain? What am I doing wrong?

TucsonBill · 04-07-2007

If you don't have a center (or centre) stand, get the beast high-centered on something like a milk crate (plastic box from behind your local market!). You can't do it with the wheel on the ground. You'll not only not get the tension right, but you liable to misalign the rear wheel. With the wheel off the ground, it's really easy. There's not much thinking, you turn the eccentrics one way and the chain gets tight, you turn it the other and it gets loose.
Not to be too mechanically insulting, but did you loosen both sides at the same time? It's not that you do one side, then the other. With things loose, there's no pushing and pulling needed!
There are some of us that do everything on the bike, and then there are others we can teach! It's nice not to be at the mercy of a stranger who wants waaaay too much money to do something really simple! You need to know your limits, too. Don't be messing about with something that you depend on to keep you alive if your not real sure about what you're doing!
Now get out there, get'r up in the air, and get that chain running just right...then tighten up both sides!

fenderbender · 04-08-2007

Thanks for the advice. Just one more dumb question. Do I need to be turning both the eccentric adjusters at once...I only have one of the big allen keys in my tool kit.

MrChrome · 04-08-2007

You will be able to use one but make sure the adjustment lines are equal on both sides. Without the back wheel in the air you are lifting the whole weight of the bike but by using a paddock stand you should be able to make the adjustments with just one hand without wobbling the bike around too much.