[tollarja]

I'm probably being neurotic...

I adjusted my chain slack and made sure the axle was centered by measuring the distance between the center of the axle bolt and the center of the swing arm pivot point. I don't trust the factory chain slack marks because they weren't in the same location when I bought it.

My question is I don't remember if my rear wheel spun freely or not before. There is always a light brake drag, but right now it feels as though the chain is rubbing on the swing arm chain guard. There are no weird sounds. The slack is one inch as illustrated on the swing arm decal, so it isn't out of spec.

Would you be kind enough to give your wheels a spin and let me know if this is normal?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Aufitt]

There will always be drag for the first few thousand miles (another thing that runs in Motoman disciples lol)

But if you dont trust the marks.. next step is put it up on a race stand, stringline around the rear tyre to the front.. line up the forks and front wheel and carefully check. You'd be surprised how many bikes are way out.

You say the marks were different from new.. I'd say the dealer just didnt do the predelivery properly so adjust it to the marks first.

 

[spdklls]

.

You say the marks were different from new.. I'd say the dealer just didnt do the predelivery properly so adjust it to the marks first.

Indeed, my lock nuts were so loose i could spin them with my finger on one side, that tells me my dealer never even bothered to look at them during pre-delivery inspection....first thing i would have done is line them up on both sides on the new mark..then check chain slack and adjust as necessary

 

[tollarja]

When I first adjusted the chain slack I knocked one of the nuts and I didn't know how far it turned. I decided to line up the marks and that seemed ok, even though they were originally a little bit off. The wheel didn't spin "freely" and had the same chain drag as it does now. I found a couple of videos on this website that deal with chain slack and they said an accurate way to do it is to measure the axle to suspension pivot point and get that right. Well mine was a little bit off so I adjusted it using that measurement because it makes sense to me.

I am pretty sure what I am experiencing is normal, I just want to see if others agree. FWIW, the bike has 6,500 miles on it.

 

[jkv357]

Did you check for a tight spot before setting your chain slack? There is usually at least one spot where the slack is less, and that's where you should set it to the proper spec.

Sounds like it might be too tight.

 

[Brian]

The rear disk pads will always lightly drag on the disk, light but there. mine rumbles lightly when I turn the wheel, and does a light rubbing. but when the motor pulls, the chain will be tight and lifted, not slack and lightly touching the rub blocks.
you are probably ok, if your alignment is good.
Did you use a torque wrench on the axle nuts?

 

[llory]

Did you check for a tight spot before setting your chain slack? There is usually at least one spot where the slack is less, and that's where you should set it to the proper spec.

Sounds like it might be too tight.

You set it at the tight spot? Maybe i'm doing it wrong, but it makes sense to me to set the chain slack to spec somewhere other than the tight spot and check that the slack is consistent throughout most of the chain.

@Auffit: Pretty sure the strange object under the seat didn't say anything about whether to set the slack where the chain is the tightest or not

 

[Aufitt]

You set it at the tight spot? Maybe i'm doing it wrong, but it makes sense to me to set the chain slack to spec somewhere other than the tight spot and check that the slack is consistent throughout most of the chain.

@Auffit: Pretty sure the strange object under the seat didn't say anything about whether to set the slack where the chain is the tightest or not

Yeah it does, page 63-66.

A tight chain is far worse than a loose one. jvk is correct.

 

[tollarja]

Thanks for all the replies. In answer to the questions above, I torque every bolt that has a torque specification in the shop manual and I did base the slack on a "tight" spot, but there really wasn't any areas that were noticeably stiff. I have had the chain loose and tight and I still get the rubbing. I think it is just because the top part is slackened when I rotate the wheel. I think I would hear more noise while the motor was running if there were real problems.

 

[jkv357]

Get a helper to sit on it and take a look at what happens when the swingarm moves. The chain may clear the guides with weight on it.


Jay