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Chain adjustment-center stand or side stand?

12K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  flybiker251 
#1 ·
Do I adjust the chain on my 1200 Trophy while it's on the center stand or the side stand? My mechanic swears (but not too much when I'm around) that it's done on the center stand. This doesn't leave much slack when I take the bike off the stand, though the bike does seem happier with the tauter chain (less snatch, better mileage). I'm stressing a bit about stressing the transmission with a too tight chain.
 
#2 ·
I don't think the side stand or centerstand is the issue. It is the tension of the chain when "you" are on the bike. Have an assistant check the tension while you are on the bike.
A chain to tight will wear faster, and that gets expensive!
Mark
 
#4 · (Edited)
The Haynes says 1 1/2 inches of slack between the chain and the swing arm half way between the sprockets with the bike on the center stand. On my bike, that translates to a taut chain with me and the bike on the suspension. I find that 1 3/4 inches give more suitable slack.

A friend knows the brother of this guy who sold his KLR650 in Alaska for a plane ticket because he adjusted the chain too tight and took out the primary shaft bearings. Urban legend? Perhaps, but looser is better in this case.
 
#6 ·
Thanks

Thank y'all very much. That's about where I wound up through trial and error, though if I leave the chain on the loose side, I always seem to wind up with a kink in it somehow. I'm now running an X-ring chain, trying for longer chain/sprocket life. It stretched only about half as much as the O-ring chains (lot higher tensile strength, I guess), but it still kinked on me. I hear the crunch now every time it goes over my front sprocket, meaning I'm wearing the sprocket down rapidly as well. I do replace both sprockets every time I change the chain. It seems to be a springtime routine, meaning I'm getting 15k to 20k out of the chain and sprockets.
 
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